Keeping a secret

I lived in Suffolk and wanted to buy a small piece of land next to my house that was origionally part of my garden before I bought the house off a large estate a few years earlier. It was part of the Helmingham Hall Estate which meant dealing with their land agent/estate manager. Subsequent to his agreement to sell the land to me, events arose that caused me to want to sell the house but to still go through with buying the piece of adjoining land before moving. I was very keen that the estate manager who had agreed to sell me the land should not find out that I was going to sell up, in case he decided not to go through with it. I found a farm in Surrey, about 120 miles from Ipswich. Having put in a bid on the place, I called into the London office of the Estate Agents handling the sale of the farm that I wanted to buy in Surrey. Imagine my surprise when the estate agent in London said that the person selling the farm in Surrey also, like me, lived in Suffolk. The person selling the farm in Surrey was the same man with whom I had been negotiating the purchase of the piece of land that I wanted to buy in Suffolk. I didn't get the farm, as my bid was not accepted. I did get the piece of garden in Suffolk. I think the estate manager was as surprised as I was at the coincidence.