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Grand Deceptions

      First published 2018 by Crabtree Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. No part

      of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

      transmitted in any form or any means electronic, mechanical,

      photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of

      the publisher.

      Copyright © Garry Willmott 2018

      ISBN 9781925283532 (pbk)

      ISBN 9781925283549 (ebook)

      Grand Deceptions is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

      Acknowledgements

      Anna my wife

      Preview Readers

      Bill Simpson

      Ian Jones

      Kim Krarup

      Tony Pittard

      Previous books by G. S. Willmott

      The Other Side of the Trench

      Brothers in Arms

      Escape

      Red Lights on the Somme

      You Forgot the Sauce

      Survival

      Soul Survival

      Boy’s Own War

      Serendipity

      The Importance of Being Ivy

      Contents

      Fox on the Run

      The Pain of Seduction

      In God We Trust

      We are Sailing to the Antipodes

      Storm and Tempest

      Melbourne

      The Colour Yellow

      Change of Fortune

      Trust

      Gold

      Retirement

      A Tale of Two Orphans

      General George

      God Help Me

      Back to Old Blighty

      A New Life For Gordon

      Happily Ever After

      Gordon

      Revenge

      For Fox Sake

      A Lawyer in Love

      Magnificent Deception

      1893 Crash

      Pirating We Will Go

      Treasure

      Time to Pass the Baton

      The Lord of the Manor

      Your Past Will Always Catch You

      Trials and Tribulations

      Part Two The Banshee’s Daughter

      The Beginning of a New Life

      I am Woman

      The Midas Touch

      Telephone for You Ma’am

      You Can’t Change History

      Harmony Seldom Makes a Headline

      Return to the Lucky Country

      I Don’t See Any Borders Do You?

      Australians Arise

      Call Me a Doctor

      It’s Not That Quiet on the Western Front

      Passchendaele

      Young Doctors in Love

      Post War Australia

      Thank God I’m a Country Boy

      Back to Old Blighty

      Dying Can Be Expensive

      The Aristocratic Siblings

      A Long and Winding Road

      You Reap What You Sew

      For King, Country and Profit

      Dudley Flats

      It’s an Enigma

      What Did He Say?

      Puzzle

      The Fall of the Third Reich

      England is a Nation of Shopkeepers

      I Now Call Australia Home

      The Beginning of the End

      Bibliography

      Fox on the Run

      Chapter 1

      November 1, 1855

      The horseman was riding his stallion through the Kent countryside. The land belonged to his family’s estate. He had been newly appointed as The Master of Foxhounds, and the objective of his ride was to determine suitable ground to conduct a foxhunt. The hunt was to be the first in over a century at Abernethy Manor, and the young man was committed to making his first hunt as Master of the Foxhounds a success.

      Mathew Abernethy was born in 1833 to wealthy parents named Julia and Samuel; the family had been the custodian of Abernethy Manor for over three hundred years. Henry VIII had gifted the estate, including 2,000 acres, to Lord Abernethy in 1532 as a reward for the support given to the Tudor king during his fight with the Vatican.

      Mathew was twenty-one, a tall, blond young man with blue eyes and an engaging manner. He was liked by all, especially the young women of the village.

      Mathew never tired of riding over the green hills of his family’s property. There were patches of oak forest and winding streams dotted throughout the estate. Stone walls bordering the paddocks would make for excellent jumping.

      The primary source of income for the estate was sheep. The Abernethy fleece was known for its fine wool, which was not only prized by the English mills but also by mills in France and Italy. The purpose of the foxhunt was not only sport. The foxes killed lambs on a regular basis, and therefore, eradicating them was sound farm management.

      Satisfied with the course, Mathew returned to the manor. He was to join his family for dinner and his elder brother Joseph, his younger sister Rosie, and his parents were waiting for him in the conservatory.

      The young man entered the beautiful greenhouse where everyone was enjoying a sherry and discussing their day’s activities.

      ‘Hello Mathew. Were you successful in plotting a route for the hunt?’ asked his father.

      ‘Yes sir, I think we’ll have a very successful day.’

      ‘Excellent. Where on the estate will you be leading the hunters?’

      ‘We’ll follow the river to the stone bridge then cross over and enter the forest area. With luck, we’ll flush the little blighters out onto the moors where the dogs should be able to run them down.’

      ‘Well, that sounds like a good plan, in theory anyway.’

      ‘You sound a little sceptical, Father.’

      ‘Do I? I don’t mean to, but we all know how difficult it is to catch these cunning foxes.’

      ‘Yes, I understand, and I’ve

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