‘The stairs,’ Margot explains. ‘Our bedrooms are up there.’
Then she blushes, because she hadn’t meant to refer to her bedroom in front of this man who appears to be courting her. That’s so forward of her.
‘I see,’ Stephen says. ‘That … will be an issue.’ He looks around. ‘Is there another room down here that she could use? I could have the bed moved.’
‘I don’t want to sleep down here!’ Lavinia is indignant. ‘Weeatdown here. I will not sleep near the kitchen.’
Stephen looks amused, which is good, because it’s possible that Lavinia has offended him. For all they know, he sleeps near his kitchen.
‘I’m not sure we can make another arrangement in time for tonight,’ he says, his voice gentle. ‘Perhaps we should find you temporary accommodation with everything on one storey.’
‘I don’t think we can,’ Margot interjects. She can’t afford to pay for a hotel, or anything else.
‘I’ll take care of it,’ Stephen says. ‘If it sounds like the right solution. And while you’re away, Miss King, I can look into what changes could be made so you can live here comfortably.’
‘We couldn’t let you do that,’ Margot says.
‘Yes, we could!’ Lavinia insists.
Margot looks at her, slightly shocked that her aunt can so easily detach from the house.
Stephen smiles at Margot.
‘I don’t …’ she starts. ‘I can’t …’ Another pause. ‘We couldn’t possibly ask you to do that.’
‘You’re not asking me,’ he says. ‘I’m offering. And if it helps you both, it would be my pleasure.’
‘But it can’t be!’ Margot says.
He looks amused again. ‘Why not?’
‘You barely know us! Why would you help?’
He takes his time to reply. ‘Length of acquaintance rarely has anything to do with how strongly we feel about another person. A parent loves a child straightaway. Two strangers can meet and become instant …’ He smiles. ‘Friends. I don’t need to have known you for a long time to wish to make your life easier, Margot.’
His gaze is so strong, assured. Unsettling, in a way, because no man has ever beheld Margot like this and she doesn’t feel she deserves it. Yet, as he seems to insist, that’s not for her to decide.
‘I think Mr Williams is quite a sensible chap,’ Lavinia says approvingly.
‘Stephen, please, Miss King,’ he says.
‘You may continue to call me Miss King,’ Lavinia says, and Stephen laughs.
‘I would not dream of doing otherwise. Now, may I use your telephone? I will make some enquiries.’
Margot shows him to the phone and he gives her hand a reassuring squeeze before she leaves him to it.
As he makes his calls, Margot fusses over Lavinia, who seems annoyed by it. Perhaps this is to be their dynamic for a while, and Margot can understand: it’s no fun being old and infirm.
‘Now,’ Stephen says as he returns, ‘I have a friend with a hotel at Cremorne who has a suite he can make available. Will that be acceptable?’
Lavinia nods – slightly imperiously, Margot thinks, but she’s prepared to forgive her.
‘Wonderful,’ Stephen says. ‘Shall we pack you some things?’
‘I’ll do that,’ Margot says quickly, and she goes upstairs to find some clothes and whatever else Lavinia needs.
Once Stephen has gone, taking Lavinia with him – he said Margot should rest and she wasn’t inclined to resist – Margot misses the bustle of having them both in the house, and is then seized by a worry.