The Tale of Castle Cottage

Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

THYME OF DEATH
WITCHES’ BANE
HANGMAN’S ROOT
ROSEMARY REMEMBERED
RUEFUL DEATH
LOVE LIES BLEEDING
CHILE DEATH
LAVENDER LIES
MISTLETOE MAN
BLOODROOT

INDIGO DYING
A DILLY OF A DEATH
DEAD MAN’S BONES
BLEEDING HEARTS
SPANISH DAGGER
NIGHTSHADE
WORMWOOD
HOLLY BLUES
MOURNING GLORIA

 

AN UNTHYMELY DEATH
CHINA BAYLES’ BOOK OF DAYS

 

 

 

DEATH AT BISHOP’S KEEP
DEATH AT GALLOWS GREEN
DEATH AT DAISY’S FOLLY
DEATH AT DEVIL’S BRIDGE
DEATH AT ROTTINGDEAN
DEATH AT WHITECHAPEL

DEATH AT EPSOM DOWNS
DEATH AT DARTMOOR
DEATH AT GLAMIS CASTLE
DEATH IN HYDE PARK
DEATH AT BLENHEIM PALACE
DEATH ON THE LIZARD

 

 

 

THE TALE OF HILL TOP FARM
THE TALE OF HOLLY HOW
THE TALE OF CUCKOO BROW WOOD
THE TALE OF HAWTHORN HOUSE
THE TALE OF BRIAR BANK
THE TALE OF APPLEBECK ORCHARD
THE TALE OF OAT CAKE CRAG
THE TALE OF CASTLE COTTAGE

 

 

 

THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE CUCUMBER TREE
THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE NAKED LADIES

 

 

 

WRITING FROM LIFE
WORK OF HER OWN

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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

 

This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

 

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reaction to the recipes contained in this book.

Copyright © 2011 by Susan Wittig Albert.

 

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

 

Albert, Susan Wittig.

The tale of Castle Cottage : the cottage tales of Beatrix Potter / Susan Wittig Albert.

p. cm.—(The cottage tales of Beatrix Potter)

ISBN : 978-1-101-54384-9

1. Potter, Beatrix, 1866–1943—Fiction. 2. Women authors—Fiction. 3. Women artists—Fiction. 4. England—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3551.L2637T346 2011

813’.54—de22

My gentle Reader. I perceive
How patiently you’ve waited.
And now I fear that you expect
Some tale will be related.
O Reader! had you in your mind
Such stores as silent thought can bring,
O gentle Reader! you would find
A tale in everything.

—WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Cast of Characters

Beatrix Potter
* is best known for her children’s books, beginning with
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
(1901). Miss Potter lives with her parents,
Helen and Rupert Potter
, at Number Two Bolton Gardens, in South Kensington, London. She spends as much time as possible at Hill Top Farm, in the Lake District village of Near Sawrey.
Mr. and Mrs. Jennings
and their children live in the Hill Top farmhouse and manage the farm while Miss Potter is in London. Her brother,
Bertram Potter
, occasionally visits Hill Top.

 

Will Heelis
,* a solicitor, lives in the nearby market town of Hawkshead and is a frequent visitor to Near Sawrey. He and Miss Potter became secretly engaged in
The Tale of Applebeck Orchard.

 

Captain Miles Woodcock
and his wife,
Margaret Nash Woodcock
, live in Tower Bank House. Mrs. Woodcock is the former headmistress of Sawrey School. Captain Woodcock is the justice of the peace for Sawrey District.
Elsa Grape
keeps house for them.

 

Sarah Barwick
operates the Anvil Cottage Bakery in Near Sawrey. She is a modern woman who wears trousers and rides a bicycle to deliver her baked goods.

 

Jeremy Crosfield
, a young artist and amateur botanist, is a teacher at Sawrey School. He and
Deirdre Malone
were married recently and are expecting their first child. They live in Far Sawrey, at Slatestone Cottage. A young woman named
Gilly Harmsworth
is Deirdre’s friend.

 

Reverend Samuel Sackett
is the vicar of St. Peter’s Church in Far Sawrey. A few months ago, he and
Grace Lythecoe
were married.
Mrs. Hazel Thompson
(a cousin of Agnes Llewellyn) keeps house for him.

 

John Braithwaite
is the constable for both Near and Far Sawrey. He and his wife,
Hannah
, live at Croft End Cottage with their children.

 

Lester Barrow
and his wife,
Frances
, operate the village pub, the Tower Bank Arms, which is located at the bottom of the hill, below Hill Top Farm.
Ruth Safford
helps Mrs. Barrow with housekeeping and waits tables in the pub.

 

Lydia Dowling
runs the village shop at the corner of Kendal Road and Stony Lane. Her niece,
Gladys
, helps out several times a week.

 

Mrs. Pemberton
and her family have moved into Rose Cottage.

 

Regina Rosier*
is an outstanding amateur photographer. (Thanks to the real Regina Rosier for her featured cameo appearance in this book.)

 

George
and
Mathilda Crook
live at Belle Green, where Mrs. Crook takes in boarders. Mr. Crook is the village blacksmith.

 

Lady Longford
lives at Tidmarsh Manor.
Mr. Beever
manages the grounds and her ladyship’s horses;
Mrs. Beever
cooks and manages the household staff.
Mr. Depford Darnwell
is an antiquarian whom Lady Longford has invited to appraise her deceased husband’s book collection.