Page 9 of He's the One

“I was talking to your father.”

“Sorry,” Theo muttered.

“I remember all too well,” his father said. “Though they did make money from it.”

“Yes, but at what cost to their reputation? What else have you come up with, Theodore?”

“Birds of prey shows,” Theo said quickly. “Jousting displays, archery lessons, rare breeds of sheep, a Lego challenge in the school holidays, tours of the gardens led by James, a dinosaur walk, an animal sanctuary.”

“I’m shocked you didn’t say that first.” His father chuckled. “No animals. Too many issues with insurance.”

“You could offer private tours conducted by you or mother and charge triple the usual fee… and include afternoon tea.”

Judging by the scowls, that wasn’t going to be an option, though his father was hardly around, but Theo kept going. He’d spent a long time working on this, researching what other venues offered all over the country. Everything he’d suggested had been done elsewhere. “We could hold weekend events for artists, potters, writers, photographers and…”

His mother groaned.

“I do think that’s worth further consideration,” Dastardly said.

“They’d stay in the house?” She sounded horrified.

“You have the rooms.” The snake shrugged. “Obviously, they wouldn’t have access to anywhere you wanted to keep private. Or they could use a local hotel. Perhaps the celebrity draw, the person we’d need to acquire in order to entice others to sign up, could stay here in the hall, along with a couple of guests who’d pay for the privilege of dinner with him or her, and yourselves. Maybe someone like Gerald Cox, the astronomer. We get such dark skies here; the stars are magnificent. We could hire telescopes…”

His father was nodding now and Theo was irritated that Dastardly hadn’t let him talk about it. It had been his idea not that twat’s. But if he said that now, it would look petty.

“I have the details,” Theo interrupted. “I made a list of hotels and prices and talked to them about discounts.”

“Look into that, Darnley,” his father said. “Anything else, Theo?”

Theo mentally crossed his fingers. “I wanted to ask about having work done on the stable block. The bathroom really needs replacing and—”

“Do you think we’re made of money?” his mother barked. “You were the one who wanted to live there. You could have kept your bedroom upstairs. But oh no, you needed some independence.”

Theo felt himself shrinking. “I wanted my own kitchen and…”

“And what?” She raised her eyebrows.

Freedom. Privacy. Somewhere that was mine.But Theo kept his mouth shut. This battle was lost before it had started.

“You’ve given me a headache.” His mother gave a long groan. “Do something useful. Go and take money on the gate or help in the shop.”

“Shall I leave the folder? You can see all my costings and…”

His mother gave a dismissive snort.

“Just for the couple of things we’re interested in,” said his father, shooting him a smile.

But when Theo tried to find the relevant papers, he ended up spilling the contents of the file onto the floor. He bundled everything into a pile. “I’ll sort it out and let you have the information.”

He could feel all three staring at him. He might not be able to see their faces but Dastardly would be amused, his mother scornful and his father pitying. Theo couldn’t speak now. This was the way it always went. He was either constantly interrupted or he ran out of steam or his voice gave up when his heart faltered. Mostly down to his mother and Dastardly.Not forgetting my grandmother.He nodded towards his parents, then to his snake-tongued boss and left the room.

Once he was outside the door, he leaned back against it, clutching the folder and papers, and listened. Apart from his grandmother, the only people he worried about catching him doing this were all on the other side of the door so he felt safe enough. Though why bother? They wouldn’t have anything nice to say about him. He didn’t move.

“Weekends for artists sounds possible,” his father said.

“Yes, Lord Wetherby. I thought Theo would start with that suggestion of mine. I’ll sound out my contacts in the media.”

Fuck you!

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