"I know the history." Theo said, his tone hard to decipher. "And none of it is a laugh." Theo led Greg to one of the upper floors and on into a room that appeared to be the first stop before the promised bath. Theo toed his shoes off like they were simply slippers and shrugged his coat off, leaving him in the rest of his suit; shirt, tie, trousers, socks, uncomfortable and restrained, somehow looking even more so the more he undressed.
"My father won't allow it." Theo said, his voice trying to be hard but sounding echoeyand hollow, almost defeated, almost... lost. "You can change here, the bath's in the next room. If Theo had known Greg's feelings towards him at that moment he would have, well, vehemently denied needing any protection at all... the truth of it was that in this house, where he should have been at his most defended, he was most vulnerable of all.