“Meaning?”
His mother stopped on the bottom step and turned to face him. “John didn’t really tell me anything useful.”
“Why do you suppose that was?”
“Either he is protecting you, or you haven’t confided in him.” She paused. “I suspect it is the former.”
“What would he need to protect me from?”
His mother eyed him with concern. “Yourself.”
Colin rested his hands on his mother’s shoulders and leaned in. “I am fine, Mother.”
“Are you?”
“I am.”
A frown came to her lips. “I am worried about you.”
“I know, and I love you even more because of it.”
“You will come to me if you need help, won’t you?”
Dropping his arms to his sides, Colin replied, “I can promise that.”
His brother’s voice came from the top of the stairs. “Was I not notified of a family meeting?” John joked as he descended the stairs.
“Colin was just reassuring me that all is well with him,” his mother shared.
John grinned. “What a relief.” He came to a stop next to them. “Is anyone else famished, or is this meeting not over?”
As they walked towards the dining room, their mother said, “I have been thinking we should have Lady Langdon and Lady Arabella over for Christmas Eve dinner.”
“That would be most thoughtful,” John remarked.
“It would.” She turned her gaze towards her other son. “What are your thoughts on the matter, Colin?”
“I am not opposed to dining with them.”
His mother nodded approvingly. “I’ll need to send the invitation straight away, but I’m afraid I do not have a servant to spare to deliver it.”
Colin lifted his brow. “I find that rather farfetched.”
“It is true,” she replied with a wave of her hand. “They are all busy decorating the manor for Christmas.”
“All of them?” he questioned in disbelief.
She bobbed her head. “Yes, every single one of them.”
“But we have over a hundred servants who work here.”
“I am well aware, but don’t you want the decorations to be perfect?”
Colin gave her an exasperated look. “I am confident that you can spare one servant for an errand.”
“I’m afraid that is an impossibility.”
He stopped outside the dining room and allowed his mother to enter first. John came to stand next to him and lowered his voice. “You do realize that Mother won’t stop until you agree to deliver the invitation yourself?”
