He had dearly wished that he had been able to either have some time alone with her after the deed was done. On one hand he wished to explain all that had occurred in the build up to this day, but he didn’t think it would be well received, or indeed that she might not wish to hear it. On the other hand he always wanted to simply go – to be done with this charade and pretending he cared at all for the man who had seated him at his right hand side. A slight to both his wife and his son. The wedding couldn’t come soon enough, the faster that it was all done with, that she could leave her fathers house and he could stop playing nice with him the better.

He accepted the drink he was served by the footman, a medicore red wine. ’About 2 years, indeed I believe I arrived just as you debuted’ he said, fudging the details and trying to make the comment seem casual, as though it wasn’t burned into his memory as indelible as his own date of birth. ’I think I will be here for the foreseeable future.’ he added, perhaps a little too vehemently, his friend who ran his ventures in New York was very good at it – better perhaps than Samuel himself might be. Samuel was a not suited to ‘business’ nor was he suited to idleness. Working with the ministry provided him an opportunity to ‘serve’ in a manner that was acceptable for a man of his station. ’I don’t expect I’ll be back in the states for a long time, my little sister is here and rather taken with English culture, she has set her heart on an English debut’ he said with a jovial laugh. Samuel loved his sister, of all of his siblings, even Roscoe, with whom he was as close as twins, Evelyn had a special place in his affections, her elder brothers doted on her, if she demanded the moon on a string her brothers would spare neither expense nor magic to see it through. Melody’s ather nodded along knowingly and he fought the urge to role his eyes at the mans sycophanty