----

Staring out the window as the rain continued to drizzle down the pane; Flora sighed and tried to re-focus on the letter she'd been trying to write for the past half hour. She needed to finish it this afternoon as she had quickly come to realise that, in this household, it was very prudent to take the opportunity
for free time whenever it came along. Frowning at the piece of paper in front of her, Flora searched for inspiration to reply to the brief missive from her illusive husband.

She couldn't really believe all that had happened in the past couple of months. After all, she had been married exactly two months as of yesterday and she had barely seen her husband for more than 48 hours of that. Here she was, away from all her friends, in some strange house while her husband was god knows where and didn't seem to have much of an idea when he was likely to be joining her!

It had hardly been the most romantic of starts to a marriage she pondered. Everything had gone relatively alright on the wedding day, or as well as could be expected. Then there had been that stupid argument and Walter had stormed off. She had felt guilty about that not five minutes after it had happened and so had rushed off to try and find him with the intention of apologizing. However, he was nowhere to be found and so she had stayed up waiting in his old room, dozing off in the small hours of the morning only to be woken not long after by a very tired and grumpy butler who had stormed around the room flinging his belongings into a suitcase and barely deigning to even glance at her.

The rest of the day she had scarce seen him either as he was either holed up with the Earl or was barking orders at some other hapless servant who had dared get in his path. What she had managed to glean from him and other servants was that the Earl had had another of his 'funny turns' as he liked to call them on the night of their wedding, had come over all dizzy and nauseous and so was now convinced he health was ailing. He had immediately summoned his butler and informed him they were departing for the nearby Bath spa as soon as could be arranged and that the butler was to accompany him.

And that was that apparently. All the plans that they had tentatively made together about what to do after the wedding were to be put on hold until the butler returned from Bath, which he had assured her would be within a week or two at most. However, two weeks had come and gone with no sign of servant or master. Then a week or so later, she had received a letter from the butler, sending his apologies at their delay but his lordship was now insisting that they extend their trip to the coast down at Brighton and had dragged the butler off with him. Walter had, however, managed to find, and approve with their master, a suitable replacement for her at least whilst in Bath and the good lady had arrived not a week after Walter's letter. Flora had stayed on for another fortnight or so at Taplows, showing her replacement the ropes and then that was that, she had left her in the dubiously capable hands of Mr Adams.

Flora herself had headed off to London at the invitation of Walter's cousins. They had been unable to make the wedding as one of the daughters had fallen ill, fortunately now recovered, but had been in contact with Walter ever since. Having heard that his poor bride had been separated from her husband so soon after the wedding, they had insisted she come stay with them in London and that Walter would join her as soon as he could extricate himself from the Earl.

And so she had gone. Packed up her bags, left behind Taplows and the life she knew there in the most peculiar and anonymous of departures and had come to stay with people she had only met once before in her life. That was three weeks ago now. She had heard from Walter only twice since she had been in London, once a couple of days ago and it was to this she as now trying to compose a reply. His letter had been brief in the extreme, the Earl still seemed to have no pressing desire to return to Taplows and release his butler and so he didn't know when he might arrive but hoped it would be soon. There was a brief line at the end passing his regards to his relatives and, almost as an afterthought, hoping she was well. A romantic love letter to his wife it was most certainly not.

Sighing deeply once more, Flora decided to give up on writing a reply and instead folded the letter back up, placing it in her pocket. Perhaps after dinner might afford her a quiet moment to compose a reply to her husband where she could try and subtly suggest that he make his way to London as soon as possible.

----

"Jarvis! Where are you?"

"Here my lord," the butler replied neutrally, keeping the exasperation he felt out of his voice.

"Has my doctor arrived yet?

"No, not yet my lord," Jarvis replied, "he should be here within the hour."

"Hmph, yes well show him up when he does eventually get here," the Earl sniffed, "That will be all for now Jarvis," he added, waving his hand to dismiss his butler.

"Very good my lord," the butler murmured as he made his way to the door, shutting it quietly behind him. Letting out the sigh of relief he had been holding, he glanced at his watch before turning and quickly making his way up to his room. He should have time to send one of the footmen out to post his letter to the solicitor before the Earl remembered something else to delay him.

