A new life with a new wife and the acquisition of a sealed box, the contents of which were destined to change our lives and teach me more about Susan and myself than we thought possible.
Susan was the intuitive one in our partnership, meticulous in attention to detail and extremely sensitive to emotions and feelings, while I represented a more happy go lucky approach to life, willing to discover everything about my new wife and, if possible accommodate her wishes in every way that I could - which worked well thus far in our relatively new relationship.
It was Susan's idea for us to move to the country, a cottage in a small village in Devon bordering Dartmoor which, although remote, would allow plenty of time to ourselves and opportunities for Susan to research the book that she always thought was inside her head, once the subject had presented itself.
'You could do what you have always dreamed of doing Adam,' Susan gushed, 'There must be plenty of auctions and sale rooms for you to build up your stock ready for the next antique sale.'
She was right, the area had several such places and believe it or not, there was a mixed auction in the village close to ours, the very next day.
While Susan busied herself at home unpacking and sorting some of our joint book collection, I took the opportunity to attend the sale and to make a bid on a 'sealed box' the contents of which were unknown to the purchaser and hence relatively cheap.
All that was known about the box is that it was reputed to come from a notorious Victorian Women's Reformatory dedicated to, (as the Victorians chose to describe it), 'Young women in need of guidance.'
Even before moving into the village I had heard tales about this place and its terrible reputation, which I attributed to local rumour, exaggerated to attract tourists but when I found myself the sole bidder for the box and able to win the lot for a paltry five pounds I wondered to what extent superstition had worked in my favour.
My darling wife was overjoyed with my purchase and eager to open a box that, judging by its dusty decrepit exterior, might hold treasures too fabulous to mention.
Because I loved to see Susan really excited I decided not to tell her anything about the history of the Woman's Reformatory, or its reputed connection to the box occupying a central position in our lounge, preferring instead to watch her open the box and delve within.
'Isn't it exciting darling?' She cooed, 'There may be rubbish or treasure, please sit still Adam and let me show you in my own time.'
Having to contain my excitement, I watched her cut through the tapes that secured the lid and prise it open before peering into the space that was revealed.
'There is this', She said, holding aloft a heavy tarnished brass inkstand that once might have been a grand embellishment to the governor's office, 'Lots of old newspapers dating from 1859 up to 1861, a couple of ledgers with nothing on the covers to hint at their contents, a bundle of exercise books and right at the bottom of the box an item of mystery that was to instigate radical changes to each of us, although we could not know that at the time.
The item stretched the full length of the box, (about two and a half feet by my estimation), and was wrapped in layer upon layer of material that looked very much like oilcloth.
'This thing can go', Susan announced, holding the item at arms length and shuddering in revulsion at the sight of it.
'Now now Susan, you don't even know what it is,' I reminded her, 'Aren't you going to unwrap it? For all you know it might be something rare or collectable, something I can use on my stall.'
I could see that the package was well wrapped, layer upon layer of waxed cloth meant that someone had gone to a certain amount of trouble to preserve the contents, and that surely was worth investigating.
'Looks like it could do with a good scrub,' Susan remarked, lifting the item and examining it closely. 'It is leather I think and split up the middle with a sort of grip at the other end, something used in the agricultural sector maybe, or perhaps an equestrian item - anyway who would want to buy an old thing like that?'
'Something for you to research darling?' I suggested, 'After all it would be educational and may even give you a few ideas for that book of yours.'
I recognised immediately what it was and if I had hinted at its origin then Susan would have guessed it too. We were still in the early stages of getting to know each other and things could go either way, she might be horrified, disgusted even, but she might be inspired to continue research and hold her judgement until more was known about the sinister object. I hoped that time invested in research might convince her of the latter because I felt already that this item represented a tangible link with the past and possible corroboration of the facts concerning the myth that had
grown about a place once so close to our home.
