Once We Were by Aundrea M Lopez

you here,” she commented.
    Ioan was dumbfound for a reply. “I'll get you some tea. Life is not life without a cup of tea.” she said.
    “Will you see to it that Miss Harlow gets something to eat?” Ioan answered.
    “ Miss Harlow?”
    “ Yes. Last I checked she was in the middle room.”
    “ You mean the sitting room? There's no lady down there, sir,” Mrs. Dillsworth shook her head. “Just that Spruce character. I told him you must be off to bed by now, but he refuses to leave. Tracked dirt all over my polished floors and opened another bottle of whiskey when there was already one on the table. If he should go missing tonight, sir, I will do what I can to find you a new attorney.”
    Ioan marched downstairs to the drawing room. Mr. Spruce sat without care, tapping his cane to a melody in his head as he took a shot of whiskey. Ioan grabbed the bottle before he poured another one. “Tennessee Whiskey,” Mr. Spruce commented. “Now that's the drink of a man with a great deal on his mind.”
    “I don't waste my time with wine,” Ioan answered.
    “ I'd imagine not. You're as vulgar as any lad out of a sailor's brig,” Mr. Spruce replied. “We have work to do if we want to introduce you back into society. My, this house is smaller than it looks. How do you manage?”
    “ Do you realize what time it is?” Ioan demanded him. Cora stopped short at the doorway. He was the last person she wanted to see.
    “ Why, it's 9 o'clock,” Mr. Spruce replied. “Of course, we can all read time, can't we, Miss Harlow? And don't flatter yourself, Mr. Saier. Do you think I gave up my Rhetorica, Ars Rhetorica passages just to see how you were getting along in your rabbit hole? I'll never understand you European men. This is practically a birdhouse. I'll see little bluejays flying by any minute.”
    “ Please join us, Miss Harlow,” Ioan suggested.
    Cora reluctantly obeyed. “Before you go having a fit, it was only a moment-” she defended.
    “Three hours, 23 minutes, and 37 seconds to be exact,” Mr. Spruce interjected. “If I hadn't followed you, it would've been all night.”
    “ I told you not to wander off alone,” Ioan said. “I said it over and over again. Cora, don't wander off alone.”
    “ Perhaps she didn't understand your accent,” Mr. Spruce chuckled.
    “ You really expect me to lock myself in this sitting room until you say don't?” she protested.
    “ Yes!” Ioan declared. “If it means you're safe. Have you no idea what's going on out there?”
    “ Yes, I am well aware of it,” Cora defended. “I don't need you to hold my hand.”
    “ A bit too late for regrets,” Mr. Spruce said. He dropped a newspaper onto the table. Ioan stared bewildered from a photo.  A crowd of journalists surrounded him around the hospital. Cora stood in front of him, her eyes turned away. Her expression as overwhelmed as his. The photo made no mistake about how tightly she held his hand. “Imagine the heading tomorrow if someone spots you sneaking into this house. Unwed. Unsupervised. You have no idea what you're playing with, Miss Harlow.”
    “ They can't publish something like this. No one granted them permission,” Ioan protested.
    “ It is a right of the press,” Mr. Spruce replied. “Let's hope no one recognized you at the train station, Miss Harlow.”
    “ What in God's name were you doing at a train station?” Ioan declared.
    “ I was going to tell you. Alone, ” she said.
    “ Madam, if you considered fleeing again, Mr. Saier and I both have a right to know. His reputation is at stake harboring you here. I know such virtues don't come naturally to you, but a little grace and courtesy are due.”
    “ Spruce, that's enough,” Ioan defended.
    “ She must understand that her barbaric society can't survive here. If she wants to fit in, the requirement is nothing less than a lady.”
    “ Does he have to be here?” Cora cried.
    “ Grace, Miss Harlow. I swear it won't kill you,” Mr. Spruce reminded