He showed me the tree the next morning.
Before breakfast. Before Eli was up, which meant before six fifteen, which meant Damon had been awake early enough to be standing outside the east wing door when I came into the corridor at six with my hair not yet done. My tea is not yet made and the particular unguarded quality of someone who had not yet assembled themselves for the day.
He looked at me.
I looked at him.
"You said tomorrow," he said.
"I did," I said.
He had tea. Two cups, which meant he had thought about this before he came to the door. He held one out and I took it and we went down the corridor and out through the side door into the east courtyard without saying anything else.
The courtyard was the quiet grey of very early morning. The sky has not yet decided between night
