Chapter 55

There was a knock at the door. Leander withdrew his hand, and Raphael stood before Mrs. Dawson entered.

“Excuse me, sir. Dinner is on the table,” she said.

“Thank you, Mrs. Dawson. I’ll clean up.”

* * * *

After dinner, Leander cleared the table and started the dishes.

“What’s this? Life at Father Leander’s?” Raphael teased.

“Old habits die hard,” he said. He told Raphael the story of when he first came to Southampton and Mrs. Dawson needed those five days off. He explained the agreement the three of them had arranged to meet everyone’s needs.

“Well, how convenient was that for two good-looking bachelors?” Raphael said.

“I admit, without that arrangement, we probably could not have lived as we did.”

“Didn’t she ever question why only one bed was mussed up in the morning? Or did you do my trick of messing the other one?”

“She never stepped foot in either room once we made the agreement.”