Alfred had told Charity early and often once he moved to the Sanditon Terrace that she was welcome to come and visit for as long as she liked and as often as she liked, and he stood by that, but he was a touch relieved that her holiday was drawing to an end. He was still adjusting — usually poorly — to Zelda's return to work, but he was trying hard to keep the adjustment pains out of Zelda's line of sight. With Charity around the house, there was the constant worry that he might be observed — and then that she subsequently might say something about it within earshot of Zelda. Thankfully the nurse still had charge of the children most of the day, while he was out on the water... and Zelda wasn't home so often. There were only a few hours for him to make any critical errors, and then a few hours following for Charity to potentially blab them to Zelda before everyone headed off to bed. Nothing had come up during her stay, but — it would be a relief to have the afternoons with an emptier house again.

Evander's offer of a drink surprised him. Did Evander drink, casually? Alfred thought he had usually only seen him with a glass in hand to accompany dinner, or at an event. So his first thought was that maybe something was the matter — his second was that Evander must have actually meant tea. "Sure," he agreed, in case it was the former. Zelda was home for the day already, and in charge of the children; hopefully she would be willing to overlook his extended absence in the event that it was the latter.

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The following 2 users Like J. Alfred Darrow's post:2 users Like J. Alfred Darrow's post
   Evander Darrow, Zelda Darrow