“I don’t know, Guy. I’m not a professional. All I know is she’s hurting.”

“I don’t want her to hurt,” Guy sobbed. “I can’t stand it.”

“I know you don’t want to hear this, but Charles is right. You need counseling. You need counseling, and Camille needs counseling, and then you and Camille need counseling together.”

“That’s a lot of counseling for a man who doesn’t like talking about his problems.” Guy gave a halfhearted laugh.

“Yes, well, your lack of talking has messed you up and now you’ve got to unpick all the knots you’ve created.”

“Thank you, Nory. I am genuinely sorry that I’m such a shit.”

“Stop being a shit and I’ll accept your apology.”

Nory grabbed a coffee and went back to her room. She wondered if it was too late for Guy to change. Was there an age at which personalities became set in stone? She hoped not. She’d like to think that redemption was always a possibility. She thought of her brother’s innate ability to always jump to the worst possible conclusion where she was concerned. He surely loved her deep down, so what was it that kept them so at odds? Was it a habit so entrenched it had become subconscious? And if so, would they ever be able to break the cycle? She wondered how bad the fallout would be when he found out she and Isaac had decided to ignore his impolite requests not to get involved with each other. She wasn’t looking forward to that conversation one bit!

Twenty-four

Good morning, milady!”

“Woof! Somebody ate a lot of garlic last night, milady!”

“I am sorry to say that milady’s morning breath stinks, milady!”

Nory pulled the duvet down to find Shelley and her mum dropped into low curtsies beside her bed.

“What the fuck?” She laughed hoarsely, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “What time is it?”

“Seven fifteen, milady,” said her mum.

“You’re a lazy fecker, milady,” added Shelley.

“How did you get in? I locked the door.” She knew with certainty she had locked the door just in case Guy decided to come back.

“Andy lent us the skeleton key,” said Shelley, climbing into bed beside her. “So, this is how the other half live.”

What is the point of locking doors around here? Nory wondered.

“We thought we’d surprise you,” said her mum. “It’s all go today. We’ve brought up a load of flowers from the nursery, and we’re expecting a big delivery up here in a bit. It’s going to take us all day to get the castle dressed and ready for the wedding tomorrow.”

“What time did you get here?” Nory asked.

“Half six,” Shelley replied. “We wanted to get the old garlands down while it was quiet. We’ve just finished clearing down, ready to start all over again.”