It looked the same as always, its walls hung with the ceremonial épées that gave the room its name. Not long ago, Nina and Jeff had come in here and started fencing, slashing at each other with the swords like children.
Maybe that was the problem with her and Jeff: they had never been able to outgrow their childish patterns of behavior. Maybe things felt different with Jamie because they had met as adults.
Jeff headed to a chest of drawers along one wall, its surface painted in French figurines of shepherdesses and sheep, and pulled on the handle. The drawer opened, revealing that the inside was actually refrigerated.
That was the type of thing the Washingtons did: took a seventeenth-century chest out of storage and hired an engineer to line the interior with appliance-grade insulation and electric wiring, so that there was an entire refrigerated drawer nested within the old French wood. They couldn’t just buy a mini-fridge like ordinary people.
The refrigerated drawer was mostly full of beers, though a few bottles of wine clinked around in there, too. Jeff grabbed three beer bottles and handed one to each of them.
“Okay, I need to get one of these refrigerators for my office,” Jamie said. “Thank you.”
Jeff still seemed unwilling to make eye contact with Jamie. He kept looking at Nina, or over Jamie’s shoulder as if he wasn’t really there. “No big deal,” he mumbled.
The awkward, stifling silence descended again, and suddenly Nina couldn’t take it anymore.
“Can you two please stop being weird? You don’t need to be best friends; I’m just asking that you be civil!”
“This was civil,” Jeff protested at the same moment Jamie said, “I don’t think Jeff has any interest in being friends.”
Jeff rounded on him. “You’re the one who disappeared one year and never came back!”
“You never called me! You went completely silent!”
“Because I thought you were coming again the next summer!”
The intractable expression on Jamie’s face softened just a little. “Jeff, that was a really tough year, and I never heard from you. Not once.”
Jeff was struck momentarily silent, then swallowed. “I didn’t really know what to say. I mean, what happened in the pool house…that was serious stuff, and we were just kids.” He stared down at his beer bottle as if it might hold all the answers. “I guess I just assumed you would come back the next year and we could pick up like nothing had happened. I figured I could tell you then how sorry I was.”
“Sorry that you shared a secret I specifically asked you not to tell anyone, and broke up my parents’ marriage?”
Jeff blinked. “What?”
“You were the only person who knew about—about Henri,” Jamie stammered. “You really expect me to believe you didn’t tell your parents?”
“I didn’t! The only person I told was Sam. I know I promised not to,” Jeff said quickly. “But she figured out something was wrong and got it out of me.”
“Sam told, then,” Jamie said, exasperated.
“Or one of the footmen overheard me telling her?” Jeff sighed. “Look, Jamie, I don’t know exactly what happened. Maybe your dad realized something was going on, and it had nothing to do with us.”
Jamie looked so young in that moment, so heartbroken and sad, that Nina wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold him close—but she couldn’t. She needed to let him face this on his own.
“I know it’s not your fault that my parents split up,” Jamie said at last. “Their issues had nothing to do with you. But I trusted you, Jeff. When I asked you not to tell anyone what you saw, I was counting on you to keep that promise.”
“I get it,” Jeff told him. “And I swear to you, I didn’t share it with anyone but Sam. Certainly not my parents.”
Jamie sighed. “I guess I foolishly thought that if no one spoke it aloud, it wouldn’t be real. And then my parents might find their way back to each other.”
Nina couldn’t help reaching for his hand. “Oh, Jamie. That isn’t foolish at all; it’s hopeful.”
Jeff stared at her fingers interlaced with Jamie’s, and said nothing.
Jamie swallowed. “I’m sorry I didn’t come back the next year. I just assumed, when you never said anything, that you wanted to stay far away from my family and all our scandal. You certainly weren’t the only royal family to drop us.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Jeff said hoarsely.
Nina let go of Jamie as he stepped forward. She watched as they did one of those guy hugs, giving each other a rough thump on the back as if it might hide the sentimentality of the gesture.
When they stepped away, both blinking rapidly, she pretended not to notice.
“Hey, guys. What’s going on?” Samantha’s voice sounded from the doorway.
“Sam!” Nina took an involuntary step forward. Sam looked good, more rested and bright-eyed than you would guess for someone living on an air mattress.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Sam went on. “I saw you all leaving, and you looked like you might…well, I didn’t want you getting married with a black eye,” she explained, nodding to her brother.
Nina flushed at the realization that it might have looked that way—like Jamie and Jeff were leaving so that they could fight. Presumably over her.
“We should get back to the party,” she said quickly, and turned to Jeff. “Thanks for the beer.”
“Wait, I want one before we go!” Sam took a few steps toward the antique chest.
Jamie grabbed Nina’s hand and tugged her through the doorway, leaving the Washington twins alone.
In the hallway, he drew to a halt and pulled Nina close, wrapping his arms around her and tucking her head beneath his chin. “Thanks for doing that,” he told her. Nina felt the rumble of his voice echoing through her own chest.
“You mean, forcing you and Jeff to finally talk?”
“Yes, exactly.” He smiled into her hair. “Have you ever considered a career in international crisis mediation?”
“No way. This is all the international drama I can handle,” she teased.
Jamie stepped back. “Nina—I wanted to wait before bringing this up, but we need to talk.”
“Oh. Okay,” she replied, over the sickening feeling in her stomach.
Jamie was about to say goodbye. They were going to break up after tonight, because really, what kind of future could they possibly have?
“Can I visit you in Oxford?”