I rushed home, I didn’t really have enough time to get myself ready for my visit to Bolton Manor and was glad that Jenny was home early and agreed to help me.

“It all sounds very sophisticated, dinner with a baron at The Manor, what’s the dress code?”

“ I don’t think it’s anything formal, it’s just the two of us as far as I know.”

“ OK, go and get cleaned up and I’ll find something suitable, classy but not overdressed.”

While I quickly showered and freshened up, and put on my makeup she sorted out a choice of outfits for me to wear, a mixture from my own wardrobe and hers.

“You can’t really go wrong with a ‘Little black Dress’, I’ve picked out one of mine, with its boat neckline and half-sleeves, it’s dressy enough to make you look and feel sophisticated., but the pale blue piping on the collar, cuffs and belt just take the edge off the formality, It should suit however anyone else there is dressed. How, about your hair? If you want I can do it like Susie did for the dinner dance, putting the false chignon in at the back. Just like the dress it will cover cover a wide range of social standards.”

“ You know best Jen, whatever you think works”

Jenny worked her magic with my hair and makeup and I was soon ready to go.

“You look so sophisticated and absolutely gorgeous Jane, can I take some photos for Mum, I’m sure she will like to see them when she finds out that you’ve been for dinner with a Lord at his country estate?” With a promise that the photos would just be for Mum and not passed around to her friends, I spend a few minutes posing for her while she snapped away, before rushing off.

I still hadn’t got used to driving in heels, so when I pulled up in front of the manor, I quickly changed from my casual flats just in time before Marshall approached, opened the car door and offered me his hand to help me out. Old fashioned chivalry was still alive at Bolton Manor.

“Good evening Miss Harrison, pleased to see you again. Please follow me to the drawing room where Sir Charles is waiting for you, while I prepare to serve dinner.”

Charles had dressed up a little, not too much, but at least he was out of his tweeds and brogues into a formal business suit, dress shirt and tie, and not accompanied this time by his dogs, which I assumed had been relegated to less formal parts of the house.

“Glad you could come my dear, and if I may so so, looking absolutely delightful. It’s a shame that your appearance is wasted on an old curmudgeon like me. Dinner will be a few minutes, what do you fancy as an aperitif, a small glass of sherry, wine, or something stronger?”

“ A dry sherry would be fine, thank you.”

“Before we go in for dinner and spoil it with business talk, I’d like a few minutes first if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk about this thing in the paper to do with corruption and that Ridgeley character. The new development on my estate was mentioned and I am worried that somehow I will be drawn into the scandal. Working with Cartwright you must have an idea of what is going on. Do you think any of it will reflect back on me, I had no idea about any of this?”

“Why ask me to come and discuss this, surely you’ve known James a lot longer, would it not have been better to ask him?”

“I’m now not too sure that I can trust him, I don’t know if he is involved in any of this mess, you seem sensible and honest and I think I can trust you. Besides I’m sure that you will be a lot more agreeable as a dinner companion.”

“You’ll have learn to trust him again if you are going to have a long-term investment in the development of The Bolton Centre, and at present he is the one who has passed on information to the police, he wouldn’t have done that if he was involved, would he? I’m fairly certain that there has been no mention of any wrongdoing on your part, I don’t see anything for you to worry about coming out in The Post “

“What makes you so sure?”

“Actually that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Before you say any more I need to tell you that I am not who I seem to be, working as PA to James Cartwright was just a front for my investigations, I am really a reporter for The Post, in fact the reporter that broke the story leading to the police investigations.”

“Well I’ll be damned.” He almost choked on his sherry before breaking into a big beaming smile. “When I met you I realised that you were sharp, but that really takes the biscuit. I know that I said we wouldn’t need to talk about business over dinner, but you really must tell me more, I’m fascinated to hear all about it.”

I didn’t know what to expect for the meal, it was either going to be high-quality cordon-bleu , or good old fashioned wholesome food. I was glad to hear that it was to be good old-fashioned and hearty fare, I was not a lover of overpriced artistic offerings served in many restaurants that thought they were a cut above the common herd, which left you after a very expensive meal still feeling hungry.

“I’ve a suggestion Jane, Marshall has raided the wine cellar and dug out some excellent vintages that will really go with the food the housekeeper has prepared, I would love you to join me in enjoying them, but realise that you are driving your car. If you wish there are plenty spare bedrooms for you to stay so you don’t have to limit the wine to drive home safely.”