Hopefully the doctor would tell his lordship what Jarvis knew perfectly well, that there was nothing wrong with him and he could return to Taplows as soon as he wanted. However, the Earl seemed rather reluctant to hear this piece of information and as he was the one paying the doctor's rather exorbitant fee, the good doctor might be less inclined to tell his patient to leave his seaside view and return to Somerset. Perhaps, thought the butler, he could corner the doctor before he saw the Earl and hint to him that a swift return to Taplows would be appreciated by certain members of his lordship's staff.

After all he mused grumpily, at this rate he was going to have retired by the time he managed to get down to London and finally saw his solicitor, let alone saw his wife…..his wife, he still had to remind himself that that was who she was now. Not just Flora Ryan, his housekeeper. Although judging by the curt tone of her previous letter to him, it seemed he was once more back in her bad books and the bad mood she had been in with him when they parted did not seem to have lifted once she had had time to cool off.

Not that he really blamed her deep down. Fate seemed to be conspiring against him at almost every turn at the moment, where once he had thought this a rather neat and ingenious plan, he now at times wished he had never got that damn letter from his cousin in the first place.

It had all started to go wrong at the wedding. Felix had been topping up his glass all day and then there had been that pointless argument with Flora, the content of which his memory was still rather hazy about. She had kicked him out and then the Earl had promptly summoned him in a tiz about his health before informing him that he was to accompany him to Bath the next day. By this point it was the early hours of the morning, having had no sleep and with a stinking hangover beginning to kick in he had stormed back to his room intending to try and get a few hours rest. However, he had found Flora sat waiting for him, dressed only in a scant nightdress and shawl, both of which kept slipping distractingly off her shoulders whenever she moved. So all his good intentions about apologizing had gone out the window as he could barely look at her and instead had just muttered something about leaving while attempting to pack. It was no wonder she had stormed off after a few minutes, muttering something no doubt insulting under her breath as she went.

She was now staying with his cousin's in London and, from the sound of it, no more enamoured of him than she was when he left as he still had yet to give her a date when he would be joining her.

"Mr Jarvis sir…" one of the footmen called, jolting the butler from his musings, "The doctor is here sir."

Sighing heavily, the butler nodded at the footmen before turning and heading down the stairs to greet the doctor and perhaps have a quiet word in his ear about giving his patient the all-clear.

----

"Flora dear?" someone called just as Flora was making her way upstairs to her room. Turning around, she smiled as she caught sight of Susan Riley standing at the bottom of the staircase, "Just letting you know dinner will be a little later than usual tonight, probably about half an hour later."

"Oh that's fine. Any reason why?" Flora enquired politely.

"Oh George is expecting a guest, he ran into him earlier today in town but he can't make it til a little later this evening."

"I look forward to meeting him then," Flora replied with a smile as her host returned the gesture before turning and heading back down the corridor whilst she herself continued up the stairs.

----

A couple of hours later, Flora made her way back downstairs to the dining room where the rest of the family were assembled.

"Ah Flora my dear, there you are!" George exclaimed as she entered the room.

"Oh I'm so sorry, were you waiting for me," Flora murmured apologetically as she quickly took in all the others standing in the room.

"No, no, not at all Flora," George replied hastily, quickly moving over to her and handing her a glass of sherry, "We're still waiting for my…my friend to arrive, it seems he's been delayed."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be here soon…" Flora murmured, accepting the glass gratefully.

"I'm sure he will too," George replied jovially, "Did you have a pleasant afternoon my dear?"

"Yes thank you Mr Riley, it wa…"

"George, please Flora," he interrupted with chuckle, "How many more times must I remind you!"

"George, sorry," she mumbled, blushing slightly, "Yes I had a very pleasant afternoon thank you."

"Did you finish your letter to Walter?" Susan called out to her from across the room.

"Oh…ahh, nearly," Flora mumbled, thinking back to the letter upstairs where all she'd managed to get on paper so far was that the weather had been very mild.

"And still no word as to when he'll be arriving?" Susan asked hopefully as she was wont to do on a near nightly basis now, sighing in disappointment when Flora simply shook her head, "Such a shame, it's been nearly two months he's been gone now. If I had my way I'd go down to Brighton or wherever he is and have a word with that Earl of yours. What does he think he's playing at, keeping you two lovebirds apart.

However, fortunately Flora was spared having to think of a reply on this occasion as everyone's attention was suddenly directed towards the door as a man who was obviously George's errant guest came striding through the doorway several paces in front of the maid who was trying to take his coat and hat.

