Dinner was going exactly how I thought. Separate conversations. Although we all knew it was going to happen. I was sat opposite Farleigh at the table. "So, what made you both decide to be a thing." Venetia asked me and I looked at her.

"I don't know. Just gave it a try and it worked." I said to her with a smile.

"What do you know about Ollie?" She asked me, he was going to be her next victim.

"Not a lot." I said to her and that's when it went quiet as I started to eat.

"We met in rehab, so...he was just so lovely at first, and then all of his business partners started, sort of, falling out of windows. You know." I heard Pamela tell Oliver. Now I wanted to know what was happening with this Russian guy.

"Right. Lucky escape." Oliver said to her and it was lucky indeed.

"Mmm. I suppose so. But he spoke Russian all the time and it just sounded so romantic. And I don't know the Russian word for 'whore', so I, sort of, thought it sounded like lovely poetry." Pamela said to him. Now I really didn't want to listen to this story anymore.

"Yeah." Oliver said to her, I don't think Oliver wanted to listen to this anymore either.

"Daddy always said I'd end up at the bottom of the Thames." She said to him, that was really something.

"So far so good." He said to her, really didn't want to be in that conversation anymore.

"I don't know what I'd do without Elspeth. She really saved me." Pamela said and I looked over to Elspeth.

"Don't bang on about it, Pamela, darling. You know we're delighted to have you for however long it is you mean to stay." Elspeth said but the subtle line of that was she wanted Pamela to leave.

"Forever?" Farleigh asked and I looked at him with a small smile. It always seemed that way. I only spent summers but any longer would feel like intrusion.

"Oh, no. I think I might have, erm, found somewhere." Pamela said and that was great news.

"Oh, well done, darling." Elspeth said and I knew that she was glad about that.

"Oh, good." James said to her. Farleigh and I shared a look with each other.

"Yeah, my cousin...My cousin has a flat." Pamela said to us all. That must be nice.

"Oh, that'll suit you very well, a nice little flat." Elspeth said and maybe it would be. Small and comfortable.

"It's more of a...More of a bed sit really." Pamela said and I didn't know what one of those was.

"I loved living in a bed sit in my 20s. It's so freeing to live all in one room. And much less cleaning to do. Oh, but it'll be terrible when you're gone. How will I cope?" Elspeth said to her and I saw Pamela look at her.

"Well, I...I could actually stay for a little bit longer..." Pamela started before she was cut off by Elspeth.

"Oh, no, darling, no. You must be desperate to be rid of us and find your own place. I quite understand." Elspeth said to her. The rest of the dinner was in silence. I was glad once it was over. Farleigh and I went back to our room.

"Well, that is one dinner down." Farleigh said to me and I looked at him with a smile.

"Hopefully they'll get better from here." I said him and I started trying to find the zip on my dress.

"I've got it. But dinner wise, they are definitely getting worse from here." Farleigh said and he unzipped my dress for you.

"I can finally breathe again thank you." I said to him and he put his head on my shoulder.

"You are welcome." He said to me before kissing my cheek.

"Right, I'm going to have a bath and then I'll be back." I said to him and he kissed neck.

"I will be waiting here for you." He said to me and he walked over to the bed.

"I won't be long." I said to him as I walked next door into the bathroom. And like I said I wasn't long at all. When I went back to the bedroom Farleigh had changed and was already asleep. I quickly put one of his T-shirts on and climbed in next to him. He instantly turned over and wrapped his arm around me. I felt safe like this. As if nothing or no one would hurt me. The only time I woke up was when the curtains were opened.

"Breakfast is ready." The maid said and I covered my eyes. She then left the room.

"Good morning." Farleigh said as he looked at me with tired eyes.

"Good morning." I said to him as I sat up.

"Is that my shirt?" Farleigh asked me with a smile. And I looked at him.

"Maybe." I said to him and I got out of the bed.

"First my cardigan and now my shirt. You are slowly stealing all my clothes." He said to me and I looked him up and down.

"That wouldn't be so bad wouldn't." I said to him as I started getting some clothes out of the wardrobe.

"Not to you it wouldn't." He said to me and we both got ready for breakfast. We got our plates filled up and went back to the table.

"Miss. Lauder, how would you like your eggs?" Duncan asked me and I looked at him with a smile.

