Dory's Avengers (34 page)

‘No! Yes! What's wrong with that? I fancy her.'

‘More than Matilda the goddess?'

‘I DON'T FUCKING KNOW! Get off my case, will you?'

‘Temper, Theodore. Maybe you are the crazy boy everyone thought you to be, arguing with yourself. Louis's not listening, you know; I bet he's far too busy with your cousin.'

‘I bet he is too, lucky git.'

‘Oh? You fancy your cousin now? You Lords are terrible…'

‘Oh, piss off out of my head, will you!'

‘Can't do that; I'm you, remember?'

Gradually, the argument raging in Theo's head quietened as the last flames went out. The last thing he remembered thinking was that he'd got to make things up to Marina in the morning, before he fell asleep on the sofa. It was the amiable housekeeper Mrs White who did the final rounds of the house that Christmas Eve. She'd been waiting and waiting for the last occupant of the drawing room to go to bed so she could lay the family presents out under the tree. Lord William had an uncharacteristically childlike love of finding the floor covered with gifts on Christmas morning, gifts that hadn't been there the previous night, so each year the household staff took it in turns to play Father Christmas. Finally, a little irritated that the last St Benedict seemed to want to spend the whole night in the room, Mrs White tiptoed in with the first of the gifts. Bracing herself for a possible barrage of abuse from Lady Rosanna, Mrs White instead saw Lord Theodore fast asleep on one of the sofas and her face relaxed into a smile. Arranging all the presents around the tree, Mrs White then went to fetch a blanket to keep Theo warm while he slept, impulsively kissing him on the cheek before she left.

‘Sweet dreams, Lord Theodore. Merry Christmas,' she whispered before leaving him to sleep, bathed in the warm glow of the Christmas tree lights.

Theo awoke in a state of confusion on Christmas morning, disturbed by one of the household maids coming into the drawing room to make up the fire for the day. She'd been a little surprised to see Theo fast asleep on the sofa, but certainly not nervous as she would have been had she walked in on the abrasive Lady Rosanna or, worse, the terrifying Lord William. Like most of the other staff, the maid felt the St Benedict residence to be a much happier place since Theo had been freed from his room. She found him to be a lovely person to have around the house, and not just because he was drop-dead gorgeous! Again taking her lead from the older staff, she didn't ever question out loud why he'd been shut away for so long when there was quite clearly nothing wrong with him. Trying to clean out the grate as quietly as possible, she failed abysmally and it wasn't long before Theo had lifted a tousled head and enquired as to where he was.

‘Drawing room, Lord Theodore,' replied the maid, smiling over at him. ‘Bit too much vino last night, was it?'

Theo laughed his easy laugh, so different to his sister or father who would have barked at her to learn some respect.

‘I think you may be right, Annie,' he said. ‘My head's a bit woolly.'

Delighted that the lovely Lord Theodore remembered her name, but not really surprised as he and Lady Marina always went out of their way to treat the staff with respect, Annie grinned and asked, ‘Can I get you anything, Lord Theodore? Black coffee, maybe?'

‘White coffee would be lovely, please, two sugars,' replied Theo, returning Annie's grin. ‘But only when you've finished what you're doing. Oh, and merry Christmas!'

Theo drank his coffee in the drawing room, his eyes constantly drawn to the glowing Christmas tree and the exciting pile of presents underneath it, before returning his mug to the kitchen two floors below. The kitchen was a hive
of activity; preparations for the family Christmas dinner were in full swing and popular seasonal songs were blaring from the radio. All the staff seemed to be in high spirits, apart from the eternally miserable head of household, Brian Mooreland.

‘Lord Theodore,' he said stiffly, finding it difficult to treat the young man with respect after so many years of being permitted to treat him like rubbish. ‘One of the servants would have fetched that mug; there was really no need…'

‘It's fine, Mr Mooreland. I wanted the opportunity to wish everyone merry Christmas before it all gets too manic. Oh, and thank you whoever put the blanket over me last night. It was much appreciated. Was it you, Mrs White?'

Going over to kiss Mrs White soundly, making her blush like a schoolgirl, Theo declared her to be ‘kindness personified'. Immensely irritated by the way all his staff clearly adored Theo, Brian Mooreland began snapping out instructions with even less festive spirit than before, doing his utmost to dampen the mood in the kitchen.

