‘Oh, that would beus,’ said Pearl.
‘Yes,’ agreed Opal. ‘We are really vegans, but we so wanted to come that we decided to compromise.’
Before the kitchen door could stop swinging, a small white terrier burst into the room, ears flapping, and made a beeline for Cariad, who dropped to her knees to hug him.
‘Snookums!’
‘He’s supposed to be shut in the scullery,’ said Nerys. ‘But, if no one objects, he can stay – so long as you don’t try and feed him bits of your dinner under the table, Cariad.’
‘Of course not,’ Cariad said virtuously. ‘And he’ll be so quiet, no one will know he’s there.’
‘Well, I don’t know why we’re all standing around – please sit down, everyone!’ said Timon. ‘Nerys and I always take the head and foot of the table, but other than that, do sit wherever you like … although I would be honoured if Evie and Kate sat on either side of me,’ he added manfully, assigning the two elder and more combative female members of the party to his end of the table.
‘And Cariad had better sit next to me,’ said Nerys.
‘I want Uncle Noel on my other side, then,’ Cariad announced, dragging him with her round to sit on the far side of the table. Opal and Pearl seemed to be trying a sort of pincer movement on Toby, but he quickly slid into a seat next to Kate.
I found myself between Toby and Rhys, who had pulled a chair out for me and then took the one next to it.
‘I need to keep an eye on my daughter,’ Rhys told me, and Cariad pulled a face at him across the table.
Noel patted her hand. ‘Cariad has lovely table manners. She’s a credit to the family.’
‘But she’s sometimes a bit short on tact, when it comes to guests,’ Rhys said. ‘Like the time she told one of the summer retreat guests he shouldn’t eat and talk at the same time.’
‘Well, he shouldn’t. It’sdisgusting,’ Cariad said.
Thwarted, Pearl and Opal had seated themselves between Noel and Evie and opposite Toby, and were staring hungrily at him, as if he was the first course.
Verity took the remaining seat between Nerys and Rhys and promptly tried to claim his attention, but with a muttered ‘Excuse me!’ he got up and fetched wine from the side table and began filling glasses and distributing them.
‘We don’t go in for starters,’ Nerys announced. ‘Not that I expect you’ll miss them after the canapés with our pre-dinner drinks!’
Tudor, who had followed his wife out, now returned bearing a large tureen.
‘Do you need a hand bringing anything in, Tudor?’ asked Timon.
‘No, it’s fine, thanks,’ he said, setting the tureen down infront of him. ‘If you start to dish out the chicken, I’ll fetch the vegetables.’
‘It’s Bronwen’s famous chicken in white wine tonight,’ Nerys told us, ‘with jacket potatoes and mixed vegetables.’
‘A free-range chicken from the home farm at Castle Newydd, who had a happy life,’ put in Cariad earnestly.
‘It smells delicious!’ said Kate, who was obviously a woman who enjoyed her food –anddrink; she’d immediately taken a huge swig of her wine the moment Rhys had filled her glass.
Timon passed the plates while Tudor brought in the vegetables and a vegetarian nut loaf with a small sauce boat for the twins.
As we passed the plates, vegetables and gravy around the table, I think we’d all suddenly realized we were hungry. There was silence for quite some time, apart from the clink of cutlery against china.
By now I’d sort of got past my earlier exhaustion and come out on the other side, and I felt strangely wired, even if everything did seem a bit bright … not to mention that sounds appeared to be reaching me in waves.
Still, as the others began to talk, I managed to follow what they were saying and even put in the odd word or two myself. The conversation was fairly desultory, however, and I suspected the others were just as tired after their journeys as I was, with the possible exception of Evie, who didn’t know the meaning of the word.
Nerys made a little announcement about the housekeeping arrangements when there was a lull in the conversation, probably the one she gave all the retreat guests on the first night, to remind us that guests were expected to make their own beds and tidy their own rooms – or not, as they wished – but Tudordid the rounds while everyone was at breakfast, replenishing the tea, coffee and milk in the rooms and changing towels, when necessary.
‘A team of cleaners comes in once a week, but they do the guest bedrooms while we are at lunch, so there’s minimal disruption to your work. Other than that, offers to help clear the table or to wash up are usually appreciated but not compulsory!’
She smiled round at us, but I could see Kate was looking affronted, as if she was above such mundane tasks. Or perhaps she hadn’t read the information about the retreat and thought she was coming to some kind of hotel?
