Sophie seemed of the same mind, as her eyes were focused on the brown liquid, her fingers twisting at the delicate china handle.
Not entirely sure how one started a conversation with a friend they’d not seen in more than six years, let alone in these unusual circumstances, Andrew cleared his throat. “Plans gone awry, you say?”
Sophie’s gaze lifted, her hands stilling. “Yes. I am so sorry to have interrupted your evening like this. Truly, it is good to see you, but I should be on my way.”
She should, yes. They were tiptoeing the bounds of propriety, but more important was that she was in need, and he would not turn out a woman in need. Most especially this woman. “What are the plans? What happened?”
She grimaced a little, eyes flicking between both of his. Then, with a sigh, she set down her teacup. “I was meant to gain a position today, but they were unaware that I was a female and therefore denied me the job.”
So many questions arose. But only one made its way out of his mouth. “What is the position?”
A gleam entered her eyes, one he’d seen countless times in their youth. Proud. She was proud. But then it vanished. “I was meant to be a computer for the Whitcomb Astronomy Endeavor. Over the next eighteen months, the group plans to map stars and observe comets. But more than that, they intend to calculate the orbits of several known celestial bodies to discover the existence of minor planets.”
Color him impressed. “That is a distinguished position, Sophie.” He almost cringed as, once again, her Christian name leapt from his tongue. Perhaps he should refrain from using her name at all until he knew the proper address.
“Yes, it might have been—had I been given the position originally offered me.”
“They did extend an offer then?”
She nodded, a sad smile on her face. “Underfalse pretenses,though, it would seem.”
Andrew shook his head. “Despicable. It all sounds rather underhanded of them.”
Sophie fingered her cup again. “It is partly my fault. I did not lie about my gender… but I was not forthcoming with it.”
“But they gave you the position and ought to stand by their word.”
She gave him a wan smile. “Thank you.”
That smile carried countless memories—trees scaled, evenings passed in amusement and friendship, even letters enclosed in his correspondence with hisparents—but he tamped them down. He had no right to think about another man’s wife fondly. “What do you intend to do now?”
Unaware of his inner turmoil, she lifted a delicate shoulder. “That is the problem. I would like to stay in London and plead my case. They do not relocate to Durham for just over a fortnight, so I might be able to convince Mr. Whitcomb to allow me to stay on. I have been planning on this position for months now—and truth be told, I do not wish to return home unsuccessful.”
Andrew’s mood blackened. What did that say about her husband if she did not want to return home? Why did she need a position at all if the man was providing for her as he should?
And where was he?
“How can I help?” The offer fled his mouth before he could stop it. Anger at her apparently lackluster husband and the employer who had treated her so poorly pushed him to act rashly, but he could not say he regretted it—not when she had her eyes trained on him in that way, with a mix of gratitude and relief. And a healthy dose of surprise.
“Oh, this is enough. You need not do more.” She gestured at the tea.
He pierced her with a look. “Oh yes, tea is certain to solve the dilemma.”
A bit of her customary playfulness re-entered her expression. “Do not discount it.”
“I wouldn’t dare. Do you need a recommendation? I could speak to this Whitcomb fellow.”
“I have several. He refused to look at them.”
Andrew’s jaw tensed. “Do you have a place to stay?”
Her lips pulled to the side. “No. I’d intended to gain a recommendation on lodging from the project head, but without the funds from employment…” She trailed off, her cheeks coloring.
“And your family?”
She grimaced. “Unsupportive.”
Andrew barely held himself back from asking just what sort of man she had married. But that was uncouth and possibly unfounded, if there was further information about the situation that he did not possess. He could not pretendthis was his friend from years before, and speak to her thus. Too much stood between them now, and he had to help her without overstepping those bounds.
