Chapter 6

Next day Lucy phoned her father to say that she would be coming home for the weekend and that she would be bringing her new boyfriend with her. Her father was pleasantly surprised to learn that his daughter had a boyfriend at last. Of course he asked for details but Lucy just giggled and said that he would get all the details he needed when she arrived home. She said she did not want to discuss it right then since the said boyfriend was sitting just across from her.

On hearing the word boyfriend her mother had obviously demanded the phone and she came on the line demanding more details. Lucy responded by telling him that her boyfriend was tall, dark, handsome and very sexy with it. I learned afterwards that her mother had said that this was a good start and wanted more information, but again all Lucy would say to that was 'Yes it is, isn't it.' She still stalled on giving any more details and told them they would have to wait until Friday to learn anything else

We skipped classes on the Friday and flew down to Bristol then hired a car and drove to her father's estate arriving just before lunch. Lucy made the introductions.

"Father this is my boyfriend, Charlie MacBain. Charlie this is my father, Lord William Smythe."

I shook hands with her father,

"I am pleased to meet you sir," I said

The she introduced me to her mother, the Lady Joyce Smythe.

And when I shook her hand she kissed me on both cheeks and told me that she was very pleased to meet me as I was the first boyfriend that Lucy had ever brought home.

"Now mum, don't you be giving away all my secrets," Lucy said, then she looked over at me and giggled before saying, "Not that it matters; I think he knows most of them anyway."

I noticed that when she said this mother gave her a very thoughtful and penetrating stare and I wondered if Lucy had said too much, for her mother seemed to be a very sharp person.

However, my thoughts were interrupted when her father said out of the blue.

"Wait a minute, aren't you the young man that some thugs tried to kidnap recently? When it showed on the news my daughter told me that she knew you. She never said she knew you so well that you might become her boyfriend though."

"We did not know each other that well in our first year sir, but we did share most of our classes together. It is only this year that we have drawn closer to each other. It is true though, I am the young man whom some foolish people tried to kidnap."

"What happened?" Joyce asked. "I was out of the country visiting relatives when the media were dealing with that particular story."

"They were very unlucky," I told her, "They made the attempt just as we had finished culling deer and both my head gamekeeper and I were armed with shotguns. There was also the fact that just the week before thieves had stolen valuable machinery from one of our tenant farmers and we had decided to beef up security on the estate and it was being patrolled by two ex SAS men. They spotted their car and were suspicious about it so they followed them and warned us of the fact they were heading our way. The result was they were out gunned and overpowered without much damage being done to any of us."

"It must have been scary all the same," Joyce said. "Why did they attempt to kidnap you in the first place?"

"We might as well get this out in the open right from the start," I said with a smile. "I heard your conversation on the phone when Lucy told you she was bringing me down to meet you. She very flatteringly said I was tall, dark, and handsome, but what she did not tell you is that since the death of my father last year, I am also very rich, as I was his only child and sole heir."

Joyce seemed a bit taken aback by my frankness but then responded with a frankness of her own.

"If it is not too cheeky, would you like to elaborate on that, just how rich is very rich,"

"Without knowing the full value of the land we own, I can't be very precise," I told her, "But leaving that aside, you would be talking of other assets worth somewhere in the region of two hundred and fifty million pounds."

"Oh my," Joyce responded looking shocked. "I agree, that is very rich indeed."

I burst out laughing at her reactions and the others joined in.

"More important than the current state of my finances, however, is the current state of my stomach, so a much more interesting topic would be the luncheon menu."

"Maybe to you young man, but if you knew the parlous state of this particular Dukedom," Joyce said, "Perhaps you would think differently. I take your point though. It is game soup, followed by poached salmon with potatoes and vegetables in a wine sauce and we finish off with some of my home made cheese cake and ice cream."

"Ah! A meal fit for a king." I responded trying to draw the subject away from my wealth.

"I certainly hope it is good enough for a young prince," Joyce said in a sanguine tone.

Even I joined in the laughter at that response.

There was a great deal of laughter and banter over what was an absolutely delightful meal. I was asked many questions by his Lordship about the running of our estate and our relationship with our tenant farmers and the local community. I was pleased to be able to tell him that they were excellent and that we had a good community spirit in the area and which my family had played a big part in fostering. I said that as we were a highland community this was probably easier to do, because of its ancient clan traditions I pointed out that although the clan system had died out over three hundred years ago its traditions still lingered on in the local psyche.

After dinner Lucy and her mother cleared away the table for although they had daily help with the cleaning, it was a sign of the family's relative impoverishment that they had no full time staff and the cooking was done by Joyce, though one of the daily helpers had served the meal. This left me alone with Lucy's father. I took the opportunity to ask if I could have a word with him in private while the women were busy taking care of the chores. He looked surprised at this request but agreed and led me into his study.

Once he sat behind his desk I sat in the chair facing him and opened the conversation.

"I told you earlier that although I knew your daughter last year I did not know her well and that was true. Just recently, however she approached me with a proposition, but before she told me what it was she wanted to do two things. She wanted to give me a history of her family and an even more detailed personal history. I think you could guess what the history of your family was about."

"I would hazard a guess how it ended," his Lordship replied. "Just recently I revealed to her the parlous state of our finances and the fact that the house was in a state of almost terminal decline."

"You are quite correct in your assumption, my Lord."

Before I could say more he interrupted me. "Look, if you are Lucy's boyfriend and this is going to be a long term arrangement, and I get a feeling from the fact that we are sitting here like this, that you envisage it will be, so you had better call me Bill."