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Seb took aup the steaks and tipping the sautéed vegetables into a dish and putting it onto the table He added a loaf of bread and a pat of butter and grabbed two steak knives and forks

‘Come and sit at the table,’ he said ‘We can talk afterwards’

It was like being on a first date Worse, a blind date A blind date where you suddenly lost all sense of speech, thought and taste Was this his future? Sitting at a table with this wos to say?

‘My grandparents ate everyhall, even when it was just the two of the pause ‘Grandfather at the head of the table, grandmother at the foot Even with the leaves taken out the table seats thirty’

She put down her fork and stared at him ‘Could they hear each other?’

‘They both had penetrating voices, although I don’t know if they were natural or whether they developed the at each other across fifteen foot of polishedtheir stubborn determination to keep to the ritual fored around them

‘And what about your parents? Did they dispense with the rules and eat in here or did they like the distance?’

‘Ah, my parents It appearswildly beyond their means If I can’t find a way to make Hawksley pay for itself within the next five years’ His voice trailed off He couldn’t articulate his worst fears: that he would be the Beresford who lost Hawksley Castle

‘Hence the handy?’

‘Hence the handy And the leave of absence fros It’s a drop in the ocean but it’s a start’

‘You need my sisters Rose is in New York but she’s a PR whizz and Violet is theperson I have ever met I bet they could come up with a plan to save Hawksley’

He needed randparents followed the rules all their lives They looked after the estate, the people who lived on it Lived up to their responsibilities My parents were the opposite They didn’t spenda party They preferred London, or the Caribbean Hawksley was a giant piggy bank, not a responsibility’

Her eyes softened ‘What happened?’

‘You must have read about them?’ He pushed his half-empty plate away, suddenly sickened ‘If your parents are fae, s, affairs, exotic holidays They were always on the front pages They divorced twice, reant way The first tieboy The second ti of water, his mouth dry