It was silly of her to try any further relationship with Leo Moon. She could see that now. They’d both asked for a summer dalliance, and that’s what they’d gotten. A quiet, subtle love affair that never reached the ears of London’s gossip pages. She should be very satisfied with herself.
But she wasn’t. Since she dressed for fashion, and not the sudden winter chill that descended upon London, she ducked into a nearby chocolate shop to warm up. The hot chocolate was delicious, but the package of French-style chocolates that she tucked under her arm would manage her for the next few days. Until she left for the Berringbone country house.
*
GRANSON WAS ANexcellent carriage driver. Even with unmatched horses, he guided the vehicle with absolute ease. “I’d like to be a hack driver, I think,” the man announced. “I like being outside.”
Within a few weeks of Reggie and Granson’s arrival at his home, they’d burrowed in. But Leo found he didn’t mind. Granson sought honest work, and his father stopped talking so damn much. Indeed, his mother and father sat in the drawing room, taking turns reading to one another in the late morning, when the sun shone its brightest.
With Granson occupied, and his father content, Leo was free to spend his days working again, which he did. And with the holidays soon, his father was pressing about decorating the house—which they’d never done. His mother seemed happy to do it, so he gave them an allowance, wondering what would happen with the two of them together.
But it seemed to work, somehow. They never touched or were physically affectionate with each other. Now that his basic needs were met, Reggie no longer attempted his flirtatious seductions. Which was a relief.
Jeffrey told him that Mrs. Cabot had called while they were out purchasing the holiday decorations. Granson drove the carriage for the practice, with Leo up top giving him scarcely needed directions. The parents were inside, snug with fur blankets and hot water bottles to keep warm.
But then winter truly descended, and the temperatures plummeted. He couldn’t abandon his elderly parents and Granson to go see Prudence. He had obligations here. Indeed, his mother told him that under no circumstance was he escaping hanging the boughs of holly they’d liberated from the Covent Garden stalls that morning.
The bell rang for dinner—the first time it had been needed in ages. And he joined his family at the table, listening to his parents’ ideas for the month ahead, answering when Granson asked advice on routes around London, and discussing the needs of the household for the impending cold.
After dinner, instead of retiring with a snifter of spiced brandy, Leodecorated.
“A little to the right!” his mother called from below.
Leo stood on his tiptoes then, on the first floor, next to the stairs, hanging the pine boughs. Granson was behind him, affixing the bright red holly berries where the bough touched the ceiling.
“No, your left!” Reggie called.
Leo rolled his eyes and did as his mother directed. He drove a nail into the wood and hung the bough.
“Bravo!” His mother clapped when he finished the draping of the garland. “The silver bells next, don’t you think, Reggie?”
“Absolutely.” His parents hobbled across the foyer where the boxes sat. “Lena, did you remember the red ribbons?”
“Of course I did. Oh, but they are up in the drawing room. Leo, would you mind fetching the bag of red ribbons? It’s on top of the mending basket.”
Leo grumbled his assent, but he couldn’t help but feel dumbstruck in this domesticity. He had a real mother and real father. And there weren’t any schemes or desperate measures being discussed. No scrounging, no excessive drinking; was this what other people had gotten in their childhoods? No wonder there was a term “domestic bliss.”
The only thing Leo thought could be better was if Prudence were there. He wanted her to see them, his parents, this way. He wanted her to chat with Granson, tell him about America and Minnesota and the railways. She was the only thing missing.
He ran to his study and jotted a note. He had to catch her before this sudden snowstorm became too much for the streets of London. “I’ll be out for a moment,” he told his mother as he pulled on a jacket.
Granson was by his side in a second. “I’ll do it.”
“Not at all, I can manage,” Leo assured him.
The sheer pleading in his nephew’s gray eyes, which he was surprised to notice looked exactly like his own, made Leo soften. “Fine then. Take this to the Strawbridge hotel. Leave it with the front desk and come home straightaway. The weather will be getting worse as night falls.”
Granson reached past Leo to grab his overcoat and popped his hat on, tipping the brim to him with an off-kilter smile, revealing chipped teeth. Again, it was the first time Leo had noticed them, and he wondered how Reggie had treated him during his childhood. Leo gave Granson the note.
“Hunker down if you need to, but do try to return quickly,” Leo said, listening to the wind picking up outside.
“Obliged.” Granson wound a woolen scarf around his neck and stepped out.
*
THE TRAIN RIDEdown to Berringbone was enjoyable, and traveling in style made everything more enjoyable. She hadn’t heard from Leo before they boarded the train, and she wondered if she should have written him to let him know that she would be in the country for the entire month of December. In the end, with the snowstorm and the freezing temperatures, she didn’t send a note, not wanting to force someone to deliver the letter in hazardous circumstances.
“My brother tells me he’s planning on a holiday ball,” Ophelia said in the carriage, snug under the fur blanket with Justine. Prudence and Eleanor were on the opposite side, just as tucked in. The coach ran smoothly on the snowy road, as if the ruts were filled in.
