Did they actually have experience running a farm, haha? I have to wonder what kind of "repairs" they made. It sounds like her family was well off, and she didn't expect to meet any of them on the farm itself, so I guess that even when they did own the farm they probably just paid someone else to actually run it.

I don't know if you've ever read anything by K. J. Parker (Tom Holt's pseudonym for fantasy), but like every single one of his protagonists fantasizes about settling down on a farm and living a simple, honest life, but they are usually traumatized war veterans who have no actual experience with farm work. I feel like this story could have happened in one of those books.