The Price of Butcher's Meat by Reginald Hill

Edward—& his sister—Esther—started cozying up to her. Lady D loves having them dance attendance—drops them little titbits from time to time to keep them interested—took them on a skiing holiday last Christmas for instance. That made them think they were at the top of the inheritance list—so they must have got a nasty shock when shortly after they came back Lady D brought cousin Clara to live at the hall! To compensate—maybe—she gave Sir Ed some kind of job in the Hollis pig empire—not his kind of thing at all—Mary implied—but hed had to take it—or risk losing his cozying-up access!
    Seems first hubby—Hog Hollis—was built in the same mold—expecting relatives to put up with his bossy ways—& be grateful for whatever crumbshe dropped their way. Closest—in blood at least—was his half-brother—Harold—known as Hen—Hollis. Seems the pair never got on—& when they inherited Millstone—the family farm—rather than work together—Hog went with the pigs—& Hen with the poultry—hence their names—gerrit?!
    Neck & neck at first—till Hen got hit hard by the salmonella scare way back. Needed cash badly—turned to Hog who was doing well—Hog offered a loan—but being echt Yorkshire—demanded Hens share of Millstone—as security. When—despite the loan—the chicken business finally went bust—Hog gave Hen a job—in charge of quality control—in his pig business. But it was still family loyalty—Yorkshire style! Part of Hens salary came in the form of letting him continue to live at Millstone Farm—all of which now belonged to Hog!
    Hog himself was now ensconced in Sandytown Hall—from which he wooed Daphne Brereton. They married—Hog continued to prosper—Hen & Lady D didnt get on—but both of them were used to not getting on with people so nothing strange there—then Hog died—& left nearly everything to his widow. His token acknowledgment of family ties was that he only left her Millstone in trust. The building & everything on the farm would revert to Hen—if he survived his sis-in-law.
    Locally—says Mary—if you want to bet on Hen outliving Lady D you can get odds of 20 to 1! She enjoys vigorous good health—hes a hard drinker—& smoker—& “choleric”—most of his choler being directed at his brothers relict—who is enjoying what he—& several other Hollises—thought should have come to the family.
    Led by Hen—these disaffected Hollises raised objections to the will. Not all of them—some—like Alan Hollis who runs Lady Ds pub the Hope & Anchor—knew what side their bread was buttered on. The others got nowhere—Lady Ds smart London lawyer soon swatted off their flimsy legal objections. Lady D was ready to be patronizingly generous in victory—after all in their shoes shed have done exactly the same—but when she learned that Hen was trying a new tack—& circulating rumors that shed had a hand in her husbands death—she went bananas!
    Daph & Hen had a violent—& public—row—which ended with Hen refusing to retract his insinuations. Maybe hed forgotten that Lady D was now hisboss. If so he was quickly reminded when she fired him—& when he retaliated by saying he didnt fancy working for a fat old tart anyway—Daph really put the boot in by serving him notice to quit the Hollis farm—which she was legally entitled to do.
    Happy families—eh? Makes our lot seem right cozy!
    At least Hen has the satisfaction of knowing Daph has no way of stopping him getting Millstone back—if he outlives her. But the others—that is the Denhams—& cousin Clara—are going to have to sing her song for whatever supper she may leave them. Mary shows little sympathy for the bart & his sister—but she purses her lips on Claras