Fireplaces & FREEZERS

Why was their new neighbour so rude? Harriet was determined to find out

- Lulu Taylor

Harriet knew exactly when she began to loathe William Coke. She had been happy to see the arrival of a new neighbour just down the road. The street was a friendly one, and usually attracted the type of person who enjoyed socialising and joined in the local community.

A couple of days after William moved in, Harriet had knocked on his door with a welcome hamper and a card.

'Yes?' He stood just behind the barely open door, staring at her cautiously. He was tall and gaunt with hollows under his high cheekbones, his hair charcoal grey.

'Welcome to Richmond Street! I'm Harriet. I live just over there.' She gestured to her cottage, neat and cosy, across the road. 'I brought you these.'

'Oh.' He stared at the hamper and card blankly. 'Thank you, I suppose.' He took them, and the next moment, she was staring at the closed front door.

Back home, Harriet felt upset. She was well liked in the street, with lots of friends. She was usually welcome wherever she went in the small Wiltshire town where she'd moved after her divorce, once the children had departed for university.

'Oh well,' she said to herself, 'if he's not friendly, that's fine with me.'

The windows of William Coke's house were soon shrouded by thick net curtains. He was rarely seen, but workmen and decorators came and went. He was obviously putting his stamp on the place, erasing the traces of Linda, the previous owner, who had liked pale, minimalist Scandi style.

'He seems keen on country-house decor,' said Harriet's friend Valentine, who lived further down the road with his partner Nathan. He and Harriet were walking around the common, talking about the mysterious William. 'I've seen Persian rugs and oil paintings of ships going in. And he's taken out quite a bit as well. Linda's dreadful fake fireplaces were propped up in the drive.'

'He could afford to be a little nicer,' Harriet said.