Daisy left to drive to Scotland after an early breakfast. As she went to her car parked in the quadrangle, Anna following behind with her overnight bag, Daisy glanced about, no doubt hoping that Simon would be there working on something. But the quadrangle was deserted with all the many windows in the castle winking back at them in the thin early sun.
‘Safe journey,’ Anna hugged her, ‘and come again if you can.’
‘Thanks, I might take you up on that.’ Daisy lingered a moment more before shoving her bag into the back of her car. Anna wondered if she might say something about Simon, but she did not. With one more glance towards the arch leading to the road outside, she hugged Anna, saying; ‘I’ll text when I get there. Happy New Year, let’s hope all your dreams come true.’
‘And yours, Daise,’ Anna said, waiting until she was in the car and driving away before she went back to Freddie standing in the hall waving his godmother away.
‘Will it take long to get to Scotland?’ Freddie asked.
‘Yes, it is a long way, but she should be there by the afternoon,’ Anna said as they shut the front door.
She finished cooking her nibbles for Lucy and Colin’s party, tiny quiches and some honey and spiced nuts, while Freddie played with his toys in the living room. She was looking forward to the party; she hadn’t been to many New Year’s Eve parties since Freddie was born, and he was excited too. It was a good thing she’d brought a pretty dress with her on the off chance that she’d need it.
The doorbell rang, followed by a quick rap on the door, and when she opened it, there was Nell, who worked in the office just along from the flat, smiling. ‘Hi, Anna, I’ve come with an invitation and a message from Julius.’
‘Oh, come in out of the cold,’ Anna said, seeing she had no coat on, though she was wearing a thick jersey and a woolly scarf. ‘Would you like a coffee?’
‘Thanks, I can’t stay, there’s so much to do,’ Nell said. ‘You and Freddie are going to Lucy and Colin’s, aren’t you?’ And without waiting for an answer, she went on, ‘you’re both welcome to join Tessa and me, we give a small drinks party here in the castle to start the evening off.’
‘That’s so kind, thank you, we’d love to come,’ Anna said, thinking it was going to be a busy evening.
‘Good, 6.30 onwards, the next door along. It will be on the latch, come in and come straight upstairs.’
Nell, seeing Freddie coming into the kitchen, said how relieved she was that Felix had found Ozzie. ‘Small animals, especially pets, are unused to fending for themselves in the wild and they are in great danger if they escape,’ Nell said before remembering the other reason she was here, so she thankfully didn’t elaborate on a gruesome death story of some pet in front of him. ‘Julius told me to say that… well, you know there is a wedding here in a few days, and you don’t have to do it, but Philly and Sidney always like to, so if you want to come along and lurk about among the guests just to make sure nothing gets nicked or bashed up somehow.’
‘Come to the wedding?’ Anna was surprised.
‘Yes, we mingle with the guests to keep an eye on things. This wedding is an older couple, so hopefully nothing bad will happen, but some of the younger ones can get quite drunk, pick up ornaments and things or knock against the furniture or pictures, and once,’ her eyes goggled with shocked delight and, seeing Freddie had gone back to the living room, she said quietly, ‘two people – not the bride and groom – were found having sex in one of the bedrooms.’
‘Oh… goodness.’
‘Don’t worry, that only happened once… that we know of anyway.’ She patted Anna’s arm as if she had shocked her. ‘You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, but Julius said to ask you. I mean, you might not have the right clothes as you didn’t know you could be attending a wedding, but I’m sure someone could lend you something if you wanted to come, the rooms are so beautiful, all lit up with their wonderful pictures and furniture and Gail’s lovely flower arrangements. It’s a sight you won’t forget.’
‘It must be so glamorous.’ Anna felt a little shy at the suggestion and yet it would be madness to turn down such a chance to see the castle in all its glory. She’d brought one smart, silk dress with her ‘in case’, as her mother would say, and she was going to wear it tonight. It was a simple well-cut dress, which could be dressed up or down, and was right for almost any invitation.
‘Well, think on it,’ Nell said kindly. ‘We’ll all be there for the wedding, so we probably have enough people if you don’t want to come, but you won’t feel alone and I’m sure Lucy would look after Freddie for you.’ She smiled at him as he came back into the hall holding one of his Lego creations.
‘I’m sleeping in Benny’s room tonight as Mum will be up till midnight,’ Freddie said. ‘I helped do the trees for the wedding and if it’s all night you can go, Mum, if you want. I’ll be all right with Benny.’
‘We must ask Lucy and Colin first, see if they can have you,’ Anna said, then turning to Nell, she said, ‘if they can have Freddie, I’d love to come to the wedding. It wasn’t something I was expecting, but of course I’ll be happy to do it.’
‘Lovely, I’ll let you know more about it later,’ Nell said, going back outside into the cold. ‘Look forward to seeing you both tomorrow too.’
‘I wish we could always live here,’ Freddie threw her a look. ‘I can go outside whenever I want to and stay with Benny and there are so many friendly people about.’
‘Yes, there are, but you know we are only here for another couple of weeks and it’s Daisy’s aunt and uncle’s home and they’ll be back to live in it. You’ve got lots of friends at home.’
‘I know, but I think I like it better here,’ he said, going back to his game, leaving her feeling despondent.