Seeing the look of panic on my face he quickly continued. “Have no fear, I have no dishonourable intentions towards you, you are perfectly safe, I am just offering you a chance to enjoy the evening more. Besides I really want to hear more of your story. To be honest with you, when I was younger I had a bit of a reputation as a philanderer, but those days are long-gone now, since Cressida, my wife, died I am happy on my own, nobody else could really come up to her qualities.” I noticed a tear forming in his eye at the mention of her and the wistful look on his face, I felt reassured enough that he was genuine and that it would be safe to spend the night here, and decided to join him in the wine.

Marshall soon called us in for dinner and led us into the large oak-panelled dining room where the evening sun’s rays were streaming through a multi-coloured leaded-light window playing rainbow patterns on an enormous table in the centre, surrounded by 18 chairs, obviously appropriate for large family gatherings or special dinner parties. I was pleased to see that the only two places set out were together at one end of it, I initially had a vision of us sat at each end of it having a conversation at a distance.

Our first course was already set on the table for us, a delicious cream of asparagus soup, topped with asparagus tips , served with fresh out of the oven wholemeal soda bread slices, accompanied by a bottle of white wine, Montrachet Grand Cru Côtes de Beaune, which even I knew cost more than I would spend on wine in a couple of months.

Whilst we were drinking the soup, politeness meant that the conversation was limited, but the minute we had finished, his eyes lit up with excitement like a child at Christmas.

“Right Jane while Marshall is clearing this away and getting the next course ready you must tell me all about yourself and how you became involved in all this.”

I quickly ran through my early life, or at least the female version of it, before starting on details of my investigation, Apart from the occasional “Jolly good show,”, ”’Well done,”, and “Good for you.” he sat enthralled by the story as I brought him right up to date.

“ I’m so glad that James and you talked me out of dealing with that Ridgeley character, I never liked him, too smarmy by half, like an angler playing with a trout before hooking and landing it., and from what you have just said I’m sure his offer would not have turned out as advantageous to me as he suggested.”

That conversation was brought to a halt by Marshall carrying in the next course, a serving of venison shank casserole dressed with pears and parsnips, which looked and smelled delicious, matched with a bottle of Chateau Petrus Bordeaux. I had no idea of how extensive his wine cellar was, but it was obvious that it was all high quality. It was easier to have a conversation with this course than the earlier soup and I asked him to tell me his family history and how they came to their titles property and land. This was obviously one of his favourite subjects and all through the rest of the course he chatted away to me.

“Going back to earlier times the family were always wealthy landowners in this area, mainly due to picking the right side to be on in the Wars of the Roses and the Civil War, but we really came to prominence in the early 1800s. Seven generation back one of my forebears Henry Bolton captained one of the ships at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, his heroics reached the ears of the King and he was created the first Baron Bolton. Ten years later his son Arthur, distinguished himself as a colonel of one of the Hussar regiments at the Battle of Waterloo, and when the Price Regent was crowned as George IV, in his coronation honours list Arthur was upgraded to an Earl. The family fortunes waxed and waned for about a hundred years, until my grandfather, also called Charles, was involved in a major society scandal in the 1920s and the title of Earl was taken from him, but we are still allowed to call our line ‘Baron Bolton of Edenbury’.

“That’s a fascinating story, have you ever recorded it all in the family archives, or anything like that?”

“There’s a big mass of papers in the library, some of them going back to the Wars of the Roses in the 1400s. I keep meaning to get an archivist in to go through it all, but never seem to get around to it. I would like to get it done because my son and heir has absolutely no interest in where the family fortunes came from, all he wants to do is spend it all. The Honourable William, to give him his title, although he is anything but honourable, is only interested in a life of debauchery, drink, drugs, gambling and womanising. In my time I thought that I was living the high life, but he makes me feel like I lived the life of a monk. My daughter, The Honourable Elizabeth, is much more sensible, although she has an artistic streak and is quite bohemian, if that is still a word in use. If the rules that apply now were in place at the time they were born, she would be my heir, inheriting the title and the property, but at the time younger males took precedence over their older sisters. I would have a lot more faith in her to carry on the family fortunes that William.”

While finishing the final light dessert course of Pear Belle Helène and a glass of Madeira, I gave some thought to what he had just told me about his family, and when we retired to the Drawing Room with a decanter of port, I raised it with him again and asked a few more questions about the early family history.

