One Day in May - Catherine Alliott [153]
‘Oh, the house,’ groaned Hugh, sinking his head in his hands. ‘At that point I very nearly legged it to the fire escape. But Daisy made me stay. “No, Dad,” ’ he straightened up, aping his daughter, eyes wide, ‘ “We need to do this.” And Luca, with practically no prompting, sat up in bed, and looking heart-rendingly vulnerable in his pyjamas and his bandaged head, his poor arm lying on the blanket, explained falteringly that he’d always felt it was his trump card. His only card. These Pelhams, these half-siblings of his, they had everything – looks, good humour, loving parents, a beautiful home – but oh boy, not for long. He, Luca, the cuckoo in the nest, but the oldest cuckoo, could turf them out in a few years’ time, and would too. Would inherit and become Lord Many Acres, marry a beautiful English girl, re-create the Pelham dynasty. Only this time, on his terms.’
Dad inclined his head thoughtfully. ‘And why not? It’s his birthright.’
‘Except his heart wasn’t in it, he said. He didn’t want to live in a freezing, rattling Victorian abbey, be squire of all the dank misty landscape he surveyed. It wasn’t in his genes. His heart was in Italy, which he loved. Florence in particular, the Tuscan hills, which, let’s face it, are hard to beat. But as you know, the Abbey can’t be sold. That’s the deal from the trustees. It has to be passed on. So he’s passing it on to Biba.’
‘Me?’ Biba appeared in the doorway, Ping-Pong bat in hand. She looked astonished. ‘I wasn’t listening, I just came to get some balls from the drawer.’ She went pink.
Hugh held out his hand to her. ‘Come in, darling.’
‘Why me?’ She stayed stock-still where she was.
‘Because you’re the eldest.’ Hugh let his hand fall.
‘Yes, but Charlie—’
‘It doesn’t have to go down the male line, that’s not in the brief. This is 2009, my darling. It’s to be yours.’
‘I shall give it to Charlie,’ she said fiercely, colouring up. ‘Honestly, Dad, it’s lovely, but there’s no way.’
‘We’ll see. We’ll think on it,’ her father said gently. ‘It may be that Charlie doesn’t want it either. The important thing is, the here and now. No one’s to be turfed out. It’s to stay as our family home for the duration. Thanks to Luca.’
‘And I shall make it up to him,’ said Laura suddenly, after a brief silence. She looked fiery. Determined.
‘There’s nothing to make up,’ Dad assured her. ‘You’ve always done your best by him.’
‘Yes, but if I’m honest, Dad, I always felt he had his finger on the trigger. Was always a bit scared. But now, oh, now it’ll be so much better. He’ll never feel insecure again.’ Her eyes shone.
‘Oh Lord. She’s on a mission,’ groaned Hugh, shaking his head.
‘Let the poor lad up for air occasionally, eh, love?’ remarked my father, reaching for The Times and shaking it out to read over his coffee. He rattled it noisily and disappeared behind. ‘Let him take a breather from the bosom of the family now and again, hm?’
Hal and I smiled about it later as we strolled in the garden by the river, hand in hand.
‘Funny, isn’t it?’ I said, shading my eyes over the stream at the mallards splashing and flapping off into the hazy autumn sunshine. ‘To the casual observer, this family has got everything. But for a long time, it hadn’t. Everyone’s been frightened of Luca, tiptoeing around him. But if everyone had just been a bit more honest with each other, it might have saved a lot of heartache over the years.’
Hal raised his eyebrows. I coloured. ‘Which is rich coming from me, I know,’ I tumbled on quickly. ‘But being honest renders one so vulnerable, Hal, that’s the trouble. And I had so much to lose.’
‘You’ve gained a lot,’ he observed, narrowing his eyes into the distance to where Seffy and Cassie were playing doubles against Biba and Daisy: we listened to the thwack of balls. The shouts of laughter.
‘Seffy’s gained her. I can’t lay claim to Cassie in any way – it would be disingenuous. I feel I’ve knowingly disowned her all these years. I can’t suddenly turn round