Page 53 of The Way We Are Now

‘Come to London with me,’ he whispered into my hair.

‘Sorry?’

Theo sat up, smiling down at me, his hardness in the tight, white breeches evident. ‘We have a house there. In Holland Park.’

‘Another house? And in a park?’

I could feel Theo smile as he nipped gently at my neck with soft little kisses. ‘Not in the actual park,’ he countered.

‘Well, it wouldn’t have surprised me if you had,’ I said, reaching my arms around his neck and slowly kissing his mouth.

‘So will you come?’

‘When?’

‘A long weekend? Soon. We can stay there.’

‘Are you sure? Your parents won’t mind?’

‘No, they know I have friends from school who are all now in the City. They’re more than happy for me to go down, keeping an eye on the place and keeping in touch with friends.’

‘And your father won’t mind me staying there with you?’ I pulled back, looking into Theo’s eyes.

‘I’m sure he did exactly the same when he was my age – stop worrying about my father. So, will you come?’

In every way possible, I thought as I nodded and Theo gently pulled me down onto the damp grass.

17

Theo dropped me off at home the next day around two in the afternoon.

We’d finally returned from the lake – and to our respective rooms – at 6 a.m. and, utterly suffused with love for this man, I’d managed only a couple of hours’ sleep. Breakfast had been laid, presumably by Maureen and her team, in the large oak-clad dining room that the family still kept for their own use. They might well be on their uppers with regards their financial situation, but Sir Hugh and Lady Mandeville still, apparently, entertained on a regular basis, hosting dinners for many local and not so local guests. His mother, according to Theo, hosted the important managers as well as celebrities – the Duchess of Kent, born and bred up the road at Hovingham Hall, being one – from her many charities at suitably attended lunches in this room.

Those who, like me, had stayed overnight, were now gathered around the breakfast buffet, piling plates with scrambled eggs, kedgeree, bacon and mushrooms before signalling to Maureen that strong coffee – presumably to counteract the amount of alcohol downed the previous evening – was a necessity. I felt ridiculously shy, standing there in my jeans and T-shirt, not quite sure what to put on my plate or who I should join at the table. Of Theo there was no sign, and I was on the point of sidling back up to my room, when I felt a hand in my own.

‘You hungry?’ Mary asked. ‘I had my breakfast long time ago, but I’m going to have some more with you. Come on.’ She led me to the end of the queue and started helping herself to what was on offer.

‘Goodness, can you eat all that?’ I laughed. ‘You must be hungry.’

‘I very hungry,’ Mary said, her eyes gleaming at the sight of the sausage and tomato she’d put on her plate. She held out another plate to me. ‘Fill your boots.’ She giggled. ‘I says this every time I has my dinner…’

She broke off as Bridget came between us. ‘Mary, that’s too much. You’ve already eaten. Your mother won’t be pleased if she knows you’re tucking in again.’ I smiled at Bridget, willing her to be friendly to me in this room of strangers, but she ignored me. ‘Put it back,’ she warned, attempting to take Mary’s plate.

‘Could she maybe have a little and come and sit with me and keep me company?’ I smiled once again but Bridget’s frosty demeanour was more than enough to tell me what she thought of me. I was saved from what could have been an awkward situation when Theo appeared at our side.

‘Ooh, lovely, Mary, d’you want to share what’s on your plate with me?’ he asked before bending to pat her blonde plaits. He smiled at me before kissing my cheek. ‘Morning. You OK?’ he whispered in my ear. ‘I came along to your room to see if you wanted breakfast, but you were already packed and the bed stripped. I thought you must have had enough and hared off back to Rothersley, unable to take another minute of me and my family.’

With others around, I found myself unable to utter anything that wasn’t gibberish. Instead, for something to say, I said, ‘It’s what we do…’

‘What is?’ Theo raised an eyebrow.

‘You know. Strip the bed when we’ve been staying somewhere.’

‘Even in hotels?’ Theo was laughing at me, and I wondered where the hell I was going with this nonsense. All I wanted was to sit down with a coffee, Theo at my side. I certainly felt too overwhelmed amongst this braying and chatting horde to be shovelling mountains of breakfast down me as the rest of the people in the room were doing. There were, in reality, probably only twenty or so family and guests in the room, but their self-assured familial knowledge of each other was undermining any confidence I might have gained the previous evening.

‘Go and sit down with Mary and Bridget.’ Theo smiled, understanding my awkwardness. ‘How about a coffee?’

‘Lovely,’ I said.