‘Go easy on them, Mr Mooreland; it is Christmas Day,' suggested Theo as he left the room. ‘I can tell you didn't have a visit from a trio of Christmas ghosts during the night!'

Chuckling as he made his way upstairs to shower and put on some less creased clothing before breakfast, Theo hoped his wisecrack wouldn't make Mooreland even harder on the staff. Judging by the laughter of the high-spirited kitchen staff as Theo left, he decided that they probably wouldn't care how grumpy their boss got. So engrossed was Theo in his thoughts that he almost walked in to Marina at the top of the stairs to the third floor.

‘Oh!' said Theo in surprise. ‘Didn't see you there, so sorry. Merry Christmas, Mari darling.'

Stooping to kiss his sister on the cheek, Theo was dismayed when she turned her face away.

‘OK, Mari,' said Theo, ‘I'm not putting up with any more of this. Come over here!' Not giving Marina any chance to reply, he took her hand and dragged her over to the window seat overlooking the handsome back garden of the St Benedict residence.

‘Hit me with it. Shout, scream, slap my face if you want, but don't give me the silent treatment. It'll only spoil your day as much as it'll spoil mine.'

‘You know what's wrong, Theo,' said Mari, trying and failing to free her hand from her brother's. ‘I told you last night. I can't believe you're just using Catherine to help the Sponsorship Scheme…'

‘Well, if you can't believe it, why are you believing it then?' interrupted Theo. ‘Am I to be allowed to put my side across or am I already guilty?' When Marina didn't reply, Theo continued. ‘I thought long and hard about what you said last night, Mari. Actually, I never got to bed; I've just woken up on the drawing-room sofa. Do you actually think I'd do anything to help out the Scheme…?'

This time it was Marina's turn to interrupt. ‘No, I don't think that, Theo. You're not the only one who couldn't sleep last night for thinking. However, I still don't think your reasons for chatting up Catherine are pure and true, are they? I heard what you asked for as a Christmas present, remember? Is it Catherine you want, or could she be anyone, just as long as you get laid? And,' Marina continued, staring into Theo's eyes as she warmed to her task, ‘if you're just using her for your own purposes, not bothered that she stands to end up badly hurt, how does that make you any different to Father?'

Marina finally managed to free her hand from Theo's, and she sat looking at her fingers having said all she needed to say. When Theo finally spoke, she lifted her eyes to his once more, anxious to glean the truth in his words.

‘I thought about that too, Mari,' he said. ‘I thought about
it for hours. I'll admit that it was His Lordship's suggestion I chat Cathie up in the first place. I'll also admit that I did it to start with just because I could see that…God this is going to sound big-headed…'

‘You could see she fancied the pants off you?'

‘Er, yes. Thank you, Mari. I could see, er, that, and I admit to begin with I was thinking with…'

‘Your cock?'

‘Yes, Mari, once again concise and to the point. But' – seeing Marina about to speak, he held up his hand to hush her – ‘last night I went over it all in my conscience. It's your accusation that started it, and I thank you for that. The last person I want to be like is…him…so I needed to be sure in my head. Do you know what I finally came up with?'

‘Tell me then, Theo.'

‘I like Cathie. I'm glad I've been given the opportunity to get to know her because I genuinely like her. I can't wait to see her again. I wish I'd had time to buy her a Christmas present. I want to make her laugh, hold her, smell her hair, spend time in her company…'

‘Why? What do you find so special about Catherine?'

‘Bloody hell, Mari, a minute ago you were accusing me of not liking her enough. What is so special about Cathie is quite simply this: she reminds me of Mum. Cathie's kind, gentle, thoughtful; all those wonderful things our mother was…
is
…and do you really think I'd deliberately break the heart of someone like that?'

Marina, looking for all the world like a younger version of their mother, relaxed and smiled warmly at her brother. Theo's brown eyes were sincere, and his words were a huge relief to her. Hugging him close, she said, ‘Merry Christmas, darling Theo. I didn't really think you were turning into Father.'

‘You did for a moment, Mari, but it's OK,' said Theo, returning her hug and laughing. ‘You were wrong.'

