"That's festive, apparently."
"Grimsby, what have I gotten us into?"
"If I may be so bold, Mr. Fletcher, you've gotten yourself into a situation where you're pretending to be your own employee while staying in a Christmas-mad village during the height of Christmas madness."
"When you put it like that, it sounds like poor planning."
"I would never suggest such a thing."
"You're suggesting it right now."
"I'm merely observing, Mr. Fletcher."
Alaric continued staring out the window. Marianne had managed to untangle the lights and was now directing their placement with the intensity of a military campaign. She had a smudge of something, possibly pine sap, on her cheek and her hair was now completely free of its pins, falling around her shoulders in dark waves. She looked absolutely nothing like the elegant ladies of London society, and yet...
"She's rather pretty," he said without meaning to.
"Mrs. Whitby? I suppose she has a certain rural charm."
"Rural charm. You make her sound like a thatched cottage."
"I apologize. She has a certain non-agricultural appeal."
"That's worse, Grimsby."
"I'm not the one staring at her from a window like a gothic novel villain."
Alaric stepped back from the window. "I wasn't staring. I was observing. There's a difference."
"Of course, there is."
"Your agreement sounds suspiciously like disagreement."
"Years of practice, Mr. Fletcher."
A knock at the door interrupted what was becoming a familiar pattern of verbal sparring. Grimsby opened it to reveal a young boy, perhaps twelve, covered in snow and pine needles.
"Begging your pardon, sir," the boy said to Alaric, "but Mrs. Whitby says if you're really the new steward, you ought to come see about the star placement. She says you had opinions about geometry."
"I had observations about physics."
"She said you'd say that, and to tell you that observations without action are just fancy complaining."
Alaric blinked. "She said that?"
"Well, she used more words, but that was the general meaning."
"And if I decline?"
"She said to tell you that would be expected but disappointing."
"Expected but disappointing."
"Yes, sir. She also said something about London men and their delicate constitutions, but I wasn't supposed to repeat that part."
"Yet you did."
"Must have slipped out, sir."