“Although you are not tied in to the scandal, you are involved in the development of The Bolton Centre. If you will let me, it will be a nice side story to tell your family history, particularly in the lively light-hearted way that you told it to me tonight. Would you be interested in that?”

“Actually I would really like that, and am happy for you to go ahead. However I have an even better suggestion, would you be interested, and have the time, in really going through the archives and producing a proper document, a real book, in much more detail. As a reporter you are probably a frustrated writer and think that you have a book in you waiting to be written, this is an opportunity for you.”

“Let’s not make hasty decisions this evening Charles, we have both been a bit heavy on the wine, let’s sleep on it and talk again in the morning. If you don’t mind, I had an early start this morning, can you please get Marshall to show me to my room.”

While we had been enjoying our meal, Mrs Hutchinson the housekeeper had been busy and my room was all prepared with fresh bed linen, a vase of freshly-cutroses on the dresser and a full-length silk and lace nightdress neatly laid out on the bed for me. It was her that led me to the room rather than Marshall who was tidying up downstairs.

“ I hope that nightdress is fine for you, it’s one of Miss Elizabeth’s, but you look about the same size.”

“It looks gorgeous and very expensive, are you sure that she won’t mind?”

“She has so many she wouldn’t even notice it was missing. If you are comfortable in it, you may as well keep it and take it with you. I’ve also left out some beauty products, cleanser, moisturiser and cotton wool pads, please feel free to use them and take them home too. Goodnight then Miss, I’ll see you at breakfast in the morning.”

The drink was beginning to cloud my head, so I quickly undressed, cleaned off all my makeup and put on the silk nightdress, enchanted by its softness and the way it draped over the contours my body. Any other time I think I would have enjoyed the pleasure of wearing it, but I was just too tired, climbed into bed and was soon out like a light.

Surprisingly I woke up quite refreshed, decided it would not be the done thing to go down for breakfast in the nightdress and matching gown, as I would do at home, and got myself properly dressed made up and with my hair and hairpiece back in place. Knowing that it would all be too much of a rush I made a quick call to Carl deferring our meeting for an hour later before going downstairs to find that breakfast was being held in the kitchen rather than the formal dining room, obviously a much more casual affair. “Good morning Jane, I trust you slept well.” asked Charles looking just as fresh and bright as I did. “There’s fruit juice in the jug, coffee in the pot and toast is on its way. Just tell Mrs H what you would like, we have almost everything you could wish for.”

I was still full from the heavy meal the previous night, so just ordered scrambled egg to go with the toast and coffee.

“I’ve been thinking while waiting for you to come down about what we were saying regarding recording the family history and I’m even more convinced that it is a good idea. Have a word with your editor about a feature in the paper, but we’ll treat the full family history as something between just you and my family, you can claim authorship rights but it would be nice if I was given a credit of some sort and perhaps an ex-gratia payment too. Have a think about it and let me know.

“Thanks Charles, but there are specialists in ghost writing biographies and autobiographies, wouldn’t you be better off with one of them.?”

“Possibly, but I think that I can trust you to find out all the skeletons in the cupboard and use them in the best light. As I said, please think about it.”

After breakfast, after saying my thanks to Marshall and Mrs H, I said goodbye to Charles, thanking him for a wonderful meal and a delightful evening and made my way back home. to get changed to meet with Carl and go into work at The Post.

Later I was sitting in the same cafe where I had first met Darren as Jane, only this time I was well away from the window, in a quiet corner cubicle, when Carl came in looked around and finally saw me half hidden away from prying eyes.

“ Hi Jane, sorry I’ve kept you waiting, there was stuff I had to clear before I left home. What is this about?”

“Carl, I’m taking a big risk here, can I really trust you?”

“You know me, the boring plodding accountant, what have you got to worry about with me?Anything we talk about is just between us.”

“As you know, John Chisholm is being questioned by the police about his possible involvement with Hargreaves and Ridgeley. Did you see the blood drain from his face when I told everyone I was an undercover reporter, I think there is a lot more going on. My access to the accounts files was blocked by him, but I think it is more than just commercial confidentiality. You know what is going on a lot better than I do or would understand if I looked myself. Be honest, have you noticed anything unusual going on in the company finances.”

“ Now you mention it ,a few times I have queried with John large invoices from construction companies working on some of our developments, which seemed grossly excessive. He asked Maggie to check them out and they both assured me that it was all above board and told me to just sign them off and pay them. I still felt uncomfortable with the invoices, but just did as I had been told.”

