Just then Graham returned with her glass ofcider.
“Oh, thank you,” Lydia said, as she became distracted. She saw Edwin hesitate and appear to change direction. Was he leavingtheinn?
“If you would like to dance again, I would be up for it,”Grahamsaid.
Lydia turned to him. “Oh Graham, thank you but not just at thismoment.I…”
She turned back again to find Edwin, but she could notseehim.
“Excuse me, one moment,Graham.”
Then she headed toward the entrance to see if Edwin wasleaving.
She got to the door and looked into the inn’s lobby but he was not there. Disappointed, she turned to head back to the party but bumped full force into none other than Edwin. He spilled his drink over the front ofhiscoat.
“Lydia, what an exuberant greeting,” he saidlaughing.
She stepped back in horror. “Oh, Edwin, I am so sorry. I had just gone lookingforyou.”
“And you found me.” He stepped backward and looked down at the spill on his coat. He wiped it with a handkerchief from his coatpocket.
“No one knew you were coming,” Lydia said, trying to normalize theconversation.
“I did not know either. However, I thought it would be the right thing to make an appearance to congratulate the good doctor and his new bride and yourfriend.”
“And you are mostwelcome.”
Lydia was holding her cider. Half of Edwin’s drink had been spilled and neither knew quite what to do orsaynext.
“I think, perhaps, I should go,” Edwinfinallysaid.
“Oh, please, not yet. You have only just arrived, and in this weather, you must at least warm up before you leave again. It will, no doubt, be a cold and windy trip back toHoneyfield.”
He studied her for a moment. “Very well, for a short while, but might there be somewhere we might go that is not so boisterous. It does not seem conducive to a properconversation.”
Lydia looked around the room and seeing nothing suitable, suggested, “I believe the lobby has some quiet areas with comfortableseating.”
“Let me refresh my drink and I shalljoinyou.”
He turned back toward the bar, and she went to find a place where they could visit quietly. She found two upholstered chairs by the fireplace with a cozy,dancingfire.
She sat in one of the chairs and was soon joined by Edwin, who sat his drink on the small table between the twochairs.
“How long have you known Mrs. Cooke?” Edwinasked.
That took Lydia by surprise as she had not yet thought of Jenny as Mrs. Cooke. She was just her good friend, Jenny. She had tosmile.
“Since the very moment, I moved here. She lived next door to my aunt and we became instant and fastfriends.”
“It is good to have such afriend.”
That made Lydia realize Edwin had never spoken to her of any closefriends.
“Edwin, do you have such a friend? Certainly, a man of your stature must have manyfriends?”
Edwin was silent for a moment. “You are my friend,”hesaid.
That took her by surprise and she blinked several times. “But no male friends? Certainly, you must have friends from school oruniversity?”
“Life is a bit different for a duke. I never attended a public school. I was tutored at home—by Nanny Scofield. She was strict, but an excellent educator. And, as the duke apparent, there were no youngsters in the local area thought to be appropriate playmates for ‘one suchasI.’
“And I did not attend a conventional university. Instead, I traveled—which I found to be much more useful than a formal education. I discovered my interests, and when I found a new passion, I would study on the spot. I would use libraries, seek local teachers—exalted or humble—and little by little I formed my current life. And that is how I found my great passion for thearboretum.
“But to answer your second question, no, I have no close male friends. There isonlyyou.”
“And Ellen? Surely you must think of her as afriendtoo?”
“Yes. AndEllen.”
