The Hanbury-Boyce Inheritance
Photo-story from Janus 157 with Leia-Ann Woods When Hilary Hanbury -Boyce died recently, the village mourned. Even the girls with whom she had so uncompromisingly dealt up at the ‘big house’ felt a strange regret at the passing of this fair but firm martinet, wielder of the slipper, strap, hairbrush and cane on their tender young bottoms. The strict lady, who accepted no nonsense and punished all wrongdoers sent to her with a method and severity hardly known in these modern times, was gone. But if the village girls thought they would henceforth be safe from the kind of punitive retribution that had been dished out on a regular basis by that peerless lady, they were in for a surprise. As, indeed, was a distant cousin of Hilary’s, named Royston Arnold. Royston was a man of letters, sage, broadcaster, bon viveur and promoter of the arts. A confirmed bachelor, he hadn’t seen Hilary for several years, for they met only rarely, usuall...