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from downstairs. He climbed the steps towards us, two at a time, appearing even taller than usual. Nick backed off immediately and I gasped for breath.
    ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing, man?’ Eyes blazing, Edward grabbed the gardener’s shoulder. ‘Pack your things this instant and leave. I won’t have you disrespect my cousin!’
    ‘Look, Edward,’ I said, heart thumping, ‘let me explain…’ Wow, no one had ever rushed to my side to protect me. My brothers and dad thought me well capable of looking after myself—which I was. But still… This mansion must have brought out the damsel in me!
    A few minutes later a snarl still crossed Edward’s lips as he stared at Nick. ‘Tell me that again, Cousin. And you’d better hurry up…’ He glanced at his watch. ‘It’s almost six-thirty. Our dinner guests have been shown in and are waiting for us.’
    ‘Nick, um, used to be a dental technician,’ I said, repeating the rapidly made-up excuse while trying not to ogle my supposed cousin in his tux. ‘One of my teeth was hurting and Nick very kindly agreed to take a look.’
    Knights in shining armour were all very well, but jeez, Edward obviously didn’t believe in the process of verbal or written warnings before firing staff members. Although it was kind of sweet. My heart still beat madly. I’d always found loyalty to family and friends mega attractive.
    I stared from Edward to Nick, who stood like two spitting hyenas. Perhaps they had more in common than I suspected. Yet, heroics aside, I reckoned Edward would be much harder to live with than laidback, up-for-a-laugh Nick.
    ‘Yep, Miss Croxley’s, erm, got an ulcer,’ said the gardener and folded his arms. ‘Seems like Your Lordship got the wrong end of the stick. So, if you’ll excuse me, I must change into my outfit to help out at dinner.’ Nick turned to me and winked. ‘I’d gargle with salt water, miss,’ he said, and disappeared up the stairs.
    ‘Was he bothering you?’ said Edward.
    ‘Not at all.’ I moved away from the wall and brushed down my dress.
    ‘Stay away from Nick,’ said Edward. ‘He’s a shifty chap.’
    ‘With respect, Cousin, who are you to order me around?’ Well, Abbey often demonstrated that being a lady wasn’t about being a doormat. It was awesome, listening to her on the phone if someone dared call pretending to be our energy company or acting as if they could give her a better mortgage deal.
    Edward’s eyes narrowed. ‘There’s something in his expression—a total lack of respect.’
    Yeah, well, not everyone’s in awe of the aristocracy.
    ‘Right, Abigail, let’s go downstairs,’ he said, his tone bringing an abrupt end to the incident. ‘Viscount Hamilton-Brown and his family have waited long enough…along with the camera crew and production staff,’ he added, a hint of resignation tainting his voice.
    I took a deep breath. This dinner party was the first real test of whether I could behave like a lady. If I couldn’t get through this evening without embarrassing myself, then there was no point carrying on with the whole charade. We walked down to the ground floor and came to a door at the front right hand side of the house. It seemed strange, Nick going to the top floor to change, but Lady C had explained that, despite the phrase ‘upstairs and downstairs’, at different points in history it was nothing strange for servants to live ‘up in the gods’. In fact she’d crammed a lot of information into a few days, including a summary of European royals – ooh, of all the places to live, glam Monaco was now top of my list.
    ‘That’s the Low Drawing Room,’ said Edward. ‘Perhaps you remember it from your last visit.’
    ‘Cousin— I was only nine.’ Without asking, I ducked inside for a moment and spied furniture with carved animal legs – how amazin’! And just look at the mega detailed fireplace and classy chandelier… However, the spooky grandfather clock creeped me out