Okay, well, that last part was depressing. Plus, avoiding a conversation like that wasn’t really her style. She had to tell him something.

“What do you think, Mom? Isn’t she stunning?”

Vivian looked up at Maddie’s voice and saw the Duchess standing there in front of her in the emerald-green sequined dress. Vivian rose from her chair.

“Wow. Oh wow.” Vivian walked around the Duchess to see her from all sides. Her hair was up in a loose, off-center bun, with long tendrils around her face, she had huge diamond studs in her ears, and she was wearing a diamond bracelet that probably cost twice as much money as Vivian’s car.

Maybe her house.

“You look incredible,” Vivian said.

“She does, doesn’t she?” The Duke came into the room in his tux and smiled first at his wife, then at Maddie and Vivian. “Thank you both, for making my wife so happy.”

The Duchess kissed him on the cheek.

“At first I wasn’t sure about this color, but—”

“It’s perfect,” both Vivian and the Duke said in unison. They grinned at each other.

“Who am I to argue with these two?” the Duchess said to Maddie.

James pulled the car up to the house, and after another flurry of good-byes, they got in to drive the few minutes over to Sandringham House.

“That’s our cue to get ourselves ready for dinner,” Vivian said.

Maddie nudged her on their way up the stairs.

“Speaking of dinner, a little birdie told me that Malcolm Hudson is coming for dinner, too. How did that happen?”

Oops. In the aftermath of Malcolm’s invitation, she’d forgotten to find a way to mention to Maddie that he was coming tonight.

“Oh, I think Julia wanted to—”

Maddie rolled her eyes.

“Mom, stop. You wanted to spend a little more time with the very attractive and accomplished man who introduced you to the Queen. You don’t need to make up a story about this on my account.”

Now might be a good opportunity to tell Maddie that she was thinking about spending even more time with the very attractive and accomplished man who introduced her to the Queen.

No, she’d decided that wasn’t going to happen, hadn’t she?

“Plus”—Maddie grinned at her—“I heard him talking the other day when he dropped you back off here—my goodness, that accent. If I wasn’t already taken, I’d swoon for it a little bit, too.”

He really did have an incredible voice. It wasn’t just the accent, though that was great, too. It was something about the timbre of his voice: low, but not too deep; warm and soothing, like drinking a cup of hot chocolate with a shot of whiskey.

Should his voice be a pro on her list?

No, no, be real with yourself, Vivian.

She needed to change the subject before Maddie kept talking about Malcolm.

“How did everything go with the Duchess? She looked great, but I know these past few days have been busier than you expected.”

Maddie shook her head.

“I can’t believe we had that dress done on time and got her out the door. This was one of the most intense styling jobs I’ve ever had, and while it’s been a great experience, I’m looking forward to lunchtime tomorrow, when I’m all done with work and we can relax together. I’m jumping in the shower now. See you at cocktail hour!”

Vivian slowly followed Maddie up the stairs. She would have to tell Malcolm her decision tonight; she knew that. The problem was, she still had no idea what her decision would be.

Malcolm arrived at Sycamore Cottage at eight p.m. on the dot, two bottles of champagne in hand. He’d checked in with Julia, who had told him he didn’t need to bring anything, but his mother had raised him to always bring something when he went to someone’s house for dinner, and he had no intention of looking like a mannerless boor in front of Vivian.

“Happy Christmas, James,” he said when James opened the front door.

“Happy Christmas, sir,” James said. “Pleased you’ll be joining us for dinner.”

James had a very bland look on his face, which meant he must be aware of exactly why Malcolm was at dinner tonight. Had he seen them kissing the day before?

What was he thinking? Of course James knew exactly why Malcolm was at dinner tonight, whether or not he’d seen them kissing. James had been the one to deliver all of those notes to Vivian. People don’t send notes back and forth to each other all day if they haven’t at least thought about kissing each other.

“I’ve brought this champagne for all of us to enjoy; should I give it to you, or bring it back to Julia?”

James took the bottles out of his hands.

“I’ll ask Julia when she would like it to be served. Please, come in.”

James escorted him into the sitting room, which looked very different than the last time he’d been there, just a few days before. The lights were low, candles were lit everywhere, the white twinkle lights on the Christmas tree were glowing, and the fire was burning. A few other members of the Sycamore Cottage staff were already inside, including Julia. But Vivian wasn’t there yet. Nor was her daughter, who he was eager to finally meet.

“Malcolm! So pleased you’re joining us tonight,” Julia said. She glanced over at James. “Oh, do we have you to thank for this champagne? James, would you put it in one of the ice buckets in the dining room, please? We’ll have it with our first course.”