Page 43 of A Single Thread of Moonlight

The breakfast room was less formal than the dining room, decorated in light lemon yellow, with a long sideboard groaning under covered dishes that were constantly refreshed by the handsome footman standing inside the door. He looked like a Greek statue dressed in livery.

“Good morning,” I said, as I entered the room. Agatha and Helena were both there. I knew that the colonel had already eaten because we had seen him that morning, and that Lady Bell and the dowager countess had both decided to eat in their own rooms. Jack, Sophia, Percy, Nicholas and Stefan were all present, and only Lord Bell was unaccounted for. A chorus of greetings rose from around the table.

“Miss Fox!” Helena exclaimed from behind her coffee cup. “Are you quite well? You look positively feverish.”

“Thank you, Lady Scott-Holland,” I said serenely. “I am very well, only a little pink from exercise. Miss Cassandra is obviously much fitter than I am.”

“Oh, she hasn’t had you out on that horrid contraption of hers?” Helena wrinkled her nose. “So unladylike.”

The footman pulled out a seat for me, next to Stefan, and across from Nicholas.

“I enjoyed riding the bicycle,” I said, leaning slightly to the side so that the footman could pour me a cup of tea.

“Bicycle?” Percy’s face perked up. “I’m a member of the Cyclist’s Touring Club, myself.”

“Miss Cassandra is teaching me the ropes,” I said, adding sugar to my tea. “She seems very proficient.”

“I wonder if she’s a member as well?” Percy frowned.

“Do you allow women to be members, then?”

“Yes, for almost twenty years,” Percy said proudly. “People talk a lot of nonsense, but there is no rational reason why women shouldn’t cycle just as well as men, nor why it would have anything but a positive effect on their health.”

I smiled. It seemed the boy had hidden depths.

“Well, I loved it despite being only a very shaky beginner,” I said, enjoying his enthusiasm.

“I think it has left you glowing with health, Miss Fox,” Stefan said gallantly.

I thought I heard Nicholas snort into his tea, but I ignored that, directing my brightest smile at Stefan. “Thank you, Your Highness. That is a kind description of my windswept appearance.”

Stefan laughed and lowered his voice. “Not at all windswept,” he said. “Only very pretty.”

“Speaking of exercise,” Jack said from across the table, where he was sitting beside Sophia. “Some of us are going for a ride this afternoon. Won’t you join us, Miss Fox?”

“Oh!” I exclaimed, remembering Cassie’s comments about the stables. “I-I’m not sure.”

“Please do,” Sophia said, with a tentative smile. I knew that smile; I had last seen it on Claire when she was trying to befriend me.

“You must,” Percy said firmly. “It will be fun.”

“Perhaps,” I said, as kindly as I could manage. I was still feeling very mixed up over the thought of even visiting the stables. And I wasn’t sure about all these new friendships. I didn’t want it to start feeling real.

“Serena,” Nicholas said, “you haven’t had a thing to eat yet, and you said you were ravenous. No, no.” He waved away the footman who had started forward. “Don’t trouble yourself, it will be my honour to serve Miss Fox myself.” He gestured me towards the waiting sideboard.

I rose to join him as he picked up a plate.

“Nowhere in my etiquette manual did it suggest I should be waited on by an earl,” I said, my voice low beneath the bright chatter that Helena coaxed the rest of the group into. “I’m not even sure that you and I are supposed to make direct eye contact in public.”

“I’m just being attentive,” he murmured, uncovering a plate of kippers.

“Is there another way for you to show how attentive you are?” I grimaced. “I hate kippers.”

He replaced the lid and moved on. “I needed to talk to you about the riding.”

“The riding?” I asked, startled.

He nodded. “I should have realized that we’d come up against this. Don’t worry, though – we’ll come up with an excuse.”