"George, I am so sorry," he exclaimed, finally stopping and allowing the poor housemaid to scuttle away with his overcoat, "My business in town overran and I had a frightful time trying to get a cab."

"Not to worry my good chap, not to worry," George replied, moving over to shake the newcomer's hand as he moved round the room greeting everyone.

"And who is this lovely lady?" the stranger enquired when they got to Flora, "Have you taken to sequestering beautiful ladies away in your house George?"

"Ah no, this is the latest addition to our family," George chuckled, "Simon this is Flora Corey, Flora this is my ….my friend Simon Charlesworth."

"Flora, it is a pleasure," Simon said courteously, taking her hand and ceremoniously bowing over it before placing a swift kiss on her knuckles, "Corey though so you must be…."

"My late wife's cousin's wife," George interrupted with a hearty laugh, "Try saying that after a few more glasses eh! Elspeth's great-uncle's side of the family."

"Ah yes, of course," Simon said, and for a moment Flora could have sworn she saw a glimmer of a frown cross his face but the next moment it was gone and he was all smiles again. He wasn't a bad-looking man, slightly younger than Walter she estimated but with a boyish look about him with his ruddy cheeks that made him seem younger than he probably was. "Is your husband joining us tonight then Mrs Corey?"

"Oh no he's…"

"Ah poor Flora has had to put up with explaining her husband's absences for too long now!" George interrupted as Flora shot a grateful glance at him, "Mr Corey is not here no Simon."

"Ah well then would you indulge a worthless wretch such as myself the honour of sitting next to you at dinner?" Simon replied teasingly with a small grin at the flustered look on Flora's face, "You can tell me all about yourself over dinner," he added as he guided her towards the table, "And all about your husband as well," he murmured as an afterthought.

Sighing inwardly as Simon attentively pulled out her chair for her, Flora resigned herself to spending another evening making up stories about her marriage to strangers. Although, she pondered, it mightn't be too bad. After all, Simon did seem perfectly pleasant and she could hopefully steer the conversation away from herself and Walter fairly promptly and just try and enjoy the evening…

----

A couple of weeks later, an impatient Walter Corey jumped down from the train carriage onto the platform. Pausing for a moment to get his bearings, he then seized his bag before striding off towards the front of the station to try and hail a cab. Making his way through the jostling throngs of people queuing for tickets, he reached the entrance of Paddington station where he promptly found and hailed an empty hansom cab. Pausing momentarily before giving the driver directions, he decided not to go into the city centre immediately to see his solicitor. After all, there would be plenty of time to do that over the next few days and he was expected by his cousins, not to mention by Flora. No, it was best not to put off the inevitable any longer and just go straight there.

Half an hour or so later, the cab rumbled to a halt in front a smart line of London townhouses. Jumping down from his seat, Walter glanced up at the house in front of him, checked the house number with the letter in his pocket before retrieving his bag and paying the driver. Taking a deep breath to try and shrug off a sudden bout of uncharacteristic nervousness, he gave his waistcoat tails a sharp tug, brushed a miniscule fleck of dust off his sleeve and then slowly approached the house.

-----

Making his way up the stairs behind one of the footman, Walter frowned slightly in annoyance. His letter to George obviously hadn't arrived as the doorman had seemed a little surprised at his sudden appearance before explaining that all the occupants, bar Mrs Riley who was resting, were currently out and about on various errands. However, they could show him up to his room so he could refresh himself after the journey.

Stepping over the threshold of the bedroom, Walter nodded to the footman as he set down his bag down before backing out the room and closing the door behind him. Turning back round, Walter took a couple of steps into the room before suddenly coming to a halt as he noticed on the chair to his right was a small pile of neatly folded clothes. Glancing quickly round the rest of the room, he took in all the little items on the dresser, the bedside table and the nightclothes folded on the bed which clearly indicated the room was already occupied. Frowning in annoyance, Walter turned back towards the door, intending to find that particular incompetent footman and point out his mistake promptly before finding his own room.

However, just as he was about to grasp the doorknob, something registered in his mind that made him stop in his tracks. Turning back around, he made his way slowly over to the dresser before pausing in front of it and picking up the small book that lay innocently amongst the scattered hair clips and jewellery. Running his thumb over the spine, Walter flicked open the front cover briefly, checking that it was the book he thought it was before placing it hastily back onto the dresser.

