his uncle’s family for dinner. As soon as he entered the room, he saw his cousin Felicia had already heard about the letter.
However, he feigned complete ignorance until they were all seated. At that point, Felicia could not contain herself for a moment longer.
“So, how is your letter?”
“It’s good,” he replied, being deliberately vague. There were moments when he enjoyed being difficult. He elicited the reaction he had been hoping for when Felicia playfully scowled at him. Meanwhile, his aunt and uncle simply looked on with amusement as they ate.
“You know what I mean! What has your mother got to say? How are things in London?”
“Mother didn’t say much about that in her letter.”
“So, it should be easy for you to tell me everything she does say.”
“She… Well, she wants me to go back to London. At least for a while.”
That caught his uncle’s attention. “Oh? So, do you plan to return?”
Walter looked up with surprise at his uncle’s question. “Not if I can help it, Uncle. You need me here, don’t you? More so than ever this year, since you have invested in your own vineyard to avoid having to buy your grapes each year. This will be the first year you will be able to make wine from grapes grown in your own vineyard.”
“Look, I may not know Sylvia well, but I am sure your mother would not have asked you to return home without having a good reason for doing so.”
Walter looked away, trying again to tamp down the slight feeling of guilt he felt about the situation. Felicia seemed to catch the look and asked, “What is it? She has mentioned the reason why she wants you home, hasn’t she?”
“Well…” Walter glanced at his uncle and knew there was no way he could avoid sharing the full contents of the letter. “She says managing my father’s assets is becoming too much for her to manage nowadays, and she would like me to come back and take care of them for her.”
“And you are seriously considering staying here?” his uncle asked incredulously.
Walter thought for a moment, and then nodded. “I am needed more here. You are still building your business and expanding it. The businesses my father left merely need to be maintained.”
“Even maintaining a business can be a lot of work. Sometimes things happen; markets can change in a moment, and rapid changes to the business must be made in response to such things. What did your mother say exactly?”
“Just that she feels she is too old and tending to everything is now too much for her, and she wants me at home to take over. But I am sure she could ask any one of my father’s friends still living in London to help her if she truly needs assistance.”
“Getting someone else, even a close friend, to help is not the same as family. Besides, any friend of your father’s will likely have their own affairs to attend to. And they might prove not to be a true friend, and, well, that could lead to disaster. That is why I was so glad for your help here. True, I will miss having you, but I can manage.”
“Only by hiring someone to help you, which entails the same difficulties you have just pointed out with my mother getting someone else to help her.”
“Perhaps, but I can oversee their work and know what to look for if I am at all suspicious of them. Sylvia might not be able to do that nearly as well. I think she needs you more than I do, especially if she is outright asking for your help. Does she mention any specific problems?”
“No, but—”
“Well, she might feel unable to do so in a letter.”
Walter couldn’t think of a reply, and not for lack of trying. It wasn’t that he was avoiding going home, but after what had happened … well, there were people he would rather not see. A large part of him missed his mother dearly, and he had no difficulty admitting it, even though he was a man of twenty-six.
“Very well, Uncle. I’ll go.”
***
A week later…
Walter was glad the trip to London was finally over as the ship came into dock. Though not prone to seasickness himself, some of the other passengers had had stomachs not quite as strong. It was partially for that reason he waited on deck while they docked.
He had to keep out of the way while the ship set anchor, or they would send him