Having helped Pip prepare the cows’ winter housing at Brookfield tired Leonard nearly falls over, before going inside to make a phone call. Pip tells Ruth she’s worried Leonard might be overdoing it, helping out while the others are busy at Meadow Farm. It’s so easy to forget how old he is. Ruth agrees and says she’ll have a quiet word with Leonard. But when Ruth catches the end of Leonard’s phone call, then teases about hearing him mention a “little secret”, he gets prickly, agreeing tersely that he’ll be sure not to do too much from now on. Later, Ruth mentions being intrigued by Leonard’s “little secret” to Pip, who tells her bluntly not to be so nosey. Susan compliments Alan on the Remembrance Day service, but he punctures her mood by passing on a complaint from a shop customer, before telling Susan he’s starting to lose patience himself. Jakob, likewise, grudgingly passes on a customer query before Susan tells Alan the shop isn’t really her concern now. She’s handed in her resignation, due to the shop committee refusing to allow George to volunteer there. When Alan suggests some villagers are still coming to terms with what George did, Susan insists he just needs someone to give him a chance. Susan accepts that her resignation will make it difficult for people, especially replacing her at the Post Office, but she won’t change her mind unless George is allowed to volunteer. Alan then confides in Jakob that the shop will have to stop operating at the church.
