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“Simon,” said Archie, “I am not sure you have a bride problem so much as you have a mother problem.”

“Indeed. I have avoided thinking about her while on holiday, and it has been a reprieve. But in truth, I cannot allow what Frances told me to pass with no consequences. I think I need a way to … remove my mother from my life.”

Yes. That felt right, questions of marrying, or not, aside. He turned to the boys. He hadn’t been avoiding them on purpose, but he had missed them. “How do I do that?”

“Well, I should think to start, you could insist she move into the dower house at Galecroft,” Effie said.

“Or if that’s not enough, give her the London house and rent another for your own purposes,” Archie said.

“It sounds so simple when you say it like that,” Simon said.

“It is not simple,” Archie said. “It is not simple at all. But I will tell you that I never faced down my father, and I regret it.” He turned to Effie. “Ef is the bravest of us all in that regard, and could perhaps provide some counsel.”

“I don’t know if it was bravery, so much as survival,” Effie said.

“What do you mean?” Simon asked.

“I didn’t believe I could live without Jules, and once something is a matter of survival, one becomes … well, I was going to say braver, but that isn’t the word. One becomes single-minded. One does what needs to be done.”

The conversation was becoming unsettling. Simon wanted to return to the reprieve, where he was on holiday and therefore didn’t have to think about Mother. He cleared his throat. “Well, happily, I have only two Countesses of Marsden in my life at the moment, and they never cross paths, so I think you win, Archie, for a household full of title confusion.”

“It’s really only Miss Brown who’s the problem,” Archie said.

“How do you mean?” Simon asked, alarmed. Had they been observed together?

Clementine and Mother use each other’s Christian names, and of course, I call them ‘Clementine’ and ‘Mother.’”

“Or ‘Darling’ and ‘Mother,’” Effie said. Archie waved a hand dismissively, which only caused Effie to double down. “Or ‘Dearest Sweet Soul of my Soul’ and ‘Mother.’”

Simon relaxed. Well, he relaxed as much as he ever did, which he would admit was not a great deal.

Archie rolled his eyes at Effie. “Yes, yes, the point is, the only member of my household who addresses both of them as ‘Lady Harcourt’ is Miss Brown. I did tell her she ought to use their Christian names.”

“But she refused,” Simon said.

“Yes. How did you know?”

“It just seems like something she wouldn’t want to do. After all, you are still calling her ‘Miss Brown’ and not ‘Diantha.’”

“How did you know she’s named ‘Diantha’?”

Simon had erred. He shrugged, trying to affect an air of nonchalance. “I must have heard it somewhere.”

The ale arrived, providing a handy exit from a conversation that had the potential to become dangerous, and they made a toast. “To River’s Embrace,” Effie said.

“Oh, no, we’re not reviving River’s Embrace,” Archie said, and after a few minutes of good-natured bickering, he turned to Simon. “Why don’t you name the place?”

“I certainly don’t have any ideas.”

“Are you sure?”

“What do you mean?” Why was he being so odd?

“Simon,” Archie said, “are you keeping something from us?”

“You are being rather peculiar lately,” Effie said.

“Peculiar?” Simon echoed, his mind swirling.