Page 24 of Wild Swimming at Croftwood Lake
‘Archibald Harrington. You cannot possibly hope to find anything smart enough within your current wardrobe,’ she said in a tone that made Archie feel about eight years old. ‘It’s my treat.’
‘Mother,’ he began, about to put his foot down, until he met her eye and saw that it would do no good. ‘Thank you.’
He shrugged on the jacket. It was a chestnut tweed that even to his inexpert eye didn’t seem attractive.
‘No, that’s not your colour at all,’ his mother said. ‘Try this one.’
After half an hour of shucking jackets on and off, she declared victory with a dark navy blue tweed that had tiny flecks of colour in it. Archie went into the hallway to take a closer look in the ornate gilt-framed mirror that hung over the fireplace, handily tilting forward from its hook so he could see himself quite well. It was remarkable how the well-cut jacket, aided by the haircut, made him look at least ten years younger and instantly smartened him up.
‘Reluctantly, I have to agree,’ he said, smiling affectionately at his mother when he went back into the drawing room. ‘This is a very nice jacket.’
‘Now. Let’s start on the slacks.’
‘I will not be wearing slacks,’ he said, holding up a hand, as if that was likely to stop his mother when she was on a roll. ‘I will be wearing jeans.’ He’d already settled on this since he had a newish pair that didn’t look that different to the jeans that Seb would wear. And they were dark enough to look smart.
‘You cannot wear…jeans!’ Constance exclaimed in horror.
‘Honestly, Mama. Jeans are considered acceptable these days. I think a nice shirt, perhaps the floral one that Jess made for me, would go well with this jacket and a pair of jeans,’ he said firmly.
‘Perhaps I am old-fashioned. I only want you to look your best because it’s been so long since you’ve courted anyone.’
Archie walked over to her, took the trousers out of her hands and took her hands in his. ‘I’m grateful that you take an interest. And thank you for the jacket.’ He kissed her cheek, and then she reached up and cupped his cheek with her hand, giving his face a gentle tap.
‘Go on with you, she said. ‘Hang that jacket up before it creases.’
11
NORA HAD THE whole day to herself. It was her first proper day off in eight days, and she planned to enjoy it. She lay in bed, savouring the warmth and noticing that the sun was peeking around the edge of the curtains enough to tell of a bright spring day outside. She picked up her phone and blinked, bleary-eyed, at a WhatsApp message from Hilary inviting her out to lunch. She tapped out a quick reply and they exchanged a couple more messages arranging to meet at Oliver’s. It would be a good opportunity to see if Hilary fancied joining her for a swim sometime.
Nora threw back the duvet and pulled on her swimming costume, followed by sweatpants, a hoodie, and some woolly socks. She padded down to the kitchen and put the kettle on for her flask and a cup of tea to savour while she scrolled through some social media. All of this meant that she arrived at the lake later than usual and was sorry to see Archie walking away towards the manor house.
She cupped her hands around her mouth. ‘Archie!’ She started laughing because it felt so odd to be bellowing across the fields. Nora couldn’t even remember the last time she’d shouted so loudly.
Archie spun around with a big grin on his face and began striding back.
‘Good morning,’ he called across the water, beaming at her.
She waved and waited for him to walk around to her. He’d had his hair cut. She’d never seen such a dramatic transformation. His curls had been tamed, and what was left of them were closely cut on the top of his head with a forelock that had fallen, rather attractively, across his forehead. The cut had revealed sideburns that had presumably been lost in the curls before now, giving his jaw a chiselled look.
‘I like your new hair,’ she said.
‘Oh. Thank you,’ he said, running a hand across the back of his head self-consciously. ‘You’re later this morning.’
‘I’ve got the day off, so I’ve had a leisurely start.’
‘Good for you.’
‘No Tatty today?’
‘My mother is meeting a friend for a walk this morning, so she will take Tatty with her.’
Nora began to strip down to her costume.
‘I’m holding you up,’ Archie said, taking a step backwards.
‘No, it’s lovely to see you.’ Nora was taken aback to realise she didn’t want him to leave. ‘If you don’t mind waiting for me, why don’t you stay and we can have a cup of tea afterwards? I’ll only be fifteen minutes or so.’
‘That would be wonderful.’
