The Future that we Want Part 1

The afternoon had warmed sufficiently that Eleanor had abandoned her woolen coat, carrying it folded loosely over her forearm as she strolled beside Ernest along the gravel path of Willowbrook Park.

There was nothing particularly grand about the grounds. It held no soaring steel viaducts, no towering brick chimneys, no dynastic monuments, and none of the manicured, geometric terraces of an ancient ducal seat. It was merely an ordinary parish green on the village fringe, planted with mature horse chestnuts and edged by simple borders of wild wallflowers, sweet clover, and blooming lilac.