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‘Thus neatly getting out of one of the joys of home ownership,’ Luce said wryly.
Ben remembered the ‘House Repairs’ entry on her ‘To Do’ list.
‘Your house takes some upkeep, then?’
‘It’s falling apart,’ Luce said, her voice blunt, and reached for her wine. ‘But it was my grandfather’s house, and I grew up there. I could never sell it even if I found someone willing to take it on.’
‘Still, sounds like a lot of work on top of all your other commitments.’ Was this something else she was doing for her family? For the sake of others? ‘Are you sure you wouldn’t be happier in a cosy little flat near the university?’
He was mostly joking, so the force of her reply surprised him. ‘Never.’
‘Okay.’
Dropping her eyes to the table, Luce shook her head a little before smiling up at him. ‘Sorry. It’s just...I worry about it a lot. But one day I’ll finish fixing the place up and it’ll be the perfect family home. It’s just getting there that’s proving trying.’
Ben shrugged. ‘I guess I don’t really get it. I mean, I own properties and such. I’ve even renovated one of them. But they’re just bricks and mortar to me. If I had to sell them, or if getting rid of them gave me another opportunity—well, it wouldn’t worry me.’
‘You don’t get attached, huh?’ She gave him a lopsided smile. ‘Probably a good choice if you’re always moving around.’
‘Exactly. Don’t get tied down. It’s one of my rules for life.’
‘Yeah? What are the others?’
Ben couldn’t tell if she was honestly interested or mocking him. ‘Most importantly: enjoy life. And avoid responsibility, of course.’
‘Of course,’ she echoed with a smile, reaching for the bread basket. ‘You never were big on that.’
There was an awkward silence while Ben imagined Luce rerunning every stupid moment he’d had at university in her head. Time to change the subject.
‘So, you’re in Chester for some conference thing?’ he asked.
Luce nodded, swallowing the bread she was chewing. ‘“Bringing History to the Future”.’ Ben smiled at the sarcasm in her voice.
‘You’re not a fan?’
‘It’s not that,’ Luce replied with a shrug. ‘It’s just...there’s so much important preservation and research to be done, and finding a way to make the importance of our history fit into a series of thirty-minute television programmes with accompanying books does tend to interfere a bit.’
‘But if it’s not important to the bulk of the populace...?’
‘Then we lose funding and the chance to study important sites and documents. I know, I know...’
From the way she waved her hands in a dismissive manner Ben gathered this wasn’t the first time she’d heard the argument. ‘You have this debate a lot?’
Luce gave him a lopsided smile. ‘Mostly with myself. I understand the need, but sometimes I’d rather be holed up in a secluded library somewhere, doing real research, real work, not worrying about who was going to read and dissect it without understanding the background.’
‘This is your book?’ Ben tore himself another piece of bread and smeared it with tapenade, but kept his gaze on her.
Luce pulled a face. ‘My book is somewhere between the two. “Popular history for armchair historians,” my editor calls it. Or it will be if I ever finish it.’
‘What’s it about?’
‘An obscure Welsh princess who became the mistress of Henry I, and whose rape caused the end of the truce between the Normans and the Welsh.’ The words sounded rote, as if she’d been telling people the same line for a long time without making any progress.
Ben scoured his vague memory of ‘A’ Level history, but they hadn’t covered much Welsh history in his very English boarding schools. ‘You’re still based in Wales, then?’ he asked.
Luce nodded. ‘Cardiff. But not just for the history. It’s where I grew up. Where my family lives. It’s home. And when Grandad left me the house I knew it was where I was meant to stay.’
‘That’s nice,’ Ben said absently, thinking again of the overgrown château that was his heritage from his maternal grandmother. He should probably check in on it some time soon.
The waiter brought their meals, and the conversation moved on to discussing the dishes in front of them.
‘So,’ he said, when they’d both agreed their food was delicious, and Luce had stolen a bite of his rabbit with mustard sauce, ‘tell me more about this Welsh princess of yours.’
