“Good to see you looking so well, Jaunty. Is Simon well?” Byron said.

Jaunty put his arm around Amelia, and she immediately reciprocated, laying her head on his shoulder.

“Very well, thank you. I hear you are taking our little Amelia to Monaco. I hope you’ll take care of her.”

“Uncle Jaunty, don’t. You know I can take care of my myself.” Amelia nudged her uncle. She was secretly pleased he was so protective and cared so much. At eighteen, she had run away from her highly conservative and religious parents to stay with her uncle and his partner Simon.

She had always been forbidden from talking to or asking about her mother’s brother, but she did her research and secretly communicated with him, and eventually ran to London to get away from her suffocating home life—and to pursue her dreams of becoming a fashion designer. It was only natural that after graduating from the London School of Fashion, she came into her uncle’s business.

Byron placed her hand on her heart. “With my life. I promise you, Jaunty.”

Amelia kissed her uncle on the cheek and said, “I need to speak to Daisy and get my things. Why don’t you and Byron chat while I’m gone?”

“Of course, sweetie. Off you go.”

When Amelia went off to get her jacket and freshen up, Jaunty poured them a drink.

“Have you ever done this before, Byron?” Jaunty handed her a glass of whiskey.

“What do you mean? Go on holiday with a woman?” Byron asked.

Jaunty nodded. Byron crossed her legs and took a sip of whiskey. “No, I’ve never even taken a holiday before, with or without a woman.”

Jaunty sat back behind his desk, but seemed tense. “This must be serious for you, then?”

“Jaunty, if you have something to say, then say it.”

Jaunty looked entirely uncomfortable talking this way to her, but she admired his strength for doing it.

“Byron, Amelia is like a daughter to me and Simon. She came to us hurt, alone, and with her confidence destroyed by my sister and brother-in-law. We got her through college and gave her a safe place to live.”

“I know that, Jaunty. I know she thinks of you and Simon as her fathers.”

“She’s not one of those streetwise women I’m sure you meet on the European business circuit and at your glamorous parties.”

“You don’t think I’m toying with her, do you? I know sometimes I have to cancel our dates but—”

“You are my friend, Byron, and your father and I have been friends for years, and I know how difficult this kind of relationship will be for you and Amelia.”

The way Jaunty looked at her and the way he was speaking gave Byron pause to think he knew what she was, what her father was. She leaned forward and put her drink down on the desk.

“What do you mean?” Byron asked.

Jaunty got up and walked to the safe in the corner of the office. He spun the lock and the door opened with a creak. He riffled through some papers and then brought a photograph over to show her.