She visibly relaxed. ‘A couple of months.’
‘And before that?’
‘London. Born and bred.’
‘Do you miss it?’
‘Bits.’
‘Which bits?’
‘The theatres. My friends.’
Matt tilted his head. ‘You must be what…late twenties?’
‘Early thirties,’ she said cagily, her eyes narrowing.
‘And you move from the bright lights of London and a good job to hole up in a remote village in the country. Why?’
Laura studied her feet. ‘I fancied a change of scenery.’
‘During your sabbatical?’ he said dryly.
‘Exactly.’
‘Aren’t you quite young to take a sabbatical?’
Her head shot up and her eyes flashed. ‘What’s with this obsession with my sabbatical?’
Matt lifted his shoulders and gave her a smile. ‘I’m just interested.’
Laura frowned. ‘You should meet my friend Kate.’
‘Why?’
‘You both have persistence in spades,’ she said darkly. ‘You’d get on like a house on fire.’
Matt grinned. ‘Persistence is useful in my line of work.’
‘I’d call it nosiness.’
‘That’s useful, too. Bit risky, though, I’d have thought, to take a sabbatical at such a relatively early stage in your career.’
Laura let out an exasperated sigh and then threw her hands up. ‘Fine,’ she said, glaring at him. ‘I didn’t exactly choose to take a sabbatical. I was made redundant.’
‘Ah,’ Matt said, his mouth curving into a triumphant smile.
‘There were cutbacks in government spending. Projects were axed. Heads rolled. Mine was one of them.’
‘Ouch.’ Whoever had employed her had been idiots for letting her go. But their loss, his gain. Or rather Sassania’s gain, he amended swiftly.
She stared at him for a second, then blinked. ‘Well, yes,’ she said. ‘But actually, not as ouch now as it was at the time.’ She gave him a quick smile. ‘In fact with the benefit of hindsight I ought to have sent them a big bunch of flowers to say thank you.’
‘Why?’ Matt wished she wouldn’t do that blinking thing. It made him lose his train of thought. The colour of her eyes was so deep, so intense that when the blue disappeared he thought it a shame, yet when it reappeared his head swam and he wished she’d kept her eyes shut.
‘If I hadn’t been made redundant, I wouldn’t have been free to take on this.’ She waved an arm in the direction of the palace. ‘I have ex-colleagues who would give their eye teeth to be here.’
Matt dragged his attention back to the conversation and hmmed. He doubted any of them would have her dedication or enthusiasm. ‘That explains the “sabbatical”,’ he said, ‘but why leave London?’