“Can you dig out the ones you recall. And send me copies of the invoices, the associated contracts, and any reports from Bill Miller and Darren relating to progress on the sites. You can judge better than I can what is relevant. Can you access the files without any record being listed of you having viewed and copied them?”

“I can delete all the front line search records, enough that it is not obvious, but any computer expert would be able to dig it all up again.”

“Seriously it sounds like Chisholm and possibly even Maggie have been paying false inflated invoices and most likely getting some sort of kick-back for their cooperation, Unless you are involved too it would appear that they have been treating you like a trusting fool and pulling the wool over your eyes as well as robbing the company.”

“ I assure you that I am not involved in anything shady, particularly with those two, and I am no fool either. Leave it with me and I’ll call you when I have information for you.”

Just as I was leaving the café, I took a call from Sally. “ Sorry to mess you about but the police officer I was liaising with is out at a crime scene and will be out all day, can we leave it until tomorrow.

“ Not a problem Sally, that’s fine with me, actually it suits me as there is something I have to deal with at The Post.”

When I finally arrived back at the office, I discussed the proposal for a feature on the Bolton Estate and family with Mike and he liked the idea as a filler human-interest sideline to the story of the corruption and told me to get on with it.

The rest of the day I waded through all the tip-offs we had received and passed on to the police from other construction companies about how they had been treated by Ridgeley and Acumen, and even a couple claiming that Hargreaves had been fishing for bribes to ensure that they were awarded contracts. At the end of the day, my brain was so muddled with all the claims and counter claims that I was glad to leave for home.

Back at the flat, I was glad to get my clothes stripped off, it had been a warm sticky day and I really needed a refreshing shower. Afterwards I just put on a robe and sat to dry and style my hair. I remembered what Susie had said when she first gave me my breasts, about wearing a bra until I felt comfortable about going without. Although I was conscious of my breasts jiggling under the robe, I thought that this was no different to what all other women experienced and decided that when I dressed I would go without.

I put on a light cotton sleeveless strappy top and my summer skirt and started tidying things up. My breasts seemed to have a life of their own and every time I moved I could feel them rubbing against the top, but after weeks of living with the snugness and tightness of bra straps it felt good. Jenny was soon home and went in for a shower and to get changed. When she came out she was dressed a bit like me.

“ You know what Jane, I’ve always kept on my bra since you’ve been living with me although there have been times when I’ve just wanted to rip it off, but now that you seem comfortable with not bothering to wearing one, I feel free do do the same. It’s better to wear one when you are at work but if the mood takes you at home just unleash your assets. Obviously, as you’ve probably already found, your boobs will jiggle about a lot more, but you’ll soon get used to it.”

She suddenly started giggling and looking at me. “You know what, I never thought that I would be having a conversation with you about whether or not it was best to wear a bra or just swing free, it’s good to have a sister that I can talk to about things like that with. It’s a shame that it will all soon be over.”

“ It will be a while yet, I’ll be working as Jane at The Post until we run out of things to tell on the corruption story, Other than Mike Bradley, my editor, nobody knows me as anything other than Jane, everyone seems to accept me as I am and Jack seems to have been forgotten, I’ve only heard anyone mention him once. Until there is no more to report on the case, Jane will be around, which should be a few more weeks yet.”

“ Ok Sis, glad to hear it, I am getting used to you being here. It’s a nice evening lets give the girls a call and meet up at the Nags Head, the beer garden is nice and colourful at this time of the year. I’ll tell them it’s all just casual, so there is no need to change. You are fine as you are, don’t bother with too much makeup, just a bit of eyeliner, mascara and Lippy, your skin is still quite good and there is no need for anything more.”

“ What about my bra?”

“ Don’t bother, I told you it’s to be casual, let your girls have a bit of freedom for a change.”

It was still early and we were first to arrive, although the garden was beginning to fill up.

“I’ll find somewhere for us all to sit, you go to the bar and order the drinks. Just get a couple of bottles of white wine, it’s cheaper by the bottle, and with five of us one bottle will not be enough.”

As I approached the bar, the barman broke off a conversation with one of the other customers and quickly came up to serve me, I couldn’t help noticing that his eyes were jumping between my face and my boobs, Susie had been right, about men’s preferences, and I think that it was even more obvious now that I wasn’t wearing a bra.

A couple of bottles of Sauvignon Blanc and five glasses please, have you any chilled.”

