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Sylvia gripped the doorframe with one hand, willing herself to stay upright. They’d been married nearly fifteen years, but he was still as handsome as he’d been the day he trotted up to the door of his friend’s house as she stood on the doorstep, a boxed-up dress she’d been delivering balanced in her arms. He’d helped her ring the bell because it had turned out his friend’s mother and Mrs. Shelton’s most well-heeled customer were one and the same. He’d looked her over from top to tail and then smiled as though he couldn’t think of anything more delightful than meeting her. It had been that smile that had slain her, and the absence of it now sent a pang through her chest.

When had he stopped lighting up when she walked into a room? She wanted to ask, but instead she said, “You’re home.”

He glanced up and then inclined his head. “Clearly.”

“I wasn’t aware that you had leave.”

“I don’t,” he said, his gaze settling back on his newspaper. “I have been called to London for meetings at the Admiralty. We are discussing how the Royal Navy coordinates its medical corps. Where have you been?”

“The Alexanders had a dinner party,” she said.

He sniffed, but she knew that he approved. After all, there were rumors that Mr. Alexander was being considered for a knighthood.

“Who was there?” asked Hugo.

Before she could answer, she heard the rustle of fabric and turned to find Mrs. Atkinson bearing the glass and silver soda bottle that normally lived on the bar cart in the sitting room.

“Oh, Mrs. Pearsall,” said the housekeeper, “isn’t it wonderful having the surgeon lieutenant-commander home?”

Sylvia shot Hugo a look, but he was watching Mrs. Atkinson set down the soda water.

“Mrs. Atkinson, I thought you were leaving early tonight,” she said.

“Oh,” said the housekeeper, busying herself as she poured out a measure of scotch and then added soda to it just as Hugo liked it. “I was all set to go after you left, but then Lieutenant-Commander Pearsall arrived.”

“Mrs. Atkinson was kind enough to give me supper,” said Hugo.

Sylvia couldn’t help the annoyance rising in her. He made it sound as though it had been Sylvia’s negligence that there hadn’t been anything for him to eat when he came home, rather than his failure to inform her that he would be in London.

“Would you like a drink as well, Mrs. Pearsall?” Mrs. Atkinson asked.

“No, thank you,” she said.

“You might as well enjoy it while it still isn’t rationed,” said Hugo.

“I’m fine,” she said to Mrs. Atkinson. “You may go now.”

“Good evening, madam,” said the housekeeper before adding, “It’s good to have you home safe and sound, Lieutenant-Commander Pearsall.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Atkinson,” said Hugo, his gaze hardly rising from that damned newspaper.

The housekeeper shut the sitting room door, leaving husband and wife alone together for the first time in months.

“If you had let me know that you were coming home, I wouldn’t have gone out,” Sylvia started. “I would have made sure that we had something decent in for supper rather than whatever Mrs. Atkinson had to put together on short notice.”

“She didn’t mind,” said Hugo, turning the broadsheet’s page.

“How long will you be at home?” she asked.

“Does it matter? It is my home.”

It was their home. The shop above the flat had never felt really like home, so it had meant a great deal to her to have a beautiful place that was at least partially her own. Hugo had indulged her from the first day, allowing her free rein to decorate every room save his study. She’d chosen things she thought he would like, understated and not too feminine. She’d shown an elegance and restraint she’d quietly applauded herself for, congratulating herself on being clever enough to find a man who would wrap her in the cotton wool of his class and affluence.

“I’m asking a simple question, Hugo,” she said, not bothering to keep the annoyance out of her tone. “You could do me the courtesy of answering it.”

He gave a huff of frustration, the pages of the newspaper crinkling violently as he shook it out in front of him again as he always did when he wished she would stop speaking.

“I’ll be in town for a few days before returning to base,” he said.