I reached over and ran my finger along his free hand. “Thank you. I would, indeed, like that very much. In fact—” I gave him a smug look of my own, “—I even put fresh sheets on the bed just in case you could stay over.”
We laughed, then sat gazing at each other until the waiter set down two large plates of cold cream of asparagus soup. “Perhaps this is not mean as your asparagus soup, but it is most often still very good,” Dieter said.
He was right, it was delicious.
The soup was followed by a roasted Christmas goose, stuffed with prunes, chestnuts, and a bit of onion and nutmeg. There was a sauce of prunes, port, and heavy cream to go with the goose, and chestnut and bread dressing, plus a variety of vegetables. By the time the waiters had finished serving everything I was in awe.
“Di
