No expense was ever spared: champagne flowed faster than the River Wenn, the food was always exquisite and the hotel would be beautifully decorated. This was never truer than for the annual Christmas charity fundraiser, which was always held on the last Saturday in November. The big cedar trees outside the elegant old house were filled with twinkling coloured lights and in the entrance hall an enormous Christmas tree had pride of place, reaching from the bottom of the sweeping Adam staircase right up to the dizzying heights of the cupola above. Tickets were hugely expensive but generally sold out like hotcakes, especially because the proceeds always went to a local charity. Tara was having to be super careful with her money, budgeting down to the very last penny of the child support from Danny and her wages, and there was no chance she could have attended under her own steam.“Glad you came to work for me?” Sy asked her as they oversaw the unpacking of the evening’s canapés. Miniature Yorkshire puddings with beef jus and horseradish, goujons of fish with matchstick fries, and mouth-watering retro-style lobster vol-au-vents were all being laid out perfectly on silver platters.
