"Sorry. It's my shoes," I tried to explain. For the past couple of days I'd been shocking anyone I touched, like you do when you wear rubber shoes on a fuzzy carpet. I'd blamed the new trainers Angus got for me and insisted I wear for generating too much static electricity, and decided I needed to replace them as soon as possible. It was getting on my nerves.
"My shoes sometimes do that on this carpet," Lucy appeared out of nowhere and smiled at me. I grinned at her, relieved that she appeared to have ditched the rude teen thing. "If you want," she continued, " I can show you the rest of the house later. Most of it has wooden or stone floors, so no static."
"That sound's great." I lied. I wasn't that keen on rambling through this enormous house - I had a strongly proletariat background, and this grandiose display of affluence didn't sit well with me. The cost of one of these couches could probably feed a village in Africa for a year. But I guessed was here to build bridges, not burn them, so I pretended to admire the opulence. Eventually I looked up and caught Oliver staring at me. He shrugged apologetically, and winked at me. I grimaced back at him and he grinned. Angus looked up suddenly, frowning slightly at Oliver. I guess he must have sensed what Oliver was thinking, and he didn't like it. I wandered over to where he stood, and put my arm around his waist. He smiled down at me and pulled me closer.
"I am going with Lucy to have a look around the older parts of the house," I told him in a low voice. He kissed the top of my head, and I stood for a while, wrapped in his arm and leaning against him, and listened to Marcus holding forth about his research. Mrs Colborne had joined them earlier, and seemed fascinated with everything that he said, but Mr C had developed a glazed look in his eyes. I felt sorry for him. Marcus was a lot to take in one go, and from the sounds of things he had found a kindred spirit in Mrs C and was using even longer words than usual. Mr Colborne cleared his throat genteelly and muttered something about checking on a mare in the stables, and made his escape. Angus and I exchanged a glance, and I giggled.
"I have to go," I told him, looking across the room to where Lucy stood expectantly. "See you in a bit."
"Don't leave me," he pleaded teasingly.
"You're a big strong man, you can take it," I assured him, grinning like a Cheshire cat.