It was close to another week before all discussions were had and preparations were made, but it was decided that the family would indeed make a trip to Marchwood Hall. A break in the Sussex countryside, away from the busy endless bustle of London might be just what they all needed. To rest and recuperate away from the home that held so many painful memories for them all.

Catherine adored her Harley Street home, but without George's presence some of its sparkle and appeal had dimmed. Ghosts of memories waited around every corner to pounce on her as she approached them unawares. There would come a time when she would cherish such moments, but for now it was still to raw, too painful to still see him in every corner of their home; always there, perpetually out of her reach. She needed time to grieve and to heal, somewhere the spirit of her lost husband did not wait to cast her back into the depths of despair. For her son's sake she had managed to keep a brave face on the surface, but she feared losing the strength to keep it so. A change of scenery, a new project to occupy her mind, these things were just what she needed. How fortunate were they to have just that fall directly into their laps.

Thomas was still dubious. He had voiced his confusion at such a sudden and unexpected inheritance the instant the two lawyers had left the house; his mother had not been long in joining him back in the study as soon as Roberts had seen the gentlemen to the door. Upon her questioning concerning the business they had discussed, Thomas had gestured to the papers set on the circular table.

"See for yourself, mother. Some inheritance, a property and some land by all accounts. I'm not sure who this distant relative of father's was, actually I'm not entirely sure Cartwright and Black had much more of an idea of the relation for all they told me about it. What do you think? It all sounds a little fishy to me, how does a house remain empty and forgotten for a decade or so? They're trying to find some poor sap to palm it off on, there's got to be something wrong with the place, I'm sure."

Catherine frowned as she began to rifle through the pages, skim reading the details of the will, the deeds for the property now in her son's name, barely registering the concerned words coming from Thomas' mouth in an anxious flow. Reading too fast and missing the important details she was searching for, Catherine turned back to the details of the Will that saw her son inherit this house, looking most keenly for the details of the deceased and trying hard to register how he had been of relation to her late husband.

George had seen little of his family once his practice in London, not to mention work at the hospital, had taken off, occupying far too much of his time; his own wife and son thought it a stroke of luck should they have entire weekends to spend in the company of the good doctor. Morning and night he was always a central feature of the welcoming town house, despite being prepared to be called out at a moments notice, but there was little in the way of time for visiting distant relatives and keeping in touch with the greater span of his family.

Both his parents had passed some years earlier. There was sister that Catherine knew of, but she lived much further north with her own husband and children, beyond that she had never met another direct relation to her husband, and the name of this Great Great Uncle did not register in her memory as ever having been mentioned in conversation.

Still frowning she flipped the pages back to look over the deed to the house, it certainly did appear a grand sort of place, not at all unlike the home she had lived in as a child. It brought a small, nostalgic smile to her thin lips as she looked over the faded photograph clipped to the paper.

"Well, I can't say as I recognise the name of this distant Uncle of your father's at all, the house though certainly does look charming." Catherine set the photograph in front of her son and he frowned at it, still unconvinced.

"Charming indeed, but it's been empty, abandoned for at least ten years, if not more. Mother, think of what state it might be in now."

"True, it will need a fair amount of work I am sure, but," Catherine paused and let out a small sigh, "Well in truth it is your house now, Thomas, so the choice is naturally yours. What do you propose we do with it? Don't you think we should at least visit the place, see what work might be needed. We could look at selling, or even live there ourselves perhaps."

"You can't be thinking of abandoning this house? Mother, my whole life has been here, and would you really want to leave London?" Thomas looked aghast. Too much change in so little time, she should not even have suggested the notion. But it was too late to take back the words that she had been considering quite seriously.

In truth she could not see herself moving permanently away from their London town house, but somewhere different to escape to from time to time, when the worries and stresses of city life became too much? It could be a welcome escape.

"No, no, but a summer home perhaps, or even a guest house. We could make a business of it." The possibilities were positively alive in her mind, teaming with potential and prospects, but Catherine forced herself to slow her thoughts and calm her sudden excitement. This may have been the first news to excite her in months, but the decision did ultimately rest with her son, the inheritance was in his name after all and as a grown man his mother had no right in telling him how to live. "But all possibilities we should consider after seeing the place, don't you think? We can hardly make any firm decision if we don't actually see it with our own eyes."

Thomas rolled his eyes and shrugged. He had seen something in his mother's expression, a small glint in her eye that told of contained excitement, something he hadn't seen in her for many weeks now. He knew she would not press him into a decision that he did not want to make, that he must be the one to decide to uproot the household to visit this, potential hovel in the countryside – he was still far from convinced they would find Marchwood Hall in a pleasing nor habitable condition. But he also knew that if he said no there would be some part of his mother that would be deeply disappointed.

He did not much relish the thought of leaving London and travelling quite a fair distance into the country, his injury and resulting physical impairment made Thomas cling quite stubbornly to his home. Since being well enough to be up and out of bed he had scarce even ventured to leave the house, imaging the journey to Sussex made him feel uneasy. But that look of hope, of potential, in his mother's face had him re-evaluating his fears.

"Well, I suppose I wouldn't mind finding out a little more about how we came to own this place. Mr Black did mention something about finding records held locally to the house that might be able to tell us more," Thomas said with another dismissive shrug. He tried not to voice much in the way of emotion, his fears were a shame he wished he could keep to himself. "But we'll have to find somewhere to stay while we're there, I highly doubt the house will be habitable on first glance."

"It is settled then. Don't you worry, Thomas, I shall make the appropriate arrangements before we even think of leaving. Though I do think a week in the country will do us all the world of good."

"If you insist." Thomas sighed with a shake of his head, though he could not help the smile that crept to his lips as he appreciated his mother's eagerness for the task of even planning such a trip.

She had always liked to be busy, to feel useful and to have tasks enough to fill her day, as simple or trivial as many of them may have appeared to anyone looking on from outside of her privileged lifestyle. Catherine had never been one to want to sit idle. Without George she had lost a lot of the purpose in her life, especially when her only son had seemed to have lost his passion for most things, this new prospect had given back some of that purpose and from that day, through the week of planning and preparation that followed, some of the light seemed to leech back into the Crawford household.

While Catherine secretly held grand plans of closing up their Harley Street home and packing the entire household off to the countryside, Thomas had made a good point. If their new acquisition of property did not prove to be habitable, she would find herself struggling to find somewhere for all of the staff to stay, not to mention all the luggage that would be brought along with the household. A simple bed and breakfast might not be able to accommodate them all.

In the end, and with only a little reluctance, did Catherine decide that she and Thomas would travel to Sussex for a week. Nash and Rosen would accompany them but that would be all, the rest of the staff would remain behind and take care of the house while its owners were away.

A week should be long enough, initially, to make a good assessment of this Marchwood Hall and see what kind of work might be required to make the place a home once again. They could look into local contractors whilst there and set plans in motion, it would also give Thomas ample opportunity to satisfy his curiosity as to where this inheritance had actually sprung from. Accommodation was booked for the duration of the stay and the train tickets arrived in the post the morning before they were due to leave. All in all it felt a well-planned and productive trip, and Catherine was excited.

She looked forward to the morning of their travel with a gleeful optimism she hadn't thought it possible to feel again.