Turning sharply on his heel he strode round to the far side of the room, picking up the small bundle of letters that lay on the bedside table. Sifting quickly through them, it didn't take Walter long to come across his own letters that he had sent to Flora in the past few weeks. Placing the letters slowly back down on the table, Walter ran a hand through his hair while looking round the room more closely this time.

Now he was looking out for it, there were unmistakeable signs that the owner of this room was none other than his former housekeeper; the dress hanging over the screen in the corner was Flora's, as was the choker next to the letters on the bedside table, and the nightdress folded on the bed was also...shaking his head sharply to get rid of those distracting thoughts, Walter sat down slowly on the edge of the bed. How had he not thought of this? Of course he would be given a room with Flora, it wasn't as though they were a married aristocrat couple who shared a room once in a blue moon, they were, to all appearances, a newlywed couple who hadn't seen each other for the past two months. Just how on earth was he going to convince his cousins that it was more desirable for him to have a separate room?

So engrossed in these thoughts was he, that he failed to hear the door open behind him and someone enter the room until their startled exclamation roused him from his musings.

"Walter! What are you...I mean, when did you...I...no one mentioned you had arrived..." his flustered wife managed to stutter, the surprise evident in her voice as she caught sight of him sitting on the bed.

"I only just arrived, no one was in so they showed me up here," Walter explained softly, as he stood up quickly, "Sorry to startle you," he added, watching as she waved the apology away distractedly, "Did you not get my letter saying I would be here by the end of the week?" he asked after a moment, frowning when Flora simply shook her head.

"How was your journey?" Flora asked awkwardly after another pause.

"Oh it was...it was fine, thank you," Walter murmured, fiddling nervously with his cuffs.

"You came from..."

"From Taplows yes," Walter filled in hurriedly, "I finally managed to convince his lordship to return last week and was able to leave early this morning."

"Oh I see,"

"Yes, it took rather longer than I had anticipated," Walter acknowledged with a slight nod, managing to look a little apologetic, "Have you been...I...are you well?" he asked awkwardly, cursing himself for managing to sound like a tongue-tied lad rather than a middle-aged man addressing his wife.

"Yes I am, thank you," Flora replied softly, "Your family have been so very welcoming," she added.

"I..."

However, whatever Walter was about to say was suddenly cut off by a sharp knock on the door before it was quickly pushed open and a breathless Mrs Riley burst in the room.

"Oh Mr Corey you've arrived!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"I have indeed Mrs Riley," Walter replied seriously, "I do apologise for my delayed arrival as well as turning up unannounced, I fear my letter must have been delayed."

"Oh that doesn't matter now," Mrs Riley replied good-naturedly, "You're here now and that's what matters. Now I know you'll want some time to yourselves," she added with a knowing smile at the blushing Flora, "but we're just about to have some tea, will you join us?"

"Of course," Walter replied, "That would be lovely."

"Excellent, excellent," Mrs Riley beamed as she turned to head back out the door, "You can unpack later Walter," she added as an afterthought, gesturing towards the chest of drawers to her left, "I'm sure Flora can find you a spare drawer or two!" she chuckled to herself as she opened the door, missing the sudden look of realisation and shock that registered on the former housekeeper's face. Swallowing slightly, Flora surreptitiously wiped her suddenly clammy palms on the front of her dress before tentatively accepting her husband's arm as they followed Mrs Riley out the room and downstairs.

----

"Another drink Walter?" George asked jovially, holding out the brandy decanter to his guest.

"Hesitating for a minute, Walter shook his head before holding a hand out over his glass, "No I'd better not thank you anyway sir,"

"George please!" His host insisted, "Sure I can't tempt you?! It is damn good stuff this...Italian I think..." George pondered as he poured himself another liberal measure before waving the decanter temptingly under the former butler's nose. "Seems to have done the trick for Uncle Arthur anyway," he added with a snort of laughter, gesturing to his elderly uncle who now sat snoring away in the corner of the room.

"Yes it is very good," Walter agreed, " I think his lordship brought back some of it last summer," As did the footmen he added to himself.

"Excellent, excellent," George nodded approvingly, taking a deep swig before sitting back in his chair and sighing, "Well here's to you my boy, glad you've finally been able to tear yourself away from that Tiplows of yours."

"Ahem, Taplows," Walter quickly corrected him, wondering fleetingly how many drinks George had put away over the course of dinner.

"Ah yes! My mistake!" George chuckled, "Still, what took you so long to put in an appearance anyway!? We were beginning to think you might have skipped the country!"

