‘Everything in the house décor-wise,’ the Rev.
Preston is saying as I scribble in my notebook, ‘is a little jaded. In some rooms, it hasn’t even had a lick of
paint in…decades… it seems. As such, I’ve
managed to wheedle some money out of the Church Estates Office to do the place
up a bit. So what I’m after really, is
some pointers on colour, wallpapers, carpets, other finishes, that sort of
thing. The furniture, on the whole, is
pretty sound although as you will see, the kitchen needs a radical update.’
Already the swatches and sample books were
swimming around in my mind’s eye. I was
in serious design mode. The Drawing Room
we were in was a good size- in fact it was more like two rooms combined into
one stretching from the front to the back of the house. It had sofas and armchairs at one end, at the
other a large oak dining table in front of some elegant but time-worn French
doors. and as we stood there in the
middle of the large room, it was time now to ask the question.
‘…and, err… is there anyone else living in the
house…?’
‘No,’ he replied, hands in pockets, glaring at
me. ‘I live alone.’
I allowed myself an inside grin.