“Yes, of course. I need to reply and accept their invitation for Friday.”
His wife smiled gently. “I’d love to go, but we know what they think of women on campus, let alone a meeting.”
“I’ll only be gone that day,” he replied.
“And you’re going to impress them,” Cathryn said.
“We’ll see.”
“Is there anything you need?” Arthur asked. “If you do, just tell Daphne or me and we’ll get it done.”
“I took the liberty of having your suite aired out and having it thoroughly cleaned,” Daphne said.
“Could the piano be tuned?” Cathryn asked. “I’m afraid sitting there all this time, it’s quite out of tune.”
“Of course. I’ll have it taken care of when the man comes next week,” Daphne replied.
“If you’ll excuse us, I need to go write a reply to this invitation.”
It wasn’t that he didn’t like idly talking, but there were things he needed to tend to, and he was sure his bride needed a break.
Their wing had certainly been through a good cleaning. They headed for the drawing room where Charles took off his coat and placed it over the back of a chair. He walked directly to the desk sitting at a window overlooking the gardens and beyond, placing the letter from Oxford on the mahogany desk.
He turned to Cathryn who was watching him. “If you want to get started on your reply, I’ll go see if dinner awaits us,” she said.
“Please. I’m famished.”
Watching her leave, he sat down and studied the letter before beginning his reply. He no sooner began writing when Cathryn returned.
“Why don’t we go eat before you get started on that? It’ll be cold if we wait.”
“It’ll only take a moment to write my reply. Why don’t you go on ahead and begin? I promise I’ll be right behind you.”
He could tell she wasn’t really happy as she flounced out of the room. Still, he knew himself well enough that if he procrastinated, he might put writing his response off until early morning. It wouldn’t take but five minutes to write his reply.
As he placed the paper in the addressed envelope, Charles was intrigued with the university’s request and hoped he would do a good job with whatever they wanted. He rose and placed the letter to his left. After dinner, he would call Frazier and ask him to make sure it got out.
Cathryn was sitting next to the end of the table when he walked in. He tried to muster a smile for he could see she was still unhappy with him.
“See, the reply took no time.”
“So I see. I hope you like asparagus soup. It’s really quite good,” she said.
“I don’t believe I’ve had it before.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes, it’s true. My meals were never anything too fancy.”
“Oh, Charles, we need to sit down and see what you have never had and have Cook prepare them for dinner. Just one or two items at a time. That’s enough, but it would be better to try them now than at a dinner party,” she said.
“I would have never thought of that.”
“It’s important, especially in London. You wouldn’t want to offend a hostess, now would you?”
He snorted as he picked up his spoon. “No, I would never want to do that.”
Taking a sip, he nodded and proceeded to take a couple more spoonfuls. It was rather good and before he knew it, he’d finished the bowl. He looked over at his bride, who sat there with a wide grin on her face. She couldn’t stay mad at him long.
