Chapter One
"No."
"Jack, you don't mean it."
"I do. No."
"But it'll be fun."
"For you, perhaps. No."
"Do you want me to go on my own?"
This gave him pause. Last time they had attended a function at the Chief Commissioner's house, there had been press present, and Phryne, let loose on the press, could be something of a hazard. Equally, he didn't want to think about her reaction if he tried to persuade her to send apologies.
For the umpteenth time since he had lost his heart to the Honourable Phryne Fisher, it sank to where his boots would have been, had he been wearing any.
He could only groan.
She knew she'd won. Gracious in victory, she gave him a smacking kiss and slipped out of bed to run herself a bath. He linked his hands behind his head and allowed himself the consolation prize of watching her do so; entirely comfortable in her skin, she set the taps running and then wandered to the wardrobe to select something suitably fabulous for Bill Cooper's guests.
"At times like this, I really miss Dot. How long do you think it'll be before she can come back and help me properly?" she asked in a pensive tone.
"No idea," he admitted. "When do babies become self-sufficient?"
"If they're girls, usually about seven or eight years old, I'd say," she turned to grin at him wickedly, "and if they're boys, never – in my experience."
The Detective Inspector Jack Robinson she'd first known would have been floored by such a riposte. The man she'd so recently married simply raised his eyebrows and gave a slow blink. She conceded his tacit point.
"All right, I admit it – there are some ways in which the male of the species can be handy even to the most capable modern woman."
He sat up, about to offer to demonstrate one such way, but she gave a squeak and ran to attend to the almost-overflowing bath. A moment later, splashing and largely-tuneful singing informed him that Mrs Robinson was At Her Ablutions.