He almost headed for the library first to pick up a bank statement, thinking that being able to shove it under their noses would add weight to what he was about to say. But Sebastian would have had to veer off in a completely different direction to reach the library, and he was already at the door to the butler’s pantry.
The pantry consisted of a series of rooms, close to the kitchens and originally the butler’s lair. At some point in the dim and distant past, one of the tangle of rooms had been converted into a snug. It was where the media centre was situated, a place where the furniture was sloppy and comfortable. Coffee cups could be abandoned on wooden tables without fear of ruining the patina, shoes could be sloughed off and nobody tutted. Their informal space.
It was as good a place as any to give the rest of his family some home truths.
As luck would have it, his mother was also in the room, and she was the first to look up from the TV, her smile at Sebastian’s arrival tempered by a confused frown.
‘Sebastian, darling, what have you got there?’
From the squashy two-seat sofa, Candida and Olivia glanced across simultaneously, Olivia raising her eyebrows as she saw what he was carrying.
‘Care to explain?’ Sebastian aimed the question squarely at Olivia.
‘She was supposed to keep it—’
‘Supposed to keep it a secret?’ Sebastian said, aware his tone was spiralling, but his throat was so tight with the effort of holding it all together.
‘What’s going on?’ his mother said. ‘Who was supposed to keep what a secret?’
‘I don’t get the problem,’ Olivia said, turning to her mother. ‘All I’ve done is organise a surprise party next weekend to welcome my brother home. Jess was supposed to help me and keep quiet, and she’s obviously told him, and now it looks like he’s going to throw one of his strops. I mean, you work it out, Mummy, because I can’t see what the problem is. I was trying to do something nice for you, Seb. If it’s the stupid dress which has upset you, throw it in the dustbin, it was just a bit of fun.’
Sebastian could hear her tone change, too. Her words sounded reasonable, but he could sense there was an undertone of steel to them. Out of his two siblings and himself, Sebastian had always thought Olivia to be the most like their father. She didn’t back down easily and, when Olivia decided to do something, she expected to be able to do it. There was never any question.
Until today.
Today, Sebastian needed to make her understand – he needed to make them all understand.
‘A party?’ His mother sounded confused, and rightfully so. In Sebastian’s opinion, there was nothing to celebrate.
Olivia had enough grace to look marginally embarrassed. Perhaps she was realising that, although the siblings knew exactly what their father had been like and had a fair idea of what he’d put their mother through, hehadonly been dead for a couple of weeks.
But that wasn’t Sebastian’s issue, that wasn’t uppermost in his thoughts. Instead, his focus remained on the dress in his hand.
‘First of all,’ he said, shimmying the dress for extra emphasis, ‘Jess will not be wearing this. Not now, or ever.’ He threw the whole lot at his sister, not caring when the hanger caught her on the knee before the dress slunk to the floor as if it was doing its best to hide.
‘Sebastian!’ The shock in his mother’s voice was clear.
‘All right. You’ve made your point,’ Olivia said, rubbing at her leg.
‘No. I haven’t. And that’s the problem. You lot are living in cloud-cuckoo-land.’
‘What do you mean? What’s wrong with wanting to welcome you home?’
‘Who have you invited to this thing?’ Sebastian said, folding his arms as he stared at her.
‘Oh, not many people. The Matthews. Gram and Spikey. Bridey, Hops and Tank. Some others, too. All the old crowd.’
They were all people he hadn’t spent significant time with for nearly a decade.
‘Yourfriends, then,’ he said.
‘They used to be yours as well.’ Olivia crossed her arms, too, and raised him a defiant pout.
‘Yes, Olivia. But lots of things have changed.’
‘Darling, I believe Liv was thinking of you. They are some of your oldest friends, you can’t deny it.’
It was a valiant attempt by his mother to bridge the gap between her children, but Sebastian hadn’t dropped the bomb yet. He flexed his eyebrows as he tried to decide how best to pull the lever.
