Harnessing Peacocks
Mary Wesley
 Hebe lost her parents in an air crash when she was a baby and she was brought up by her grandparents. When she, to her surprise, learns that she is pregnant, her grandparents and older siblings arrange an abortion to eliminate the social nuisance. Hebe overhears their plans and flee her grandparents´ home for good. Twelve years later Hebe is living alone in a small town in the West Country and her son, Silas, is attending a posh private school. To make a living Hebe is working as a cook for elderly ladies and supplements the income by sleeping with their sons and sons-in-law. In the meantime forces are threatening her lucrative and well structured life. Silas's father (unknown to Hebe) is looking for her; Silas is on vacation with the sons of one of her clients; the local hatter falls in love with Hebe; Silas hates his school; one of her clients wants to marry her and begins stalking her and Hebe's grandparents get involved in a road accident.