“There’s only one in the cooler, I’ll bring the other one over in a few minutes. There’s some more of your friends just coming in now, go back to your table and I’ll bring the drink over for you.”

“ Oh, you remember us all then?”

“The others come here occasionally but when you were last here you made such an impression that the regulars keep asking when you are coming back.”

Flashing him a sweet smile I swivelled round my heels , causing my boobs to really bounce and strutted my way back to the garden to meet the girls.

“ What’s the big grin for Jane?” Susie asked after we had all settled down, you’ve got a face like the cat that’s got the cream.”

“ Tony, the barman could hardly take his eyes off my boobs, so I just played up a bit to him, and had a bit of fun.”

“ What do you expect, you brazen hussy, Jenny told us all to go braless tonight, so when he comes over, he won’t know where to put his eyes.”

Susie was right, when he came over with the tray of drinks and saw us all, his hands were shaking as he put down the tray. His eyes were darting between us all as we reached over for the glasses deliberately giving a flash of cleavage as we did so, and he was looking embarrassed.

“ Thank you so much for bringing the drinks over, hopefully you’ll be back soon with the other bottle.” I looked him the eye and gave a big smile.

As he went back to the bar, we all started to giggle, I felt a bit sorry for the poor man, we had embarrassed him.

“You are turning into a right little flirt Jane, we’ve created a monster. Now tell us all about this story you have written in the paper.”

“ You know almost as much as I do about what the police are doing, they play their cards very close to their chests.”

“ As long as they don’t play too close to your chest when you are looking like that.” Linda interrupted, producing long laughs from all of us, causing other customers to look over to see what the noise was.

“ As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted,” I jumped back in, “ but there is still a lot more to come. I’ve now left Cartwright’s and have gone back to work at The Post.”

“Oh, does that mean that you won’t be coming out with us again?”

“Anything but, I’ve got my old job back, in fact a much better one, but until the investigations and court case are over, I’ll be continuing to work, and live, as Jane, so you will see me around for a lot longer.”

“Yay, .” said Linda and Babs in unison, Linda adding “ We’d be sorry to see you go, we’d miss you. If anything we all were drifting apart a bit, but sorting you out has given us common ground again. Raise your glasses to Jane girls.”

“To Jane and continued friendship.” Susie made a toast which they all joined in with.

“When Tom brought over the second bottle the first was already gone. “ Put another one in the cooler for us please Tom. Sorry if we were embarrassing you earlier, we were just having a bit of fun, have a drink yourself too, we’ll settle up later.”

“Leave the poor lad alone Jane, you keep telling us that you are not interested, so don’t keep them going, it is easy to turn on the girly charm though, isn’t it?” Linda gave me a gentle nudge with her hand.

That started a lot of telling of stories about their various experiences leading boys on to get their own way, and the games they played to get boys into their beds. When men get together if talk gets off football or cars or their jobs onto relationships, it can get a bit sordid or childish, but with the girls it came across as harmless fun and we all had a good laugh at some of the tales. However any illusions I had about the shy gentle nature of women were quickly shattered, they could be just as saucy as the men, probably even more so, but with them it was just an excuse for a fun night, rather than anything nasty. Jenny kept looking over to me to see if I was getting embarrassed, but by now I was used to the open chatter they had about all sorts of intimate subjects and I just laughed along with the rest of them.

Tom came back with our third bottle, and by now the wine was taking effect their tongues had loosened a bit and the stories were getting more and more lurid, and Tom caught the end of one of Linda’s tales.

“ Sorry about that, you weren’t supposed to hear that.”

“You’re ok, you didn’t mean any harm, enjoy your wine girls. I’m big enough to take it”

“Babs gave him a quicklook up and down and replied “ I’ll bet you are darling.” which had all of us, including Tom, burst out laughing. The wine was definitely loosening their tongues , and probably their morals too.

As we got home and were getting ready for bed, Jenny sat down next to me. “That got a bit near the knuckle tonight, were you comfortable with all that talk.”

“The whole point of me going out with you all for the last few weeks has been to get me to learn how to act and react in situations and to be comfortable in the company of women and understand how you all relate to each other. You’ve all done such a good job, I probably think more like a woman than a man now when I am out with you all. You all make me feel like just another one of the girls, so you should all just act as you would if I was another girl, and there is no need to make any allowances for me. I’m getting used to it all, in fact most of the time I am just getting on with things and how I am dressed and acting is just me behaving naturally, I am not even thinking anymore about what I should be doing.”

To be continued