19
IT HAD BEEN a long time since Archie’d had a spring in his step but this morning, after leaving Nora, he drove home and left the Jag in the garage, using the short walk to the house to brace himself for an interrogation from his mother.
‘Morning, Ursula,’ he said. He’d gone through the back door to give himself half a chance of being undetected in his clothes from the night before, but if he had to come across someone, Ursula was his preference. She was making coffee in the kitchen and gave him a knowing look.
‘Good morning, Archie. Coffee?’
‘That would be wonderful,’ he said. ‘Perhaps I should get changed first.’
‘Good idea. Her ladyship hasn’t noticed that you stayed out last night. In case you were wondering.’
It was exasperating that it bothered him what his mother thought, but it did. And Ursula was proving to be a useful ally.
‘Thank you. I take it she’s not down for breakfast yet?’
‘No, but I have taken her tea up so she won’t be long.’ Constance always rang down for a cup of tea first thing.
‘I’ll go up the back stairs then.’ He grinned at Ursula, feeling ridiculously happy.
‘I’m glad you had a good evening.’
Archie crept up the stairs, feeling like a naughty schoolboy, but thrilled with the whole situation. His room was at the opposite end of the landing to Constance’s and even if she headed downstairs now, they wouldn’t cross paths but if she did glimpse him in the clothes he went out in, it didn’t matter how old he was, she would consider it terribly bad form to have stayed out all night without having planned to.
He looked at himself in the mirror and grinned. No wonder Ursula had been smirking. There was no escaping the fact that somehow, sex with Nora had changed him. Whether it was the way his hair was flopping over his forehead that spoke of her fingers running through it, or whether it was that he couldn’t help but smile, thinking of the most incredible night of his life. There was no hiding it.
Jumping in the shower and not caring for once about the lukewarm trickle of water it offered, he then quickly dressed and headed downstairs. Ursula had a steaming cup of coffee waiting for him on the breakfast table. He sat and sipped it gratefully.
‘Good morning, Archie,’ said Constance, kissing his cheek before taking her seat opposite him.
‘Morning, Mama.’
‘I take it you had a nice evening with your friends?’
‘Very much so.’
‘And Nora is well this morning?’
Archie smiled. ‘How did you know? I went to great lengths to keep up the pretence that I was simply back rather late last night.’
‘I heard the car.’
Archie gave a rueful nod. ‘Of course.’
‘You’re quite old enough to conduct your own affairs without my interference. But it’s rather unbecoming for one to wear the same clothes this morning as one wore last night. Goodness only knows what the staff must think.’
Knowing quite well that this kind of thing mattered to his mother, and Mrs Milton might not share Ursula’s relaxed attitude, he said, ‘I apologise, Mama. You’re quite right.’
‘Wonderful. Now, what are your plans for today?’
‘I’m delivering the vase to the auction house and making an appointment with the roofing company.’
‘Jolly good. Sebastian mentioned there’s a planning officer visiting today.’
‘For some advice on the stables and perhaps the lake.’ It seemed worthwhile to ask as much as possible while the chap was there, especially since the lake project needed to be underway. ‘And speaking of Seb, he and Jess are getting married next month.’
‘Oh, that’s lovely news,’ said Constance. ‘I shall look forward to that.’
‘Ah, no. The wedding is in Dorset with only close family invited.’
‘But you’re going?’
‘Seb asked me to be his best man.’ Archie was touched to have been asked. He’d never been best man to anyone before, and it was nice to know that Seb felt they were close friends as Archie did.
’You’ll be taking Nora,’ Constance said, sounding resigned. As if he’d have taken his mother to Dorset for the wedding even if he didn’t have a girlfriend. ‘I’m off to the pictures with Penny and Linda. I don’t suppose you could take me into town?’
‘Of course. What time?’
‘In an hour, if that suits?’
Archie finished his breakfast and packaged up the vase by which time Constance was ready to leave.
‘Put my knitting bag in the boot, would you darling?’ She said, handing him the most hideous, voluminous carpet bag.
‘Would you have the vase on your lap, just in case?’
‘Good idea. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to it. Fancy Nora finding a gem like that in the china room? I never imagined there was anything of any value in there. It’s certainly not catalogued with the valuables.’
‘I can’t help but feel it’s somewhat letting the side down.’ He’d wondered whether Betsy and his mother thought that selling the vase was the smart thing to do, or were agreeing just to bail him out of the hole he was in.
‘Nonsense.’ Constance patted his leg. ‘We can’t live in a museum. The most important thing is to save the house for generations to come. Not every item in it needs to come on that journey.’
