“Yes, I have a house in London.”
“Do you now.” Not a question.
“Is this your house?” she asked, looking through the garden to the high-pitched roof.
“Only some chambers. They suit me, however.”
“More than your parents’ home in London?”
“Much more than that. We get on quite well now, with them there and me here.”
“You plan to remain here? Forever?”
“Until my father passes, at least. I like Paris. Whether I will enjoy it as much when I am older—” He shrugged. “What did you do after they threw you out? I always felt guilty about that.”
“I found service in another house.”
“With no references?”
“There are always those willing to take on a girl if the pay is low enough.”
He frowned at that. Once more, he assessed her. “And here I worried that you would fall victim to men who prey on pretty servant girls.”
Something in his tone quelled her enthusiasm in a blink. A judgmental inflection suggested he had not worried at all, but now wondered. “You mean men like you, Charles?”
That took him aback. “I suppose I deserved that. But you were hardly unwilling.”
“We were in love. That makes it different.”
“Young men are always in love if the girl is pretty. You know that by now, I expect.”
Her heart thickened. It was all she could do to hide how his words devastated her. How cruel she found them.
“Are you here with your sister?” he asked.
“No. Lily is in a school.”
“You can’t be traveling alone.”
“Actually, I am.”
“I doubt that.”
She paced a bit closer to him. He had not moved much. He remained close to the end of the path, as if he needed to have the means of a quick escape. What had he worried about when he saw that card? That she had brought him a love child? That she wanted to demand payment of some kind? He certainly had not shouted with joy, if his manner now was any indication.
This was not the welcome she had expected. Not the man she thought she knew. While she stood there, watching him, seeing his caution and indifference, the dream disappeared.
It did not shatter or burst. It simply ceased to exist, and she was an old, forgotten lover who had intruded into a man’s new life.
Young men are always in love if the girl is pretty.
Dear heaven, she had been a fool to come here. And a bigger one to have thought what they shared was love. She had merely been the convenient servant girl who was pretty enough.
Her heart hurt so much that it left her breathless. She wanted to crumble and fall to her knees and weep to relieve the pain. Instead, she held her composure. Somehow, her voice was clear when she spoke.
“I am traveling independently. However, my journey has been aided by a friend who is familiar with France and Paris, so I am not left completely adrift in a foreign country.”
“A friend in Paris? Perhaps I know this friend.”
