Page 49 of A Winter By the Sea
Nearby, Mr. During sat with an issue ofAckermann’s Repository, apparently content to sit still for hours. He was not needed at Woolbrook either.
James Thomson entered the parlour in fencing attire and asked During to fence with him.
The table-decker groaned. “No, no. Please don’t insist.Once was enough punishment for us both, I should have thought.”
Mr. Thomson sighed.
Georgiana spoke up. “I’d like to learn,” she said. “Would you teach me?”
He hesitated, then said, “I have never had a female opponent before.”
Noting his reluctance, Emily assured him, “Georgiana is a natural-born athlete and excels at most sports.”
“I have no problem believing it,” he said, turning back to Georgie. “Very well. I can show you a few basics, although I am no teacher.”
“Wonderful!” her sister enthused. “What shall I wear?”
“Something comfortable that gives you freedom of movement. And sturdy shoes.”
“Very well.” Georgie’s blue eyes shone. “Give me just a few moments.” She hurried away.
Mr. Thomson looked at Emily, expression intent. “Will you join us?”
She set aside the slant and stood. “I think I will.”
It wouldn’t be proper for her sister to spend time in the secluded attic alone with a man. Or so Emily justified in her mind as an excuse to accompany them.
She added, “It is not that I don’t trust you, of course. I do.”
He smiled softly. “I am glad to hear it.”
“That I trust you, or that I will join you?”
“Both.”
Emily walked with him up to the attic, to a large room that had once served as nursery and perhaps schoolroom. There, he surveyed the child-sized table and chairs, and a few small desks pushed to the perimeter of the room.
“Reminds me of my old schoolroom.”
“Mine too.”
He returned his gaze to her. “Were you educated at home?”
“Yes, by a series of governesses, poor things. You as well?”
“Briefly, until my father sent me away to school at the age of eight.”
She gasped in sympathy. “So young!”
“I certainly thought so. And later I of course attended university.”
“Cambridge?”
“Oxford.”
Charles Parker had also attended Oxford. The men were of similar age. She wondered if their paths might have crossed. Yet for some reason she did not want to mention Charles to this man. Besides, with so many different colleges at Oxford, the chances of the two being acquainted were slim.
Mr. Thomson asked, “And how old is Georgiana?”
