Page 28 of Love and Loathing

The house itself was visible at some distance beyond a varied patchwork of gardens, some formal, some half-wild. He set off down a twisting path, the trickling sound of a fountain growing louder until he reached it. He looked at it for a moment, the statue in the middle that of a slender, half-naked woman, his thoughts going, predictably, to Evie in bed that morning.

Why was he here? Seeking her out? The look she’d given him when he protested he had nochoicebut to do the very thing she despised told him everything he needed to know. Her absence at lunch confirmed it. He kicked his toe against the low stone wall of the fountain, deliberating whether there was any point going forwards, when an awful screech sounded sharp and loud behind him and made him jump out of his skin.

He spun around and found an enormous peacock regarding him balefully, its black beady eye seeming to know all about its murdered compatriots.

“Oh, fuck off,” Aubrey told it. The bird ignored him.

He turned at the sound of laughter and found Hugo Blackton walking towards him, a spade balanced cheerfully over one shoulder.

“Yes, shove off, Lionel,” Hugo said happily to the peacock, which ignored him, too. Then, somewhat cryptically as far as Aubrey was concerned: “If you need a gift, Ford, stick to flowers, chocolate. Turns out peacocks are a complete pain in the arse.”

“I’ll bear that in mind. Hello, Hugo. How are you?”

The tall, dark-haired man grinned. “I’m all good, Aubrey.”

They’d met a few times, briefly, Hugo sometimes appearing on nights out with Roscoe—or he had, when he lived in London. Aubrey hadn’t seen him in over a year. He knew too little of him to have much of an opinion. But the fact he looked like Evie was distinctly annoying.

Hugo smiled. “Coming up to the house? I can’t believe you walked all this way to see me. But I also can’t believe you walkedall this way to see my sister. People normally run in the opposite direction.”

“Just stretching my legs,” said Aubrey as they set off away from the fountain and through a maze-like garden of low green hedges.

Aubrey asked Hugo a few questions, then spent the rest of the time listening to Hugo chatting about things he had no intention of remembering, from the trials of box moth caterpillars to closing the garden to visitors at the end of the summer season.

They climbed some steps to a patio terrace. Evie was there drinking tea with the woman he’d met that morning in the company of the donkeys.

“Look who I found: Aubrey Ford,” Hugo announced. “Aubrey, Amy. Have you met? You already know my twisted sister.”

Amy said hello, giving him a considering look.

“Evie,” continued Hugo, “I was just telling Aubrey that you’d give him a tour of the house.” Which was completely untrue, the man had said nothing like it.

Still on the fence about Hugo up until this point, Aubrey decided immediately to hate him.

“You know the place as well as any of us,” Hugo added. “Show Ford around. After Conyers, I suspect he’s desperate to see even more paintings of depressed horses.”

Evie seemed to share Aubrey’s opinion of her brother. She scowled. “They’re mostly just bored, the horses,” she said to Hugo, not looking anywhere near Aubrey. “Except that one in the music room. That one’s demonic.”

“See? You’re the perfect guide,” Hugo said.

“No. I’m… I should get going anyway.” She stood up, still not looking at him.

So bloody childish. She was going to pretend he didn’t exist, was she?

“I’d like to see it,” Aubrey said. “This demonic horse.”

She finally looked in his direction, face blank. “Really?”

“More than anything.”

“It’ll give you nightmares.”

“Then maybe I’ll end up sleepwalking again.”

She flushed, Hugo and Amy looking between them as though this was the best TV show ever made. He could have done without the audience. They’d only go and intervene when he tried to shake some sense into the woman.

“Shall we?” He gestured to the innards of the house, a beautiful room visible through the open patio doors.

Evie grumbled something that sounded like, “Talk about demonic,” but got to her feet and stalked into the house. Aubrey followed, pretending not to hear Hugo’s jaunty call of “Good luck!”

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