Commendable? I wasn’t at all certain what that was supposed to mean.
“He’s a friend from my first travel experience. He’s quite well educated and had traveled to Egypt several times,” I explained at the same time I wondered the reason I needed to explain at all.
“He’s most learned in Egyptology and it made the time there far more interesting and exciting, as well as his knowledge of the places that he recommended I should see that weren’t on the travel guide’s itinerary.”
“Ah, a young woman on her own such as on the Isle of Crete on one of yer other adventures?” Brodie suggested.
Now, what was that all about? Was I perhaps seeing a bit of male jealousy?
That was not like Brodie at all.
“He didn’t purchase one of yer books,” Lily said with a frown.
“It may not be the sort of book he would prefer,” I replied.
“Then wot reason was he there?”
“A friend stopping by to say hello,” I explained.
“Friend,” she commented. “That’s wot Madame said of the men who called on the ladies at the Church.”
“The Church” in Edinburgh being where I first met Lily, had been converted into a brothel.
Conversations with Lily could be most enlightening. It was a glimpse of what my aunt had encountered, taking on the raising of two young girls all those years before.
“And how was your day?” I asked Brodie, diverting the conversation away from past friends, brothels, and Lily’s far too observant observations.
We were much closer to Mayfair where I kept my townhouse rather than return to Sussex Square which was some distance farther.
My housekeeper Mrs. Ryan met us at the entrance, along with the aroma of supper.
Brodie shook the rain from his long hat and long coat but didn’t follow us inside.
“You’re not staying?” I asked.
I had hoped that we might share the evening, perhaps discuss progress in a recent inquiry I had been asked to make on behalf of an acquaintance of my aunt, and then…?
It was one of those situations that still hadn’t been resolved after our return from Scotland. I continued to maintain the townhouse and we still shared the office on the Strand. There was the recent addition of Lily to the family. She frequently stayed at Sussex Square. And the cases that he took on for the Agency often required him to be away for a day or more, depending on the nature of the case.
“I need to get back to the Agency,” Brodie explained.
Long days had now extended into the evenings as well. I could only guess that it was a matter of grave importance. The Special Services Agency had been formed to deal with matters beyond the usual authority of the MP and more often international affairs.
“You might stay for supper,” I suggested.
“I believe that must be Mrs. Ryan’s Irish stew,” he shook his head with regret. “But no, I must return.”
“Something very important,” I suggested. I didn’t bother to disguise my disappointment.
There was no one I enjoyed discussing cases or the day’s work with quite so much as Brodie. He had his own thoughts on matters from years of experience with the Met and wasn’t hesitant to share, unlike other men of my acquaintance who believed a woman’s thoughts were best left to family and household matters.
It was one of those things that we had shared from the beginning. And then there was thatotherpart of our relationship.
“I thought perhaps…”
Never shy about expressing my own thoughts, I was suddenly distracted as he slipped an arm around my waist and pulled me close.
“I would like nothing more than to stay here with ye, lass,” he said, his breath gently stirring against my cheek. “But I must return. Sir Avery will be there as well, and others.”
