Page 65 of Duke It Out
“‘I’d rather remove my eyeballs with rusty spoons’ was the exact phrase he used this morning, if you want that for the records.”
“Luckily, it’s your father’s diaries I’m writing, not yours. But you’d better remember to make a note of that quote for the history books.”
“I shall note that I feel pretty much the same way, only I don’t have the luxury of ducking out.” I spot Janey beckoning from the library window with an eager expression. No rest for the wicked.
“It’s a hell of a thing, carrying a legacy.” Edie eyes me for a moment.
I look away and don’t reply.
Despite the imminent ball and everything it entails I feel lighter than I have in weeks, and I know it’s because of Edie. She makes everything easier, somehow.
Janey’s at the door by the time we make it round to the front of the house.
“Hello, you two,” she says with the sort of smile I’ve come to know means trouble.
“Surprise!” says a bright, polished voice from over her shoulder. A moment later Janey steps back and I sense Edie stiffen by my side.
A whippet-thin brunette with expensively blow-dried hair is standing in the doorway as if she owns the place.
“I changed my flight,” she says brightly. “So, I treated myself to a taxi from the airport as you didn’t answer your phone.”
Edie’s lips part as if she’s about to speak but the brunette carries on.
“Couldn’t resist. I have beendyingto see the place.” Shesteps forward and pushes her hand towards me. “Anna Rasmussen, Edie’s friend. You must be Rory. I’ve heardsomuch about you.”
I manage a polite smile which doesn’t reach my eyes. Edie shifts by my side and I step slightly in front of her. I’m shielding her without even meaning to.
“Gorgeous place. Very Highland Vogue.”
Edie tries to interject, her voice tight. “I thought you weren’t arriving until Friday.”
Anna shrugs with a practised casual charm. “Surprise! I’ve come to see how the other half lives.”
I can feel the weight of duty settling on my shoulders. The part of me that wants to ask her what the hell she’s doing, and why Edie clearly feels so uncomfortable is suppressed by centuries of indoctrination. You don’t interrogate guests in the entrance hall. Not even ones who turn up uninvited and smirking.
So, I nod instead and hold out my hand. Crisp. Civil. My temper contained beneath years of breeding.
“I’ll have Janey show you to your room,” I say, already turning towards the study. “Please excuse me. I have a meeting to attend.”
Anna beams at Edie, who looks discomfited. “I can’t wait to catch up properly. You’ll have to tell meeverything.”
Edie doesn’t move. She’s standing fixed in the doorway, thrown off-centre in a way I’ve never seen before. Her mouth is still open, but she says nothing. The silence speaks volumes.
I walk away before I say something I might regret.
In my office, I close the door behind me, clicking the latch against unwanted interruptions. I rest my hands on the deskand take a breath, long and measured. And then I let it out, and with it comes the doubt.
Edie’s flatmate is standing in the entrance hall, charming and full of questions. She’s an unknown quantity and one I didn’t invite into my house. Edie looks like she’s been caught with her hand in the drawer of a locked desk. She thinks the financial stuff is out in the open. Nobody realises that I’m still sitting on a secret that could blow this place apart. And if she finds the final entry and pieces it all together, she might walk away, and I wouldn’t blame her.
26
EDIE
I don’t knowhow she does it. Standing in the huge entrance hall, surrounded by ancient paintings and with stuffed animal heads looking down on us, I wonder for a moment what it’d be like to be Anna, and be able to just casually turn up three days early with no notice and expect that everyone will deal with it.
Her concept of a schedule is something other people work around her. She’s wandering around like she owns the place, picking up priceless pieces of china and looking underneath, humming to herself.
“Sorry to disappear on you like that,” Janey says, bustling back from her office down the passageway. “I’m trying to juggle the contractors for the ball, Gregor wanting to have a meeting about canapés, the band have been on the phone… it’s all kicking off at the last minute. You’d never know everyone’s had a year to pull this together. It’s the same every time.”
