Page 79 of Infamous

‘Nash,’ Eddie said slowly, as if she were explaining to Trix that it was not possible to walk to Scotland in an afternoon. ‘We cannot really go to Greece.’

‘Of course we can,’ said Nash, scrabbling on the desk for one of the maps. ‘See the route marked here?’

‘I mean I know it’s physicallypossiblefor us to go, but—’

‘Don’t worry, I will allow plenty of time for you to finish your novel .?.?. how long do you need, another two weeks? Three? And then we can sail off into the sunset to celebrate. Wave farewell to merry England, and perhaps throw a few lewd gestures into the mix as we leave port.’

Eddie felt she was lagging behind in this conversation.

‘But .?.?. I thought you said my novel was far from ready?’

‘I said nothing of the sort,’ Nash scoffed. ‘Nothing a little spit and elbow grease cannot fix. In fact .?.?. look there, under the globe.’

Eddie lifted the ancient globe, which had a large illustration of Christ on it implying that He resided somewhere in the north of America, and found a crumpled letter. She lifted it to the light and began to read.

‘An arresting premise .?.?. send chapters at your earliest convenience .?.?.readers will be shocked and amused by the misadventures of Mrs Fortescue.?.?. but—’ Eddie broke off with an embarrassing little gasp as realisation dawned. ‘You .?.?. You told him about my novel? He wants toreadit?’

‘Yes, yes. I told you he would, did I not? And I am never wrong.’

‘Oh,Nash.’

Eddie was quite overcome. She threw both arms around him and he laughed distractedly, his hands coming up to pat gently at her hair.

‘There, there, don’t thank me yet – we need to see the damn thingfinished, and then, as I said .?.?. celebrations. Athens. I shall fashion us chitons and wreaths of olive leaf, and we can see who falls in the Aegean first.’

Eddie nodded, laughing, tears threatening to spill over. Greece – why not? She would have agreed to absolutely anything at that moment, drunk with elation. An editor liked the premise of her book. From what he had written, he seemed almost sure that he wished to publish it. It was all going to happen just as she had always dreamed it would, thanks to Nash.

There was a bark from somewhere in the grounds, and Nash frowned out of the window as he released her.

‘Damn. Dog’s loose.’

It was raining harder now. Eddie peered through the glass and saw that Juno seemed to be cutting a determined path towards the woods.

‘Should we not fetch her in? There’s nobody with her, and a storm seems to be approaching.’

Nash seemed on the verge of shaking his head, but then Juno barked again, and he glanced sharply up at the window, looking concerned.

‘Would you, Edie? That would be such a help. Look – I know I was very rude to Miss Li last night. I don’t suppose she will forgive me, but I at least wantyouto know that I am quite contrite.’

‘I think she is in the dining room, if you wish to speak with her before she leaves.’

‘Is she? Ah. I may just .?.?. Yes, do fetch Juno, before she falls into a rabbit hole and is slowly nibbled to death.’

After the service Nash had rendered her with his editor, Eddie was all too happy to tramp out into the freezing wind and rain in search of the dog. Even the thickest winter cloak she had brought was no match for the particular microclimate that seemed to govern over the lake, but her spirits could not be dampened. Juno had disappeared into the trees, and it took Eddie twenty minutes to discover her rolling in a patch of mud and convince her to go back into the house. It involved quite a lot of miming reaching into her pocket as if it contained ham, and then pretending to rummage.

The past twelve hours had been momentous, and her mind kept flitting back and forth, unable to settle on just one good thing. Nash’s editor, calling her bookarresting; Rose’s head thrown back against the pillows as Eddie ran her hands through the cascade of her hair; the thought of her book in the window of her local bookshop in London,E. Millerimmortalised in gold on the spine; quiet laughter into the crooks of necks and knees, and the all-consuming triumph of discovering exactly how to make Rosestoplaughing abruptly, and clutch her closer.

She was quite overwhelmed by such an onslaught of successes, and it made her feel giddy and stupid and prone to random, aimless smiling.

When she reached the door she discovered Albert standing on the porch, Henry depositing a trunk at his feet.

‘Ah,’ he said. ‘Go for a dip in a puddle, did you?’

‘Very funny,’ Eddie said, wiping some of the rain from her forehead with her sleeve and then sighing when Juno shook out her coat and rendered her attempts redundant. Dayo came out behind Albert, carrying a trunk and wearing his travelling cloak. ‘Oh .?.?. but you’re not leaving, Dayo?’

‘The weather has turned,’ Dayo said, grimacing. ‘I have done as much work here as I will manage. I will get on far better in London now, I think.’

‘Oh,’ Eddie said again, feeling slightly deflated. ‘Well. That’s a shame, but I suppose .?.?.’