“What’s it like living in a place like this?”

The question came as a surprise. I couldn’t recall anybody asking me something similar, certainly none of my other friends from school… However, because Richard was so open himself, I answered him straightforwardly, if a little self-consciously. “We don’t strictly speaking live here. We come for weekends, but during the holidays I am here a lot. It’s got everything but, if truth be told, I feel a little isolated from time to time. It’s like being in a cocoon where every conceivable luxury is provided but no one knows you’re there. And when you step out into the big wide world you find yourself a little… I don’t know… unprepared. Don’t get me wrong, I know what a lucky bugger I am to have grown up with all this… sometimes, though, I wonder…”