Lies and Weddings(71)
RL: I’d like to meet Prince George.
AG: Sorry, not gettable yet.[*2]
RL: Damn. One thing: We need to make sure Rufus is kept away from Eden Tong. We don’t want him to relapse.
AG: Leave Eden to me.
Skip Notes
*1 According to the 2022 Sunday Times Rich List, siblings Sri and Gopi Hinduja top the list as the richest family in the UK with a net worth of ￡28.472 billion.
*2 His mother won’t allow him to go out on school nights.
VII
CAFFè NERO
GRESHAMSBURY, ENGLAND ? SAME MORNING
Eden was about to leave for her morning run when she received an uncharacteristically early text from Bea, who normally slept in past ten on most days.
Beatrice Gresham: Bonjour! Can you meet for breakfast?
Eden Tong: At your house? I can come by on the way home from my run.
BG: Can we do Nero’s instead?
ET: Sure.
BG: Perfection. Stop by after your run and we’ll walk down together.
ET: Great!
Following her usual route up the hill behind the garden of the cottage, she ran along the crest, skirting Boxall Park for two miles before looping back around toward Greshamsbury Hall. Cutting through Greshamsbury Hall’s upper garden toward the Big House, Eden ran past the North Lodge gatehouse with her AirPods blasting Cocteau Twins and didn’t hear the guard stationed inside the guardhouse calling after her.
The guard came running up alongside her. “Miss, miss!”
“What?” Eden stopped but kept jogging in place.
“I’m sorry, you can’t jog here.”
He was some young bloke she didn’t recognize. “I’m Eden. I live at the cottage.”
“This is private property. You can’t run through these grounds.”
“I know, I live at the cottage. It’s part of the estate,” Eden explained between breaths. “This is my normal route every morning.”
“Yes, but there’s a new rule. No one allowed past the North Lodge gatehouse.”
Eden finally stopped running. “I’m not some random person. I’m Eden Tong, I’ve lived here all my life.”
“You’ve lived here all your life?” the guard said in a tone that implied that someone who looked like her couldn’t possibly have grown up in these parts.
“Well, since I was five.”
“I’m sorry, I’m under strict orders not to let anyone through these gates. Especially joggers. You’re going to have to turn around and leave.”
“This is ridiculous. I’m actually on my way to meet Bea at the house!”
“I don’t know anyone by that name.”
Eden rolled her eyes. “You know what, just call up to the house and ask for Hemsworth. Please.”
The guard eyed her suspiciously, entering the gatehouse and picking up the old phone. “Just doing my job, miss.”
“I get it,” Eden replied.
A few minutes later, Hemsworth could be seen walking up the hill from the house.
“Hemsworth, you really needn’t have come up…,” Eden said apologetically.
“No worries,” Hemsworth said. “Look, we have new security rules that have just been put in place. We’re not allowing anyone to jog through the grounds anymore.”
“Really? Even me?”
“Sorry. No exceptions, unfortunately,” Hemsworth said, looking quite sheepish. “The new rules are that we’re not supposed to allow anyone up to the Big House.”
Eden had a sudden realization. “Can I assume that these new rules were put in place by the countess and included specific instructions regarding anyone?”
Hemsworth cracked a smile. “You can.”
“I see…Will you let Bea know I tried to come get her as we had planned, but since anyone is no longer allowed at the Big House, I’ll just meet her at Nero’s?”
“Of course. Good seeing you, Eden. I hope the rules will revert soon.”
“Same here,” Eden said with a smile.
Fifteen minutes later, Eden and Bea were seated at the window table inside Caffè Nero in Greshamsbury village, Eden sipping her morning latte and Bea nursing a warm cup of ginger tea as she apologized profusely. “I’m so sorry. This is all so absurd. Mummy’s just in the foulest mood at the moment. I’m sure the ban will pass, give it a little time.”
Eden, dunking a chocolate biscotto into her latte angrily, was unable to mask her emotions. “I’m trying to be understanding, but this is getting ridiculous, Bea.”
“You know Mum’s barely recovered from the wedding, and it doesn’t help that Hello! won’t stop covering the whole debacle. Apparently Joan Collins chipped a nail while escaping from the lava.”
“So Joan Collins is the reason I’ve been banned from entering the grounds of Greshamsbury Park?” Eden scoffed.
“It’s not just the wedding. It turns out”—Bea lowered her voice as she scanned the busy café, making sure other customers couldn’t hear them—“these financial difficulties are real, Eden. Things haven’t been good since everything went tits-up in Hawaii.”
“Really? That’s hard to believe.”