Bluebell Castle. Sarah Bennett

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      Abandoning his half-eaten sandwich, Will moved to intercept her when his phone started to ring stopping him in his tracks. Seeing Chris’s name on the screen, he excused himself and hurried into the echoing chamber of the great hall before he answered it. ‘Hello?’ Silence greeted him. He stared at the ‘Call ended’ message on the screen then noticed it said No Service in the top right. He took a couple of steps towards the front door and the phone started ringing again. ‘Hello?’

      ‘Whe … uck … are you?’ Even with his voice cutting in and out, it was clear Chris was very unhappy.

      ‘I’m in Derbyshire, looking at a new job.’

      ‘… byshire? You’ve stood up … elody bloody Atkins!’

      Shit. In his rush to get everything sorted at work and then the journey up here, he’d completely forgotten about the last-minute invitation to Clay Given’s party. ‘I told you I wasn’t going,’ he yelled, but the phone had gone dead again.

      Will was still stalking around the enormous room trying in vain to pick up a signal when the front door opened heralding the return of Arthur, Lucie and their motley assortment of dogs. A greyhound bounded over to nudge at Will’s hand, while a Jack Russell yipped and scrabbled at his calf. With the difference in their heights, it was impossible to pet both dogs at once, so Will crouched down to fuss over them both until Arthur shooed them gently away.

      ‘Sorry, they’re a bunch of unruly beasts.’

      Having always wanted but never had a pet of his own growing up, Will was quite happy to lavish them with attention. ‘I’m not bothered, really.’ He straightened up and waved his phone at Arthur. ‘I can’t seem to get a signal.’

      Arthur pulled a face. ‘It’s a nightmare around here. I’m going to sort out a signal booster before we open to the public, but it’s one of about a million things on the to-do list. You’re welcome to use the landline, and I’ll give you the Wi-Fi password so you can access your emails, hang on a minute.’ He returned a few moments later with the code scribbled on a scrap of paper. ‘The phone’s in my study …’

      The adrenaline which had buoyed Will on his drive up vanished in a sudden rush, leaving him drained. The last thing he wanted was to get into a shouting match with Chris, especially in front of anyone else. He’d already caused enough disruption by showing up unannounced. ‘This’ll be great,’ he said, holding up the paper. ‘I can sort everything out with an email.’