"His lordship was unwell," Walter explained patiently for the third time that evening, "It wasn't practical for me to leave before."

"Probably didn't want to let you go," George remarked with uncharacteristic astuteness, "Still, I'm glad the old boy eventually did. Poor Flora, she looked quite forlorn at times I tell you!" he added with a wink as Walter shifted uncomfortably in his chair and drained the dregs from his glass. "Ah well you're here now and that's what matters. Go on then," he added, gesturing towards the door.

"I'm sorry?" Walter asked in confusion.

"Well of course you don't want another drink, very silly of me really to offer," George replied knowingly, "Go on with you, I know you want to go see Flora, I think she went upstairs a few minutes ago."

"I...ah...well," Walter stuttered awkwardly.

"Go on!" George exclaimed, gesturing towards the door, "I won't keep you a moment longer! Very selfish of me to monopolise you when you have barely seen your lovely wife in weeks."

Seeing no alternative but to take his cousin's advice, Walter slowly pushed his chair back from the table and stood up. "Thank you for the drink sir..." he began.

"It's George please!" his cousin repeated, "And not at all, it is wonderful to finally have you with us. Now! Be off with you!" he exclaimed with a knowing wink as he shooed Walter good-naturedly towards the door, "I don't expect to see you again until the morning!" he called out as the butler reluctantly made his way out of the room.

----

Climbing the stairs slowly a few minutes later, Walter paused as he reached the door to his and Flora's room. Raising his hand uncertainly as he reached for the handle, he hesitated slightly. Should he knock? It was his room as well but it certainly didn't feel like it yet. Maybe he should call out, check that she was at least decent before barging in. But then how would that appear to anyone who happened to be within earshot. No more suspicious than him loitering uncertainly outside his own bedchamber at this time of night, he then reasoned with himself. Finally, with a frustrated shake of his head, he gave a quick knock on the door. Hearing Flora's call for him to enter, he pushed it open slowly, trying to block out the various thoughts that sprung to mind, would she be in bed waiting for him? Might she still be changing and have thought he was one of the maids? However, his fears were allayed somewhat when on entering he immediately caught sight of his wife, still fully dressed, sitting at the stool in front of the dresser, unpinning her hair.

"Oh, Walter... I thought you would want to stay up longer talking with George," Flora said in some surprise as she turned to see who had entered the room.

"I...ummm, no, maybe another night," Walter replied, shutting the door behind him, "I'm feeling a bit tired and...and didn't want to disturb you by coming up later on," he added, feeling unaccountably nervous and awkward as he still stood next to the door.

"Oh that's very...very thoughtful of you," Flora murmured, wondering if she should invite him in properly or say anything as he continued to hover by the door.

"I.."

"Whe..."

They both started at once before laughing awkwardly.

"Please, ladies first," Walter murmured with a slight smile.

"Oh, I was just going to ask where the rest of your things were," Flora asked, "I know you've always liked to travel light but that can't be all your worldly possessions in that case," she said, gesturing to the small travel case that was on the floor next to the bed, "It would put my packing to shame if it were!"

"Ah no," Walter smiled, "No, the rest of my things are being sent on, they should hopefully be here by the end of the week at the latest."

"Oh that makes more sense," Flora murmured in understanding.

"Yes I thought so…...so...Have you settled in here alright and everything?" he asked, finally moving into the room properly and taking the only other available seat, a rather old and lumpy looking armchair by the fire, "I'm sorry I didn't really get a chance to talk to you properly earlier but what with meeting everyone and..."

"It's fine really," Flora said gently, waving away his apologies distractedly, "I understand, they were all very excited to see you, they haven't really stopped asking questions about you for the past few weeks."

"Well I'm sure you've been able to fill them in," Walter smiled, "Although where George's uncle got the idea I might like to spend the day going through his rare coin collection I'm not sure," he suddenly added, glancing over at his wife in the hope she might be able to shed some light on that peculiarity. Biting her lip, Flora struggled to maintain a neutral expression as she shook her head; it had a been a few days ago when she had been feeling especially vindictive towards her husband after failing to receive a reply to her latest letter. She had therefore sought to set him up for a particularly boring day with George's most tedious uncle by telling him how delighted Walter would be to spend the day going through each and every one of his precious coins. It had brightened up her day slightly and brought her just a tinge of sadistic pleasure at the thought of Walter's face when he found out. "Well, I'm sure I'll be able to think of something convincing to evade that one anyway," Walter added with a slight frown as Flora busied herself with removing her hairpins, not trusting herself to look up at him just yet and hoping he wouldn't discover any of the other little fabrications about him that she had invented to amuse herself over the past few weeks.

