ALEX OPENED THE DOOR OF HER TAXI ON THE CHISWICK SIDE OF THE Thames at Kew Bridge, which had a light dusting of snow, and paid the driver. “Happy Birthday, you!” He pulled her coat tighter around her.

“Not Paris then,” she teased him. “I was expecting to be met at Waterloo Station.”

“Ah, you were hoping for lunch at Boffinger, were you?” He laughed and took her hand more tightly than usual, guiding her to his parked car. “I’m sorry to ask you to meet me here. I had to drive from the North Circular. I was caught at the other hospital till the early hours and had some errands to run first thing.” Lucy waited, and when he opened the door the scent took her breath away. The black soft top of Alex’s Audi had concealed its contents; the surprisingly roomy backseat was filled with fragrant bunches of jonquils, hyacinths, violets, and other spring flowers. She couldn’t speak, and he was pleased.

“For the Return of the Maiden,” he said. She looked quizzical. “Your birthday is a special date—well, the day after one. This is the first breath of spring—according to the Pagans. It’s when Persephone and her myriad namesakes come back from the Underworld.”

“And so I have.” Lucy hugged him. “And where are you taking me? I thought I needed a passport.”

“And so you do.” He mimicked her tone. He checked his wing mirrors, and as they moved off, he explained. “I thought I’d take you to the country for lunch: to the village I grew up in, where my family home is. It’s picture postcard stuff!” He laughed. “And you know L. P. Hartley says the past is a foreign country? Well, it’s my past.”

She laughed with pleasure. “I couldn’t think of anywhere I’d rather you take me, Alex. It’s perfect. Thank you.”

She settled into the generous beige leather of the passenger seat and absorbed the delicious scent of the flowers, the physical proximity to Alex. She hadn’t expected this today: had steeled herself to have a non-event for her birthday. Now, cocooned in warmth that belied the outside temperature—reading just 1°C on the panel—she let the driver concentrate on the traffic out of town and opened the conversation on her own terms.

“I’ve been thoroughly fascinated about your illustrious ancestor, Alex. I’m only halfway through the books Simon brought me, but they’re full of surprises.”

“I imagined they’d be very dry bones—especially if Calvin is so rapt with it all?”