Shaking her head, she looked out the window to see if they were near their destination. The neighborhood was modest, clearly inhabited by the working class, who were well enough off to own a few pieces of less than spectacular jewelry. An opal necklace, to be exact.
“I think we are nearly there,” she said, sitting back in her seat. While waiting to come to a stop, she took a moment to study her partner in crime. Or rather, partner in skirting about a crime she had already committed. His brown hair still adorably waved over his brow, drawing attention to his eyes, which were a few shades darker than his hair. And his mouth, which had distracted her with all his incessant tea sipping that morning, looked rather soft.
Mr. Stanton was a riddle she wished nothing more than to solve. Either he had more layers to him, or he had a reason to keep himself from people. Honora guessed both held an element of truth.
“Why do you not wish to marry?” she asked. It seemed odd that a man of his age and station be not only unmarried but actively warding it off.
His head flew up, cheeks flaming.
Also adorable.
“Excuse me?” he asked. He looked positively repulsed by her question, but she guessed he was more horrified by the idea of having to answer such a question.
“The other night you insinuated that you do not wish to. My question is, why?” When he didn’t open his mouth to answer, she pried further. “Was your heart broken?”
With wide eyes settling, his mouth softened, and he shook his head, leaning against the wall of the carriage. “No. At least, not in the way you are thinking.”
Interesting.
“Care to elaborate?”
He lifted his chin, eyes squinting as if deep in thought, only to bring his chin back down as he glared at her. “Not particularly.”
With a sigh, Honora’s shoulders drooped. How was she to get this man to open up to her? If people kept their emotions bottled up, sooner or later they were sure to pop. She was rendering him a service, really. “Come now.” She tried her best to sound kind and enticing. “I know we did not begin on the best of terms, but I have admitted I enjoy your company. Would it be so awful to admit you enjoy mine too?”
He watched her for three long beats of silence before opening his mouth to speak. “I will not dignify that with a response.”
“Your hesitance to answer speaks louder than your words, Mr. Stanton.”
He opened his mouth to speak again, but the carriage rolled to a stop, bringing whatever objection he was about to bring to a quick end.
As the door opened, they were greeted with yet another cloudy sky. Honora puckered her nose but rose to exit the carriage. “Come along, Mr. Stanton. We are wasting precious daylight.”
She stepped down, taking a deep breath of air. It was stagnant, but still preferable to the inside of their cab.
Exiting after her, Mr. Stanton rubbed a hand along his cheek. Apparently she hadn’t given him enough time to shave this morning, for a light shadow graced his jaw. It was actuallyquite becoming and made her notice the straight line with an appreciation only a woman could understand.
“I hardly think we are wasting precious daylight,” he said, bringing her back to the present. “It is just past nine in the morning.”
“Ah, yes. But these are working folk. Not wealthy landowners who are able to laze about for half the morning.”
“I do not laze about.” Mr. Stanton jerked on his lapel.
Ah. The idea of him being lazy was a sensitive subject. While he might not be willing to share overt details, he forgot she was an incredible observationalist.
“Or if I do laze about,” he continued, not meeting her eye, “it is not by my own choosing.” He paused and shook his head. “Never mind. Let us just get on with this.”
Another small tidbit of information to stick into her pocket and pull out to dissect later.
“Stop it,” he said, his brown eyes roving over her face.
She blinked. “Stop what?”
A scowl wove across his brow, especially just at the bridge of his nose where two parallel lines formed an angry ridge. “Stop trying to figure me out.”
“Who says that I am?”
“I have known you just long enough to know when you are trying to ascertain things about a person.”