"Scrambled, please." I said to him as I took a seat opposite Farleigh. Duncan then walked away.

"Don't you ever have anything but scrambled?" Felix asked me. Not particularly.

"I'll get them sunny-side up. Occasionally." I said to him with a smile. I then started on eating my breakfast. Duncan then brought the eggs in for me. "Thank you." I said to him with a smile. He smiled back at me. Oliver then walked in.

"Morning." He said as entered the space.

"Morning." James said to him. He was doing the crossword in the paper.

"Morning." Venetia said to him. I then got a cigarette out and started to light it. Smoking it.

"You sleep well, mate?" Felix asked him.

"Erm, yeah." He said before he sat down. Looking around the room. "Hi." He said to Elspeth.

"Hey, Oliver, have some breakfast." Felix said and that's when I started on eating my eggs.

"Er, can I get a full English breakfast too, please?" Oliver asked and I looked at him. He didn't just ask that.

"Breakfast is on the side, darling. Just help yourself." Elspeth said to him and he had another hit of my cigarette.

"How would you like your eggs?" Duncan asked him. That was the one thing that was asked for.

"It's fine. I can get them." Oliver said but that wasn't how this went.

"Not the eggs. The eggs are made for you." Farleigh said as he looked up from the newspaper he was reading.

"Exactly. And everything else is on the side." Elspeth said and it went silent for a second. An awkward silence.

"Fried over easy, please." Oliver said to Duncan and he walked away. Hopefully someone could break the awkwardness in the room.

"Ollie, we were just talking about the Shelley biography." Felix said to him, I didn't recall any of that.

"Shelley who? Shelley, Belinda's sister Shelley?" Pamela asked this was her last morning here.

"Oh, Percy Bysshe Shelley. The poet. The Romantic poet." James said to her. I'd read some of his work. They were nice.

"Oh." She got out.

"Do you know the story about Shelley's doppelgänger?" Venetia asked and I looked at her. No I hadn't.

"His doppelgänger?" James asked her. Seems like he didn't know either.

"Mmm. Shelley's housekeeper was cleaning on of the rooms when Shelley walked past the window and waved at her. So, she waved back before she realised that Shelley was in Italy. And she was on the top floor of the house." Venetia said to us all and I looked at her.

"Now I'm going to be having a sleepless summer." I said to her. I mean it was going to sleepless one way or another.

"Oh, Vee. Stop, stop, stop. I won't sleep." Felix said as he then covered his ears.

"A few hours later, he drowned." Vee said to us and I shook my head. She should be glad I didn't plan on sleeping.

"Oh! Oh, that's just given me goosebumps. Look, Pamela." Elspeth said as she started to show her goosebumps to Pamela. Who look slightly.

"Oh, no." Pamela said to her.

"I heard he fucked his sister." Farleigh said to us all.

"I heard that too." I said to him as I finished up my eggs. Returning back to my cigarette.

"Oh, for God's sake!" James said to the both of us.

"I think that was Byron." Oliver said as he looked at the two of us. I didn't really think he was in the conversation but apparently he was.

"Oh, speaking of which...Ellie, did you hear, Ada ran off with Tommy Prior?" Pamela said and they started talking with each other.

"Yes, you told me." Elspeth said to her. I saw that Duncan gave Oliver his eggs.

"Thank you so much." Oliver said to him and I just kept on smoking.

"'Course she did. Her husband was ghastly." Elspeth said and they kept talking.

"Y/n, you'll want to read this. It's about your father." Farleigh said to me and I looked at him as he passed me the sheet from the newspaper.

"Probably high praise again." I said to him as I took the piece of paper.

"Worse." He said to me and I started reading. He'd done an article of what it was like raising a daughter and a son after mum had died. And all of it was lies.

"It's way worse." I said to him. I felt anger as I read it.

"Is everything okay, Ollie?" Felix asked him and I handed the the newspaper parts back to Farleigh. What I'd love to do to tell all of those journalists that my father was a liar.

"Er, 'course, yeah. It's just, erm...runny eggs. I...I get a bit sick from them." Oliver said and he put his fork back down. What a weird guy. Duncan then walked over to get the eggs from him. "Sorry. So sorry. Sorry." Oliver said as Duncan walked away from the table. God this was going to be a long summer.