Though she really hoped she did.

“Malcolm Hudson works over at Sandringham House. He was in the kitchen this morning chatting with Julia when I came down for breakfast, and he offered to give me a little tour of the grounds while you were occupied. Satisfied?”

“What does he do over at Sandringham House?” Maddie was obviously not satisfied. “What was he doing in the kitchen here?”

There was no real way to avoid answering these questions, was there?

“He was in the kitchen because he and Julia have known each other for years, and he came over to say hi to her. And he’s the private secretary to the Queen.”

Maddie dropped her spoon.

“The what to the Queen?”

Vivian carefully didn’t roll her eyes.

“The private secretary.” She took another sip of the soup.

Maddie stared at her.

“That’s a big deal kind of job, Mom!”

Vivian took a bite of her sandwich.

“Yes, I gathered that,” she said. Sometimes she really enjoyed irritating her daughter like this.

“Okay, but then, why did he give you a tour? Doesn’t he have more important things to do with his time?”

Vivian was pretty sure he had many more important things to do with his time, which made her even more pleased he’d taken two hours out of his schedule to wander around and chat and eat scones with her today. But saying that to Maddie would cause her to ask a million more unanswerable questions, so instead, she just shrugged.

“It’s Christmastime. I think he had some unexpected free time, so he decided to fill it by entertaining the nearby American. It was a really nice walk, even though it was freezing outside. I’m glad you made me get this coat; it and my boots were the only things that kept me from turning into a Popsicle.” Vivian had to deflect Maddie before she asked even more about this man. Luckily, she knew just how to do it. “How was your morning with the Duchess? Did the clothes get delivered okay? Did you guys make some good decisions?”

Maddie nodded eagerly.

“Yeah, it was a great morning. All of the clothes got delivered, thank God, and the staff here did a fantastic job listening to my very specific directions about how to hang them up. I always feel like an asshole when I have to give instructions like that to other people, because I get so particular and detailed about everything. But maybe in royal households they’re used to people being exacting, because they don’t seem to hate me, even after my three-page email about ten different things to do with ten different navy blue dresses.”

Vivian laughed and poured more water for both of them.

“Well, that’s good. I’ve seen how you get when people don’t listen to your very specific instructions. People like me, for example.”

Maddie rolled her eyes and went on.

“Amelia usually spends a week in England every two or so months to work with the Duchess and plan for all of the upcoming events, but she hasn’t been here in three months, so I have a lot of work cut out for me in the next few days, but I think it’ll be a lot of fun. A lot of pressure, too, but I’m up to the challenge, especially with you here.” She grinned at Vivian. “Tomorrow we might head into the town to do some shopping for an hour or so. Let me know if you want to come.”

Vivian smiled to herself.

“I’ll think about it, but I might want to just relax here”—she looked at her daughter pointedly—“like you keep telling me I have to. And it will be nice to hang out and read; I don’t get much time to do that at home.”

That was all true, but she hoped she’d have other plans tomorrow. Plans Maddie didn’t need to know about.

Malcolm spent the rest of the day attempting to do nationally important work, but all he could think about was Vivian. He knew he was being ridiculous, but for once, he didn’t care. He’d spent two hours with an attractive, interesting, charming woman, and it had been the happiest and most relaxed two hours he’d spent in months.

Maybe years.

Had she taken him seriously when he’d suggested going to the stables? Because he’d meant every word of it, but maybe she’d just been polite?

Well, there was one way to find out.

He packed up a notepad when he left the office for the day, and once he was settled into his hotel room in town, he sat down at the desk to write Vivian a note.

It felt unnecessarily formal to do it this way, but he had no other way of getting in touch with her, and he knew a note left for her at Sycamore Cottage would reach her. He decided to lean into the formality of it all, since he’d gotten the impression today that it amused her.

The next morning, he copied out his final draft of the note onto his official stationery and slipped it into an envelope.

Ms. Forest,

I’d like to request the pleasure of your company at 14:00–2:00 p.m. to you—this afternoon at the Sandringham House stables. If you are agreed, I’ll call for you at Sycamore Cottage. The horses look forward to making your acquaintance.

Sincerely,

Malcolm Hudson

He scrawled her name on the outside of the envelope and pressed a button on his desk to summon a footman to his office. It felt very Victorian to do it like this, but when one worked in a palace, one may as well make use of artifacts from the past on occasion.

“Please bring this over to Sycamore Cottage, if you would,” he said once the footman finally arrived at his door. “If there is a reply, please bring it back to me directly.”

The footman nodded.

“Very good, Mr. Hudson.”

He smiled as he walked down to his daily meeting with the Queen.

A few minutes after he got back to his office, there was a knock at his door. He looked up to see the footman. He kept his face blank.

“Yes?”

“I have a reply for you, Mr. Hudson,” he said. He stepped forward and handed it to Malcolm, who dropped it on his desk like it didn’t matter at all.

“Very good. Thank you.”

The footman nodded and left. As soon as he’d turned away, Malcolm pulled the letter out of the envelope.

Mr. Hudson,

Thank you for your kind invitation to introduce me to the Sandringham horses. Nothing could delight me more than to visit the stables with you. I look forward to your call this afternoon.

Kind regards,

Ms. Vivian Forest

He dropped the letter on his desk and laughed out loud. He had a feeling this afternoon would be fun.

He picked up the phone and called down to the stable manager.

When Malcolm walked over to Sycamore Cottage a few hours later, he was halfway up the path to the kitchen door before he realized he had to go to the front door for this visit. He couldn’t send over a letter on his heavy stationery and then make Vivian come meet him in the kitchen, no matter how great that kitchen was. So he doubled back around and walked up the steps to the front door. Before he could knock, the door swung open.

“Mr. Hudson.” The butler reached for his coat. “You’re expected.”

He handed over his coat.

“Thank you, James.”

James showed him into the sitting room, where Vivian sat in front of a fire, drinking a cup of tea, and with a plate piled full of scones in front of her, and small bowls full of cream and jam.

“Julia found out you were coming by to pick me up, and before I could blink, a mountain of scones appeared. Do you have time for tea and a scone before we leave?”