‘Not usually. That was an aberration,’ she said.
‘And you kiss like an angel,’ he concluded.
They both sat in silence for a moment, as if neither of them had expected such an open admission.
Then he went on as if it had not just happened. ‘I have no such childhood stories to tell. Yours have been both entertaining and enlightening.’
She leaned forward. ‘Now I can prove that we are definitely not strangers. I cannot think of another person outside my family that knows so much about me.’ She frowned. ‘But I still know very little about you. Would it be rude of me to enquire about your childhood? In the name of friendship, of course,’ she added.
‘In the name of friendship, I will speak of it,’ he said, his natural smile returning. ‘If you have spoken to your sister, you are aware that I never knew my parents.’
She nodded.
When she did not seem surprised, he went on. ‘I was left on a farm in Essex without as much as a name to give me a clue to my past. The farmer chose Gregory from his father and Drake...’ He paused.
‘For Sir Francis Drake?’ she questioned.
‘For a male widgeon swimming in the duck pond.’ He paused again, as if waiting to see if she would laugh.
‘It does not matter where it came from. It suits you well,’ she said.
He nodded his thanks and continued. ‘The farmer and his wife took me in because they had no children of their own. And for the money that had been provided for my care, of course. But they had no real affection for me, nor I for them. When I was old enough to do so, I was expected to work. I learned to weed a garden, clean a kitchen and milk a cow. I also learned that I had no desire to do any of them again, even if my life depended on it.’
‘But clearly you were educated,’ she said, surprised.
‘At the village school run by the vicar,’ he answered.
She could remember seeing such children in the schoolroom at the vicarage, struggling through lessons, just as her father had struggled to persuade their fathers of the need for at least a smattering of reading and mathematics.
‘When I was old enough, a letter came from a solicitor in London that said I was to go to a proper school that would prepare me for university. I am sure the farmer only allowed it because he would be receiving no more money to keep me.’
‘That is a blessing, I suppose,’ she said, trying to imagine what it would be like if her grandmother and grandfather had viewed her not as family, but as something between a servant and a burden.
‘It was difficult at first,’ he admitted. ‘The young gentlemen I met there had little patience for an ignorant country lad.’ Then he smiled. ‘Fortunately, I was strong for my age and a quick student.’
‘What did you have an aptitude for?’
‘Far too many things,’ he said, with a laugh. ‘But I had no real attraction for any of them. I considered law, the church and banking, only to reject them all.’
‘And seeing how you reacted to the toe, I doubt you’d have made a good surgeon,’ she added.
He winced. ‘Nor an officer. I am not, by nature, a violent man.’
‘And you do not like following orders,’ she reminded him and received another nod.
‘I lacked the patience to be a secretary or man of business, catering to every whim of some nobleman.’
‘You sought independence,’ she said.
‘I wanted to come and go as I wished. To work or rest as the mood struck me. None of the professions I considered would allow for such freedom.’
‘This explains what you did not want to do,’ she agreed. ‘But not how you chose what you did.’
‘I matriculated from Cambridge without plans and with dwindling funds, so I went to London to seek my fortune. There, I happened upon an old school friend who was in need of a stiff drink and an understanding ear. It seems he had lost a considerable amount of money in a disreputable gaming hell and was afraid to tell his father. I offered to investigate the matter and found the faro table was rigged. When I returned his losses, he pressed a reward into my hand to guarantee my silence.’
‘And you decided to make a job out of helping people?’
He shook his head. ‘On the contrary, I refused to take his money. A friend does not expect payment when help is needed.’ Then he smiled. ‘But the men that saw me handle the matter at the gaming hell were strangers to me. One of them needed his younger brother rescued from an adventuress. Another needed an unwelcome houseguest removed. I helped them and they paid me to do it.’
