“Who is arranging the new wallpaper and furnishings?”
He frowned. “I left the running of things in the hands of my man of business, Atkins. He’ll hire someone.” He paused. “Why? Do you wish to be involved? I thought you’d find it tedious.”
Lily laughed. “Tedious? Setting up my own home and making it just as I would like it? Choosing wallpaper and curtains and furniture and rugs? I would love it.”
He blinked. “Really? You could be bothered with all that nonsense?”
“Truly I could imagine nothing better.”
“Then do whatever you’d like.” He took a sheet of the hotel notepaper and scribbled a note. “I’ll have this sent to Atkins and tell him he’s to work under your orders. And now . . .” He picked up his hat and walked toward the door.
“Wait,” Lily said. “Isn’t there anything you want to tell me before you leave?”
He looked wary. “What sort of thing?”
“Any furniture you want to keep, rooms you have a particular fondness for, anything you don’t want changed?”
He snorted. “I haven’t lived in that house since I was six. As far as I’m concerned you could toss everything out and start new—in fact, that’s what I’d prefer. Whatever you do will be fine by me. Now, I really must go.”
Lily was stunned by his apparent indifference. But he’d given her carte blanche to arrange his house—her new home, and she couldn’t wait to see it.
Leaving Edward’s valet and her maid to see to the luggage and unpacking, Lily went immediately to Ashendon House, her old family home.
Cal and Emm were out, but Rose and George, and even Finn the lugubrious wolfhound, gave her a rapturous welcome.
“You’re back early,” Rose said once the initial greetings were over. “Has something happened? Has that man—”
Lily cut her off. “There’s nothing wrong, Rose. I’m very happy.”
“She looks well—even glowing,” George observed.
Lily laughed. “I don’t know about glowing, but I am well, and very happy.”
Rose looked skeptical. “Then why are you back early from your honeymoon?”
“Oh, some business Edward had to attend to,” she said airily. She wished she knew what he was doing, but she had business of her own to see to now. “I have two reasons for coming straight here,” she said. “The first is, of course, to see you both—I missed you so much.”
Rose exchanged glances with George. “And the second?”
Lily decided to ignore their suspicions. They’d soon realize that Edward was good to her. It might not be the love match she wanted, but she was happy enough.
“Edward is having Galbraith House refurbished. He arranged for the physical repairs to be done while we were away, and they’re not quite finished, but that’s not important. The thing is, he’s given me permission to make all the decisions about the decoration and furnishings. I have a free hand with everything: wallpaper, lighting, floor coverings, curtains, furniture—everything!”
George frowned. “And you’re happy about this? Sounds like a lot of work.”
“It’ll be fun, George,” Rose said.
George gave her a doubtful look. “I’ll take your word for it.”
Lily glanced out the window. “As a matter of fact, I thought I might go around to Galbraith House this afternoon while it’s still light, and see how it’s all going and get some ideas. Do you two want to come with me?”
• • •
“All this is frightfully old-fashioned,” Rose declared. “Thank goodness Galbraith is allowing you to order new furniture.”
“What is this stuff?” George wandered around, examining the furniture they’d found under dust sheets. “I’ve never seen anything like it. A sofa with crocodile legs, animal feet on everything, people who are half man, half beast . . .”
“It’s the Egyptian style,” Rose explained. “It was all the rage when we were children.” She pointed. “That’s a sphinx, some of them are gods, I think.”
“And this table and those chairs are dogs,” George observed, stroking the head. “Aren’t they beautiful?”
“Edward told me to throw everything out.”
“You can’t throw these dogs out,” George objected, her hands going around them protectively.
“You can have them if you want,” Lily said. “We’re going to have to buy everything new.” The prospect was delightful. “But first we must decide how to dress the walls—the head builder said they’d be ready to paper them in a few days.”
They wandered through the various rooms, making suggestions and discussing possibilities. Rose wrote them all down in a little notebook. The light started to fade, and Lily suddenly remembered there was a place she wanted to see. “I need to see the nursery.”
Rose and George immediately stared at her middle. “Isn’t it too soon to tell?” George asked.
Lily laughed. “Not that, silly. Edward lived here until he was six. I want to see the part of the house he lived in as a little boy.”
She hurried upstairs in search of the nursery. The others followed. They found it eventually in the attic, a big, bare, dusty room, with two small bedchambers off it, one for Edward and one for his nurse, Lily assumed.
Not a very appealing place for a child, she thought. Gloomy gray paint, and no pictures or any decoration on the walls. Gas hadn’t been installed this high up, so the only light was coming from the slanted windows in the roof. No fireplace.
That window . . . She glanced around. George and Rose were poking through a low row of cupboards. A few toys, a small wooden sword—just one—and a moth-eaten toy dog. Remnants of a lonely childhood.
With some difficulty Lily forced open one of the windows, stood on her tiptoes and gazed out, thinking of the small dreamy boy who’d stood on a chair, gazing out over the rooftops and chimneys, as he explored mysterious imaginary lands half hidden in the swirling smog.
It wasn’t mysterious, it was depressing. And this was no place to bring up a child, Lily decided.
“Come on, it’s getting dark and there’s nothing here,” Rose said.
George looked at Lily. “Still think this is going to be fun?”
Lily smiled. “I can’t wait.”
• • •
Lily’s life in London soon settled into a
