«Good morning, my dear».

After a divine bath and in light of the long trip she had taken during the previous month, Phryne had felt too lazy to come downstairs for dinner, so this was the first time she was seeing her father since last afternoon.

«Did you sleep well?», he asked, from the head of the table.

«I did. You seem to have too», Phryne said, walking towards the sideboard where the breakfast buffet was laid out.

Henry was gleefully spreading jam on a toast as if he didn't have a care in the world.

«But of course, dear. I'm at home at last and by my beloved's side», he had put the toast down and looked soulfully at his wife. The Henry Fisher Apology Tour had started.

Margaret didn't reject him, but Phryne noticed a certain steeliness in the way she returned her husband's gaze.

«I see», Phryne said, putting a dish with some blackberries and grapes on the table and sitting down at the vacant place.

«It's so wonderful to be back. "The house of every one is to him as his castle and fortress, as well for his defense against injury and violence as for his repose", after all», Henry continued.

If that's so, then why did you run away, nearly jumped out of Phryne's mouth but she forced herself to bite her tongue. Her father was a cultured man in his own way, yet Phryne would wager he had learnt that particular quote by heart, ready to deploy it as soon as he saw fit, and the gesture grated on her.

Margaret took a toast from the rack that Hewitt had brought to the table, poised as if she hadn't heard a word.

«I'm going out to get re-acquainted with London after breakfast and I was wondering if maybe you would want to come with me?», Phryne asked, looking straight at her mother. It might not be the most polite behaviour, but Henry contriteness wasn't doing him any favours.

Her father seemed eager to answer, but Margaret anticipated him:

«Thank you, Phryne, but I'm afraid we can't. Mr Brooke is coming to luncheon and we still have some things to go over before he's here».

Margaret wasn't particularly keen on playing the nagging wife, but Henry couldn't leave that house until they had set their affairs straight. After the genuine embrace upon their reunion, the strain between them had been unavoidable. At first, the expected fatigue had kept them from talking and then at dinner Henry had eaten ravenously, praising that no food in the world could compare to those vegetables and lamb on his plate until exhaustion. She had simply replied «Thank you, I'll let Mrs Swanson know», but his suggestion of going to the club «to meet the old chaps again», he was still in Australia time and not sleepy at all had made her set her foot down:

«We are in this… muddle because of you. You got to escape once, Henry, I will not stand by and try to sort it out by myself again.»

And so Henry had stayed in and Margaret had slept very poorly, something she was trying to counterbalance with the strong tea in her cup.

«Go and have fun, darling», Margaret said before taking a sip of it. «And don't worry», she continued, even before Phryne could say anything else, but her face seemed to have rendered those words useless.

«Yes, at another time, dear», Henry said, as charmingly as he could. He wasn't used to having to abide by responsibility, but he didn't want to lose Margaret too. His attitude may seem do indicate otherwise but he did love her.

The rest of the meal threaten to drag under the kind of tension Phryne had vied to avoid so it wasn't long before she was out the door, eating a slice of cake as she walked.


A/N: Thank you for reading this (small and mostly place-setting) chapter. I have been both busy and tired, so writing hasn't happened much but I hope there's still some interest in this story.

The quote parroted by Henry is by Sir Edward Coke, at least as far as the internet has told me.

Hopefully, the rest won't be so painful to write, but what do I know. I have the plot points clearly on my mind, but getting from point A to B to C hasn't been easy.

Thank you for the feedback received so far. Let it be known that it's always appreciated