Sunny looked around the chapel, taking it all in—the carved pews, the stone columns, the pools of candy-coloured light drenching the floor. Then he glanced at Ludo, and something passed between them. One of those couple moments where an entire conversation happens in a flash of eyes.
Sunny turned back to me. “We’re sold.”
My heart almost stopped. “Really?”
“Really.” Sunny blushed, his face going almost as red as his hair. “Actually, we sort of assumed it would be perfect, and?—”
Ludo chimed in. “We’ve already applied for the marriage licence, listing Buckford as the venue. All we needed was to confirm the date with your availability.”
“When are you thinking?” I asked, nervously. “Not to put too fine a point on it, it has to be this side of Halloween.”
“Six weeks from now,” Ludo said.
Relief flooded through me.
“Will you have us?” Sunny asked.
“Of course!” I threw my arms out to pull them into a hug, got a whiff of my “eau de Dub-Dub,” and clamped them back to my sides before I knocked anyone out. “We’d be honoured.”
We shook hands on it. Petey jumped up from his pew and hugged me. Sunny and Ludo were wrapped in an embrace. Even Peggy was clapping and cheering. I hoped, desperately, these boys would be the first of many public weddings at Buckford. I’d been through the numbers with the estate’s new accountant. With the venue hire, accommodation, and food packages we’d designed, the baseline profit after expenses and tax on each wedding would add £32,000 to the coffers. Ten or twelve of those a year would be a huge boost to the Buckford economy. If I got the chance. I had to save the estate first.
Chapter 43
Petey
Bramley had prepared a three-course meal and raided the cellar. He was in his element—suited up like a proper old-fashioned butler, with black coat-tails and white gloves, giving us the full silver service treatment.
Afterwards, we retired to the East Drawing Room for brandy or, in my case, a glass of sherry—as my tastes don’t run to piss-coloured methylated spirits. Everyone was blotto, including Gran, who could really put it away. She and Bunny tucked themselves in a corner, bonding over Reggie and Ronnie Kray for some unknown reason—the pair of them were getting along like a forest fire. Sunny, Ludo, William, and I were sprawled across a couple of sofas. We had worked out Sunny and Ludo were old friends of William’s godparents—they’d all worked together to uncover a corruption scandal at the heart of government a couple of years earlier. Apparently, Karma was a demon of the dark web. It’s always the ones you least expect.
“So, how long until you have to pitch to Indira?” Sunny asked.
I grimaced. “Two weeks.”
“You don’t look keen. I thought this was your big dream?”
“It is. But I don’t have an idea big enough yet.”
“What’s your best one, at the moment?” Ludo asked.
“A show calledThe GreatReal Estate Gamble. Picture this. An apartment block. Six identical flats. Six couples. All competing to renovate their apartment as best they can on a tight budget. The catch? The renovation decisions they make are decided on the flip of a coin, or the roll of a dice. They’re making big design decisions based on a constant game of chance. Which wallpaper? It’s heads or tails. Do they get to buy the tiles they want? Only if they roll a six. The twist? If they win their game of chance, they can either buy the wallpaper or the tiles they want, or they can choose to sabotage their competitors instead. At the end, all the flats go on the market, and the one that gets the highest offer wins.”
Ludo sucked air in through his teeth. Sunny was doing his best to smile supportively, but he seemed to have developed a tic in his right eye.
“It’s terrible, isn’t it?”
“Nooooo!” Ludo said, too quickly. “Jolly clever. I’d certainly never have thought of it. Would you, Sunny?”
Sunny glared at his fiancé. “I would watchanyTV show you made, Petey Boy. I’m sure it’ll be huge.”
I knew it wasn’t a strong concept. Not yet. But it could be. I needed time to work on it.
The conversation turned to Sunny’s old employer,The Bulletin, and its obsession with the Bisexual Baron Buckford.
“It was bad enough when it was me,” William said. “But when they went after Petey, too, I saw red. Thank God we managed to kill it off.”
Sunny looked at me with concern, his journalist’s instincts obviously kicking in. “What does he mean they went after you?”
I glanced over at Gran to make sure she wasn’t listening. She was still deep in conversation with Bunny.