"Were you….did you stay long at Taplows after you arrived back from Bath?" Flora asked awkwardly after a minute or two of silence between them.

"Ahh Brighton," Walter corrected her automatically, "And no, not too long, a week perhaps? Maybe slightly less."

"And everything there was…."

"Quite the same as normal," Walter finished for her, a wistful smile tugging at his lips as she glanced over and met his gaze.

"Of course it was," Flora murmured, half to herself as she fiddled with the pins in front of her, idly toying with the idea of braiding her hair for bed just to give her something to occupy herself.

"Yes, well by the time I'd finally got back to Taplows and sorted everything with his lordship and replacements and everything was running smoothly then...then I don't know, I just wanted to leave somehow and not wait around for another few days simply to organise sending my luggage." Walter sighed, "I didn't want to stay and watch someone else do my job if that makes sense?" he added quietly after a moment.

"Oh of course," Flora agreed immediately, "It's not very...comforting perhaps to think that everything there can just continue as normal without you."

"Exactly," Walter replied, a note of surprise entering his tone as she managed to voice his feelings precisely, "I suppose one likes to feel irreplaceable, to one's household and master, when in reality such a notion is ridiculous," he sighed, an edge of bitterness creeping into his voice as he stared into the fire
disconsolately, "we're all very much replaceable."

"I think you're being too hard on yourself Walter," Flora replied softly, surprised at his sudden change of mood, "You're a very good butler, one of the best. I'm sure his lordship will miss you a lot more than you think. Even if he would never admit it himself."

Glancing back at his wife, Walter held her gaze for a few moments, opening his mouth as if to say something before closing it again and shrugging slightly, turning back to gaze into the fire.

"It was...I don't know, very strange to leave Taplows. It still is in many ways," Flora continued pensively, "I don't think it had sunk in properly...at times I'm still not sure it has," she added, "I still wake up some mornings expecting to be there and panic before I realise where I am," glancing over at Walter to find him watching her intently.

"Yes….I know what you mean, I don't think it's sunk in yet for me either," he agreed quietly.

Picking up her hairbrush from the dresser, Flora began to ease it through her hair, wincing automatically when it caught on a stray knot, "I'm sure we'll adjust soon enough," she said reassuringly, "It just might take a little longer than we thought. It will be worth it in the end," she added confidently.

Tearing his eyes away from the strangely hypnotic sight of his wife brushing her hair, Walter dragged his attention back to the conversation, realising there was something he had yet to mention to her that evening.

"Yes, I hope so," he muttered, half to himself than Flora, "And speaking of which, I'm afraid I have to go back into Town tomorrow," he announced suddenly.

"What, so soon?" Flora blurted out without thinking, causing Walter to glance over at her in surprise, "I…I mean, you've only just arrived and after all that travelling and I think Susan had something planned perhaps for tomorrow lunchtime…" she hastily covered.

"Oh, well I mentioned it to George and he didn't think there was anything special happening tomorrow," Walter replied, frowning slightly, "I could go next week but the solicitor should be expecting me tomorrow so I don't really want to put him out…"

"Oh no, of course you must go," Flora said quickly, trying to curb the reflexive stab of disappointment that had flared up. No sooner than he had arrived then he was dashing off again, "I'm sure it was nothing important Susan had planned in any case…"

Nodding slowly, Walter suddenly pushed himself out of the chair, "Well I will mention it to her tomorrow morning just the same," he said quietly, "Anyway, I should let you…." He trailed off, gesturing half-heartedly towards the dressing-screen in the corner of the room, "I mean…..I'll give you some privacy while you…..while you change," he muttered awkwardly, pulling sharply on his collar as he made his way back over to the door. However, just as he was about to make his escape, Flora called him back.

"Oh Walter, before you go?"

"Yes?"

"Which side?"

"Which side?" he repeated in confusion.

"Yes," Flora replied seriously, "which side of the bed do you prefer?"

"Oh which side of the ….of the…. Ummm….the right, I mean the left…" he managed to stutter, "You choose and I'll take the other," he finally blurted out before turning swiftly on his heel and making his escape, leaving his wife to smother her giggles until he was firmly out of earshot.

-----