I lean against the wall of the shower for something like half an hour with my face covered in running water – which gets steaming hot if the first floor neighbour flushes and gets freezing cold if the second floor neighbour does. Then, I drag myself into bed in order to bury this disastrous afternoon under layers of sheets.
I barely notice a text.
It’s Derek’s.
You told me to solve the issues with your inheritance. I might have found a solution. Let’s talk about it at dinner tomorrow, meet me at 8 p.m. at Berners’.
4
Ashford’s Version
As predicted, I didn’t sleep. I really racked my brain to solve this situation and find the money we need. At last, when I even considered turning Denby into a ‘massage parlour’, like Tom Cruise inRisky Business, I knew I was looking right into the eyes of despair.
At 5 a.m., I quit trying and get up.
I turn on my mobile and find a text message from Derek.
On that screen, I find the answer to my prayers.
You told me to sort the situation of your father’s debts. I might have found a solution. Let’s talk about it at dinner tomorrow, meet me at 8 p.m. at Berners’.
I’ll have to go back to London, but it’s fine. It’s a sacrifice I’ll be happy to make, this time.
As if my muscles had relaxed all at once, I collapse again on my bed, and let myself fall into deep sleep.
Then, due to my mother’s insistence, Lance wakes me up.
It’s past noon and, according to her, it’s unacceptable that I linger in bed when the Royal Family could visit us any minute.
One day I’ll find the courage to confess that the Royal Family are not going to visit us. But today isn’t that day.
I get up, with a kind of energy I haven’t had since last year’s polo finals.
I get into a cashmere jumper and a pair of distressed jeans, then I grab my tennis racket.
I know that today it is 10°C outside, but I feel as if I have a nuclear reactor inside me, so I decide to go to the court and practise my backhand against the wall.
The open air areas are what I love the most about our property. Every glimpse is so different from any other and it doesn’t even feel you’re in the same place. The outside is a maze which leads into an itinerary of thematic gardens.
Denby Hall is an eighteenth century mansion which has been reshaped and expanded over the years by the various Dukes of Burlingham, apparently without following an overall plan. This is what provides its unique character, unlike typical English mansions which are usually built by following projects through meticulously.
The tennis court is situated inside one of the courtyards and it’s enclosed on three sides by stone walls covered by red climbing vines. The long open side gives a view of the lake. On the first floor, a gallery overlooks the court.
I confess that I’m always strongly tempted by the idea of hitting my mother with a ball when I see her up there. Sooner or later, I’ll have the satisfaction of doing it.
My father was a great man, as he could handle my mother for forty years, but then he just left her to me. And, after a little less than thirty years, I’m already starting to consider disappearing for good.
Needless to say, my mother is a control freak: she controlled my father first, and now she’s focusing all her energy and efforts on me.
As being a duchess for half her life wasn’t enough for her, she’s thrown herself into being the mother of the new duke.
Until I get married, she remains the most important woman in the Burlingham family.
I’m facing a turning point: shall I stick with my mother for all my life, or shall I replace her with a wife who will be the brand new duchess?
There are only two types of woman my mother would approve of.
Type one: shy, submissive and spineless – a mute would be perfect – who leaves my mother in control of everything.
