Bricked up

chapter 1

I met Ben at Cambridge. We shared a room for our first year at university and became good friends.
He was from an aristocratic family, with a country estate and servants and all that, while my family had earned their money in manufacturing. Someone in my family had made a substantial investment in oil exploration in the North Sea in the early days and earned a fortune when it had been discovered and eventually pumped up from under the sea bed.
Ben and I spent six months travelling around India together, after university. I had to return to England after that because my mother was seriously ill. He had gone on to explore south east Asia and Australia.
After my mother died, I started working in investments in the City.
He travelled around the country as a professional rider in various equestrian competitions.
I understand he had a reasonable amount of success and competed in horse trials such as Badminton and Burleigh. Then again, he had ridden from an early age, with the best of tuition. His family could afford to buy him the best of horses. He did not have to worry himself about keeping the stables clean and the horses in peak condition. His family had staff to see to all of that. All had to do was turn up and ride.
He was handsome, young, slim and fit. He spent the summer travelling from competition to competition in a luxury horse truck. In winter, he came to London to party and have fun!
On occasion, we bumped into each other. He was always popular, always had at least one girl on his arm. He liked a drink too. I can’t remember seeing him completely sober. But then again, I only saw him when he was out enjoying himself. I was probably just as drunk as he was!
He was the heir to the family fortune. He would inherit his father’s title as well as acres of prime countryside and city real estate.
He already had everything he could ever wish for and he stood to inherit even more when his father died.
We had talked about it in India when we basked in the hot sun. He said that the inheritance came with certain responsibilities. He would have to run the estate, manage the staff. He would be expected to get married to provide an heir. His wife would be expected to host extravagant society parties. They would both be expected to attend high society sporting events such as Wimbledon, Henley Regatta, Royal Ascot, Cowes Week, Cheltenham Festival and Royal polo matches.