Chapter Thirteen

Although their Christmases were very different, both Theo and Louis enjoyed the festive season immensely. While Louis was taking his turn to race down the snowy foothills of 'Thwaite's Fell on Jenny's brand-new sledge, Gideon screaming from the window of Chris Farrell's van that the gymnast better not break any limbs, Theo was enjoying the experience of swapping presents with his family for the first time in his adult life. With the help of Mrs White, Theo had chosen presents from a catalogue and she'd gone out to make the actual purchases. Lord William allowed his son some money from Theo's own savings account for the purpose, an account that had been growing untouched for Theo's entire life. For Mrs White, Theo had secured the best of the professional photos of him and Marina, on which he'd written: ‘Dear Mrs White, thanks for all your help and for being the sweetheart you are. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, lots of love from Theo xxx.' Embarrassed that it was rather a pathetic gift, he presented it with an apology which died on his lips as Mrs White was so obviously delighted.

Adam Foster's parents arrived early, before presents were exchanged, in order to share in the festivities with their son and the St Benedict family. Mortimer O'Reilly and Stephanie Rogers had also been invited by Lord William to spend Christmas with his family, being as they were both single
and would otherwise have spent Christmas on their own. Lord William had long since given up trying to match-make between the two of them; strong-willed Steph was single by choice, and would never look twice at someone like Mortimer who was single through lack of opportunity. Lord William presided over the present-giving like some benevolent Father Christmas, handing out the gifts one by one to the people around him and glowing with his uncharacteristic love of the season.

‘Marina darling, this one's for you from Theodore,' said His Lordship, handing a small gift to her before adding, ‘Come on then, let's see what it is…'

Holding his breath, Theo watched his little sister open his present to her and wished it could have been something a bit more imaginative. He was immensely relieved when she shrieked her joy at the diamond earrings and matching pendant, small and dainty like Marina herself. Beaming, Lord William moved on to the next present in the huge pile. He distributed the gifts until the only one left was a large and curiously shaped parcel, almost hidden behind the huge tree.

‘This one's for you, Theodore,' said Lord William, handing it over to his son with barely concealed joy. Reading the tag, Theo said:

‘To Theodore, Merry Christmas…'

‘Come on then, who's it from?' asked Lord William, actually clapping his hands with excitement.

‘Er you, Your Lordship, as I think you probably know.' The tag actually continued with the words ‘Love from Father', but there was no way Theo would be reading that bit aloud. Instead, he said, ‘What is it?'

‘Open it and see! Open it!' Theo unwrapped the mysterious present to be faced with an equally mysterious box. Opening the box, Theo gasped before he could stop himself. Almost reverently, he lifted the brand-new guitar and placed it on his knee.

‘It's a Les Paul,' he whispered.

‘Do you like it? Do you love it, Theodore? There's an amplifier too, but that was too bulky to wrap. Mooreland, go and fetch Lord Theodore's amp, please.'

With the amp in place and the guitar plugged in, Theo turned the volume respectably low, tuned the instrument and started to pluck out some songs. All the while his mouth was open with surprise at his father's thoughtful, perfect present.

‘I didn't know you could play, Lord Theodore,' said Mortimer, trying to hide his confusion that his boss, who'd regularly had Theo chained up and whipped, was now behaving towards that very same Theo like a truly loving father.

‘Oh yes,' said Lord William, almost babbling in his jubilation. ‘He's very good actually. Do you love it, Theodore?'

‘Yes,' Theo replied simply. ‘Thank you…Your Lordship.'

Theo's confusion stayed with him for the rest of the day, despite Lord William explaining that he'd got to make up for a lot of Christmases without buying his son a present. Yesterday he was letting Dyer do his worst with me; today he wants to be my father again, thought Theo. If Lord William reckoned he could make up for years of cruelty with one guitar, then he was very much mistaken. However, Theo did love the guitar; he couldn't help himself. Also, he wasn't going to let his confusion spoil his first Christmas day of freedom in so many years. With the presents all unwrapped, pre-dinner drinks were served and Theo entertained everyone with his guitar playing. Adam was delighted; being a music lover himself he made request after request for songs he liked, all of which Theo was perfectly capable of playing. To everyone's surprise, Mortimer O'Reilly turned out to be a music lover too. So much was he enjoying Theo's playing that he forgot to be his usual neurotic self and had one of the best days of his life as a result. Only Lady
Rosanna remained sulky; insanely jealous, she constantly tried to demand that Adam show her some attention. All she'd get in response was a vague pat on the arm before her boyfriend drifted back over to Theo and asked if he could have a little play on the guitar.