‘Thank you, Mama.’
It was a relief to hear that from her. Knowing what his sister was like, he had thought that between him being useless and Betsy erring on the materialistic side, that Constance may have felt pushed into agreeing.
‘You know if you die before Betsy, she’ll sell most of it in one fell swoop.’
Archie let out a roar of laughter. It was absolutely true. Betsy would want the estate and the house but she’d also want the money that went with that, and her husband, despite working in the City, wasn’t keeping her in the way she wanted to become accustomed to. But with her baby daughter Florence likely to be the heir to the Croftwood estate, she’d been much keener lately on having a say. ‘So cynical, Mama.’
His mother pursed her lips, and he could see she was attempting to suppress a smile. ‘I have no illusions where your sister is concerned. Besides, perhaps little Florence won’t inherit.’
‘I can’t imagine why not.’
‘You don’t think things are progressing with Nora?’
It was far too early for them to have discussed this, but Archie felt sure that neither of them planned to be first-time parents in their forties. ‘Not to that degree,’ he said. He imagined that if she had wanted children, it is something that would have happened with Julian.
‘I know I’m old-fashioned, but I would hope a gentleman would not stay the night with a lady without having honourable intentions.’
Archie wasn’t sure what to say to that but stopped himself from saying that yes, it is a rather old-fashioned view and that he was not proposing based on one night spent together. ‘It’s early days.’
‘As long as you understand that integrity and reputation are of the utmost importance. You’re not a young man but that does not mean that the same rules don’t apply just as they did when you were engaged to Clarissa.’
Archie could hardly believe they were having this conversation. ‘Forgive me, Mother, but I will not discuss this with you. As you have pointed out, I am not a young man and am old enough to make decisions about my personal life without any interference.’
Constance harrumphed but said nothing more. Archie’s heart was beating ten to the dozen. It wasn’t often he stood up to his mother but it felt necessary.
‘Just here,’ Constance directed, once they reached Croftwood Park and the entrance closest to the cinema.
Archie wordlessly fetched her bag from the boot, and watched until Constance was safely at the door of the cinema.
After dropping off the vase, he grabbed a quick sandwich in the kitchen with Ursula and Mrs Milton then headed to the estate office to meet the planning officer. When he arrived, Seb was chatting to the chap in the courtyard.
‘Archie, this is Ben Fletcher from the council. Ben, this is Archie, Lord Harrington.’
‘Good to meet you,’ Archie said, shaking Ben’s hand.
‘You too,’ said Ben. ‘Sebastian’s been filling me in on some of your plans. Where would you like to start?’
‘Perhaps you could start in the stables here, and then we’ll take a look at the lake. I’ve found the plans of the estate which might be useful as a reference for that. We can take a quick look at them beforehand.’
Ben seemed interested in Seb’s various ideas for the stable block. He didn’t seem to think there would be any problem securing planning permission for change of use.
‘If you’re thinking about retail, that’s another thing entirely. But workshops or offices are highly likely to be approved. You could even think about holiday accommodation.’
‘That’s interesting,’ said Seb. ‘We haven’t considered that.’
And with good reason, Archie thought. The last thing Constance would sign off on were holiday lets in the grounds. But he smiled and nodded, making a mental note to let Seb know it was a non-starter.
Rather than take Ben into the untidy estate office, which wouldn’t give the impression that they were running a well-organised machine, Archie brought the plans into Seb’s storage area on the pretence of their being more space to spread them out.
‘Before we head to the lake, one of our queries is whether we’re able to reinstate this gate without applying for permission,’ Archie said, pointing out where it was on the plans.
‘It opens onto the highway,’ Ben said uncertainly, ‘but it’s not a main road. ‘As far as I’m concerned, if the gateway is reinstated as it was, it’s unlikely to require permission. If you have any photographs of the old gateway that would be useful. We might want confirmation of what materials are going to be used and then I think we could do that on a planning notice under permitted development.’
‘That’s great news,’ said Seb. ‘Shall we go and take a look?’
They strolled across the estate to the lake.
‘This was a fishing lake, built by my father,’ said Archie.
‘Did it ever operate commercially?’ Ben asked.
‘Not officially but I know my father used to run a fishing club. That’s why we have these fishing spots, the wooden platforms, dotted around the edge.’
‘Ah, I see. The lake itself wouldn’t have needed permission but if you’re planning to operate it as a business, that would. Are you opening it commercially?’
‘Not as a fishing lake,’ said Seb. ‘We’d like to open it for wild-swimming.’
