Short story competition - The Lady with Mills and Boon and the National Trust

Good news for all short story writers. The Lady in conjunction with Mills and Boon and the National Trust is launching a short story competition. It's all part of the drive the National Trust is making to pull more people into their properties by emphasising the romance element. Personally I find their houses and wonderful gardens a constant source of inspiration as a writer. The most atmospheric recently was a trip down to Ightham Mote a medieval moated manor house on one of the few balmy evenings we had recently. We had mistimed it and got there just as the property closed. But a secluded walk nearby took us to the back gate of the house from where we could peer in and see the grounds, deserted under a golden evening haze. In the silence you could feel you were looking through a window into the past. Magic! Details of the competition can be obtained from The Lady's website by following this link http://www.lady.co.uk/?q=node/94482. Stories should be no more than 2000 words and the closing date is 31 July 2010. This is excellent news since The Lady recently stopped their regular fiction slot following the appointment of a new editor to the magazine. Maybe this latest move means that they are reconsidering their break with fiction. We live in hope......