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‘It’s in incredible condition’ She had taken so , the way the huge beams curved

‘It has to be We couldn’t hold events here if not It may look untouched since Elizabethan ti toilets and a fully kitted-out kitchen through that door In fact, this is more up to date than parts of the main house It’s always been used as a ballroom, which made the decision to hire it out a little easier’ He winced ‘My grandfather thought we had a duty to share the castle with the wider world, but not for profit’

‘Hence the restrictive opening hours?’

‘Absolutely I don’t knohat he would say if he saw the weddings They’re not e an obscene a to work out how toand yet keep it as a home Keep the heart of it intact It’s not easy’

‘You’re planning to stay here, then, not live in Oxford?’

‘Now it’s h it will be strange, co pulled constantly in two different directions, between the demands of my career and the demands of my home—they both need all of e to own it, to be the one taking care of it’

His eyes lit up with enthusias as he pointed out another interesting architectural feature and recounted yet another bit of family history that Daisy was convinced he made up on the spot Nobody could have such a scandalous faeneration

‘You really love it, don’t you?’

‘How could I not? Growing up here, it was like living in my own time machine I could be anybody from Robin Hood to Dick Turpin’

‘Always the outlaw?’

‘They seeot the girls’

‘All the is in life’

‘Exactly’ He grinned; it made him look more boyish More desirable Daisy’s breath hitched in her throat, her mouth suddenly dry

Their gazes caught, snagged, and they stood there for a long reen, a hint of so at their core and awareness shivered down Daisy’s spine She moved backwards, just a few centiaze until her back hit the wooden panelling She leant against it, thankful for the support, her legs weak