‘Oh, fantastic,’ Ben said, surprising them both. ‘My wife is in a wild-swimming club, but they’re based north of Worcester, so it’s not that convenient. She’ll be thrilled about this.’
‘Does that help our cause?’ Archie asked.
Ben laughed, as if that was a joke. ‘Ha! Nice one.’
‘We’re planning on reinstating the gate over there,’ Archie said, pointing over to the wall, now visible because the hedge had gone. ‘The small brick shed will be the entrance where we’ll check people in and out and we plan to build a wooden canopy on the side for a bit of shelter and for people to change under and leave their things in the dry.’
Ben made some notes but didn’t comment.
‘We’re thinking of buying a sauna and a Finnish barbecue shed. It’s basically a hexagonal hut with a firepit in the middle,’ Seb said.
‘Okay. You’ve given me plenty to go on. It’s the perfect setting for it, I will say that,’ Ben said. ‘I’ll be honest, the permission to use the lake for swimming will be determined on whether the site can cope with the expected traffic. When you submit the application, be sure to give us an idea of what you’re expecting and how you’re going to deal with parking, and think about how much traffic that lane can manage.’ He pointed to the boundary wall with his pen. ‘The sauna and shed can probably be classed as temporary structures which makes things easier, but it’s as well to include everything in the application so that we get a clear picture of what you’re aiming for overall.’
‘So you don’t think there’s anything that might cause a problem?’
‘I don’t think so. You don’t have any neighbours. That helps. Get the application in and I’ll do what I can to assist.’
‘That’s great, thank you. Much appreciated,’ said Archie shaking Ben’s hand.
At that moment, Nora appeared over the wall. She froze as they all turned to look at her.
‘Is this your first customer?’ said Ben, clocking the fact that Nora was wearing a dry robe.
‘This is my girlfriend, Nora. Nora, this is Ben from the council planning office,’ said Archie.
‘My wife’s got the same dry robe as you,’ said Ben. ‘I think she’d love it here.’
‘There’s a small group of us that meet here on a Thursday morning at seven-thirty. She’s welcome to join us if she’d like to. The others park in the lay-by along the lane and climb over the wall just there,’ Nora said.
Now it was Archie’s turn to freeze. He had no idea if it was against the rules to allow swimming in the lake before they had planning permission.
‘Thanks, I’ll mention it,’ Ben said, grinning.
‘I’ll walk you back to the office,’ Seb said, leaving Archie and Nora at the lakeside.
‘He seemed nice,’ Nora said, as she started to strip off.
‘What are you doing here? I thought you’d have been already.’ It wasn’t ideal to have been caught in the act by the planning officer.
She shrugged and smiled. ‘I’m not working today so I had a lazy start. For some reason I was feeling a bit tired. Aren’t you?’
He couldn’t help smiling. She was giving him a look that left him in no doubt that their night together was to blame.
‘On the contrary, I’m having rather a productive day.’
‘Good for you. Did Constance catch you sneaking in this morning?’
‘She did.’
Nora laughed. ‘I love that.’
‘She’s keen for me to make an honest woman of you.’
‘Oh god, really?’
Archie laughed. The annoyance he’d felt with his mother earlier dissipating now he was telling Nora.
‘Perhaps you could save me the trouble of sneaking around and stay the night with me?’
She was standing in front of him in her swimming costume and he had the urge to slip the straps off her shoulders and see what it would be like to seduce her outdoors. Instead he settled for wrapping his arms around her.
‘I don’t think I can have sex knowing your mother is in the house.’
‘It’s hardly a three-bed semi where she’ll hear us through the wall. My room is practically in a different wing.’
‘You didn’t show me your room when I came round.’
‘You want to see my room?’
‘Yes.’
For some reason, it thrilled him that she did. Forget the fact that his room was nowhere near as comfortable as Nora’s bedroom, which was more like a luxury hotel room, he wanted her in his bed.
‘Come tonight.’
‘Should I drive? Just rock up like a normal visitor? Do you even have normal visitors?’
‘No, we don’t. But yes. Drive up to the house and knock on the front door.’
Nora looked at him wide-eyed. ‘No way am I knocking on the door. I’ll text you and you can come and meet me outside.’
‘You want me to sneak you in?’ This was an idea he found thrilling. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to wait until later to ravage her. It astounded him how much he wanted her. Right now by the lake.
‘What are your thoughts on doing… you know… al fresco?’
She laughed softly and buried her head in his chest. ‘Are you asking me to have sex with you here?’
He gulped. And nodded.
‘Oh my god, Archie. We can’t.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Can’t we?’