Page 88 of All I Want for Christmas

‘Oh, well I think she was abandoned with the Madsens during the Great War, when she was a young girl. She was a friend of the little sister, Lotte. There are various photos of them together and from reading Lotte’s diary, it seems Lilja’s parents and the Madsens were all friends. According to the marriage certificate, her maiden name was Von Braun, which is German, and I think her parents moved back there to support the Kaiser after the outbreak of war. I’ve managed to find one reference to some Von Brauns – in a court circular – who were part of the Kaiser’s circle.’

‘Von Braun is a High German name,’ Freja nodded. ‘Von tends to indicate the aristocracy.’

‘Right, well, if those same Von Brauns are Lilja’s parents, then they ended up on the wrong side when the war was over and were imprisoned. Lilja was left over here with the Madsens. From what I can gather, she never saw her parents again and went on to marry the younger brother.’ She paused. ‘Note, I said youngerbrother, not young brother.’

Freja looked up.

‘Your sixteen-year age gap with Tristan doesn’t seem so bad, seeing as you met him when you were twenty-six. But our girl was...wait for it...fourteenwhen she was married off to a guy sixteen years her senior.’

Freja’s fork clattered into her bowl. ‘That’s gross! You can’t tell me it’s not.’

‘I have no intention of it – but Viggo says it wasn’t that unusual for the time. Apparently,twelvewas the age of consent here until 1971! He reckons it was an arranged marriage. You know, the merging of fortunes; maybe some lingering feeling of guardianship, the Madsens owing it to her parents to see her looked after and giving her their younger son?’

‘But a fourteen-year-old girl and a thirty-year-old man?’ Freja winced.

‘Could you imagine being with Tristan back then?’

Freja pulled a face. ‘Please don’t.’

Darcy shrugged and they ate in companionable silence for a few moments. ‘Are you seeing him tonight?’

‘Not tonight. I’ve got to pack.’ She looked up with a wink. ‘He’s taking me to Amsterdam for the weekend.’

‘Ugh, he’s not!’ Darcy groaned, sitting back in her seat in protest. ‘You kept that quiet!’

‘He only told me yesterday. He wanted it to be a surprise.’

‘...Can’t I third-wheel?’ She pressed her hands together in a prayer pose. ‘I’ve always wanted to go to Amsterdam.’

‘I haven’t told you the best part yet.’

‘There’s more?’ Darcy tried not to wail.

‘He also gave me his credit card and told me to buy a dress. Like, areallyspecial dress.’

‘Freja,’ Darcy objected. ‘We are modern women. We don’t take men’s credit cards and go dress shopping with them! This isn’tPretty Woman. We’re not—’

‘He told me to go to Valentino.’

Darcy’s jaw dropped. ‘...He said what now?’

‘There’s a big industry awards dinner next week and the lab is up for prizes in three categories. He wants me to be his date.’

Darcy’s eyebrows shot up. ‘So he wants you two to go public?’

‘Public. Official. In front of the whole company – go with him, sit beside him, the whole caboodle.’

‘Fuck,’ Darcy hissed.

‘I know.’ Freja’s eyes were wide.

‘Does your boss know? Like, your immediate boss?’

‘Not yet.’ Freja pulled a nervous face. ‘We’ve beensocareful about keeping it quiet but Tristan says it’s time to stop hiding.’

Darcy looked at her with concern. ‘Freja, I know this all sounds exciting, but you’ve only been together a few weeks.’

‘Almost six.’

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