When Harry finally arrived home it was 11.10pm Saturday night. She had decided it was better to arrive late and try to sleep, giving herself just one day to adjust back to London times. As she switched the light on, and placed her bags at the bottom of the stairs her feet found the pile of post on the floor and her eyes noticed the frantic blinking of the answering machine. She picked up the post and flicked through the envelopes, choosing not to open any whilst she listened to the machine asking her repeatedly where she was. She took her coat off and felt a little guilty that she was now listening to the third message from her father along with a whole mixture from other people. That was the disadvantage of taking off without telling anyone thought Harry.

It was unlike her father to leave more than one message.

The other calls would wait until she had slept, but she dialled her fathers' London number.

"Freddy"

"Harriet my dear, why are you calling me at this time of night is something wrong?"

"No, nothing it was just that you left three messages for me."

"Well no one seemed to have heard from you for quite a few weeks, I didn't mean to be an interfering old busy body"

"Freddy you could never be called that" Harry laughed at him "I dashed off to New York for a week and before that I was just working late"

Lord Winfield wanted to ask about Dempsey but restrained himself; he knew any question about Ireland or New York would be read, quite rightly, as a personal question.

"Well why don't you come to dinner on Thursday? We can talk and I can tell you my news; Goodnight Harriet"

Harry smiled at his discretion

"Goodnight Freddy"

Harry hung up and decided the unpacking and pile of mail could wait until whenever she woke. She wandered into the kitchen and made herself an herbal tea and a mental note that milk was an urgency. She took her tea upstairs and from the comfort of her bed dialled America.

"Sophia?" Harry questioned as the phone was answered - actually, she told herself, it was unlikely to be anyone else.

"You arrived home safely then my dear?" the motherly concern rang through Sophia's question.

"Yes, it was all quite straight forward thank you." Harry paused not knowing what to say next, she wanted to ask about James but knew that was futile, instead she chose "Thank you for making me feel so welcome"

"Harry my dear it was truly wonderful to meet you"

Harry felt the sincerity of the sentiments, "I'm so glad I came" she replied shuddering at the thought of what might have happened if she hadn't.

"It was a very precious week for everyone" - Sophia had a way of putting things

Harry agreed "I just hope it's not the last…"

"I'm sure it won't be, be patient my dear"

"I just wish we had sorted things out earlier"

"I'm sure the timing was right" Sophia felt sorry for her but neither of them had any power at the moment; time would bring an end to the difficulty, "Goodnight my dear and do try to sleep."

Harry put the phone down and sipped her tea. She reflected that it had only been just over a week ago that she had dialled that number for the first time. It seemed that a year had compressed itself into a week. She had spent so long trying to understand Ireland without asking Dempsey; well in fairness to herself he hadn't been there to ask she reasoned. She was now for ever indebted to Spikings for sending her out there. The shudder ran through her mind again, had she not made contact he would have either been shot or gone into witness protection and never come back to England. The memory of a gun failing to fire in the mausoleum came back and mixed itself around the court room scene of the shot aimed so quickly and accurately at Dempsey. In the mausoleum she had called out but it would have been too late, this time she called out when she noticed the abnormal movement and his quick reaction in diving had meant his shoulder was grazed by the bullet. Harry got out of bed and wrapped her robe around herself and went downstairs to open her post, she didn't feel ready to sleep with those images in her mind ~ they were a recipe for nightmares.

Her post consisted of regular bills, unwanted generous offers from companies she had never heard of and a wedding invitation from an old school friend. She looked at the date; 10 weeks away ~ hopefully Dempsey would be back by then. A dilemma ran through her mind, it made her smile. Assuming Dempsey was back; could they go as a couple? If no one at work was supposed to find out, and no one on the streets, what about her friends and family? That was a conundrum. She smiled because for the first time her mind had envisioned Dempsey back here in the UK with her.

Louise would invite Abigail and Sara, both of whom knew James well from String Fellows and social parties; therefore all her friends would know within 24 hours. School friends also meant Victoria and Athena. Victoria was a cousin, an Athena the daughter of the Earl of Rochester who was a friend of her uncles, it would take weeks, but the upper classes gossiped just as much as the working class.

She looked at the invitation, to Lady Harriet Makepeace and friend. Well if they hadn't started this relationship she probably would have taken James anyway, they would just have to be discreet. She yawned and putting the card on the mantelpiece returned to bed and slept for a short while.

But by at 5am Harry was trying unsucessfully to get back to sleep, however it wasn't forthcoming; she gave up and wandered back downstairs and started to sort out her fridge. Most of the food was out of date and the milk most definately off; she poured the curdled mess down the sink and put the food in the bin. It was still too early for the local newsagents to open so she made herself a black coffee and sat drinking it thinking of Dempsey; after all he was the black coffee protagonist.