Page 49 of A Very Irish Christmas
Allegra turns her angry violet eyes on me, and I see her confusion. She’s already held me at gunpoint, so I don’t take the threat lightly.
‘Who are you?’ she asks, obviously not ready to give up her fury. ‘Why are you here?’
‘I’m Cassie,’ I say calmly. ‘I’m visiting from the United States.’
Her eyelids flutter, and I see her processing what I’ve said. It takes a few moments, but she nods. ‘Ah yes. Your accent. I remember you now. Sorry. I promise not to poke you. That dreadful woman just gets my back up.’
Roberts gently prises the poker from her hands, puts his arm around her shoulders and gives her a comforting hug. I’m sure that she has never been a violent person, but I know from seeing some of Nanna Nora’s friends decline that Alzheimer’s is a tricky disease. She’s scared and confused, and that makes her angry. Now, though, she simply looks distressed, especially when she notices Georgie on the couch.
‘I’m sorry, sweetheart,’ she says quietly. ‘I shouldn’t have lost my rag like that. Please forgive me.’
‘Nothing to forgive, Granny,’ Georgie says, jumping up to give her a quick cuddle. ‘She started it. She’s my mum and I loveher, but I’m not an idiot – I know she causes trouble. But this time, at least she brought us a dog!’
Jasper is back in the room, and she scoops him up into her arms and holds him towards her grandmother. She accepts the lively bundle of fur, and buries her face in his ears.
‘Yes. He’s adorable. I love the smell of wet dog – they should make a perfume from it!’
I’m not totally sure that would be a big seller, but having Jasper near to her seems to cast a magic spell. She suddenly looks happy, more in control. Leonora might be a nightmare, but she’s got one thing right. Two, actually, I think, looking at Georgie. What a family – they make mine look like the Waltons.
Charles walks into the room, looking stressed, and says: ‘What happened?’
‘Nothing to worry about,’ Roberts assures him. ‘The ladies were just blowing off a bit of steam. Now we’re all going to take Jasper and Eejit for a walk in the grounds – would you care to join us?’
Charles glances over in my direction, and says: ‘I suspect that I am destined to be Cassie’s slave for the day. There are, of course, far worse fates. Where would you like to start?’
We make our farewells to the others, and walk through the house to the ballroom. I’ve borrowed a laser measurer from Ryan, and tell Charles that it’s a good first step to get all the different room dimensions noted down. From that, I can work on the rest.
As we move around the room, me enjoying playing with my new toy and Charles making notes, I ask him: ‘Will Leonora actually leave today, like she said? Because, no offence, but she seems a little unstable.’
‘No offence taken – she’s totally bonkers. But she will leave today, yes, because she feels guilty when she’s here. Guilty aboutthe way she treated me, and guilty about the fact that she didn’t take Georgina with her.’
‘Why didn’t she? It’s unusual, for a mom to do that.’
‘Well, she is quite an unusual woman…’
He pauses in his note-taking, looks a little wistful, and adds: ‘The thing about Leonora is that she was raised by wolves. Yes, they had money, they had titles, they had the house and the cars. But what they didn’t have was a single ounce of compassion or empathy. Truly awful people, cold as ice, even towards their own children, both of whom were farmed out to nannies and boarding schools as soon as possible. I suspect Leonora simply learned early on that the only way she could get their attention was to behave badly, and unfortunately it’s a habit that stuck. In my calmer moments, I almost feel sorry for her.’
‘You sound like you still have feelings for her, Charles?’
‘Oh, I do – none of them positive! We were a poor match from the start, and I could never give her the constant attention she needed. Nobody could. She can do terrible things, and she’s an expert at pushing all of our buttons, but… well, she’s Georgie’s mother, so I must at least thank her for that blessing. As for why she didn’t take her, well, that’s what we agreed – even Leonora could see there was no way she could provide a stable environment for a child. She can’t even provide one for herself.’
Everything he says makes sense, but I can’t help pondering how all of that made Georgie feel, especially on top of her aunt’s accident. No wonder the poor girl has issues.
‘I’m so sorry, Charles, it all sounds like a nightmare.’
‘That about sums it up, I’m afraid. But there’s no use obsessing about the past, I need to focus on the future. I thought it went very well last night, and I woke up this morning feeling quite excited about everything – until I heard the screaming match downstairs. Anyway. Cassie, tell me, once we have all ofthe pictures and the video and the like, how do you suggest I use it?’
‘Okay, well, that’s up to you – but once we have everything, I’d suggest you get a brochure written, designed and printed. I know everything is digital these days, but people still like to have something to hold in their hands. That’s one of the places you shouldn’t scrimp – find a good creative, and pay for high-quality paper and finishes. You don’t need to print many initially, if it’s just to give out to investors, but you could adapt it to send out to potential clients later on.’
‘Excellent suggestion. I’ll start looking into it today. Anything else?’
‘Well, you need to re-do your presentation. Combine the financial projections with the history and all of our various ideas, and intersperse it with the hopefully breathtaking visuals that will prove to them that they should give you their money. Get copies of the presentation for them to take with them as well – if you really want to be fancy, get a Bancroft Manor logo designed, because you’ll need one at some point. You could get it printed onto thumb drives loaded with the presentation, so they don’t forget you.’
‘You really are a fountain of wisdom, aren’t you?’
‘Far from it – I’m just recycling tricks that have worked on me! I’m a sucker for a logo on a thumb drive, I have a whole bowl full of them back home! But you could also get some destination cards printed up. So, they’re like postcards, with a picture of the place on one side, and the specifications on the back. Like, a gorgeous shot of this ballroom, along with information on how many it seats, how many can stand, and what event facilities you offer.’
‘At the moment, that’s a teenager playing jazz piano, and a Spaniel puppy that pees in the house!’
