She leaned forward farther, still eyeing him carefully. “Anywhere? There’snowherethat is off limits?”
Ewan frowned. “If you mean the stables, I can definitely help you get out there. I may need to inform a couple of the stablehands that you’ll be there. That would expose more people to your secret. But if you’re fine with that—”
“Oh, I wouldloveto go to the stables,” Lady Theodora replied. “But I actually meant to ask about the house itself. Am I allowed to goanywherein the house?” She continued to eye him as if she was expecting him to suddenly come up with an area that was off limits.
Ewan narrowed his eyes on her. “I don’t understand. Is there somewhere in the house you particularly wish to go, my lady?”
She quickly reverted her attention to her meal and poked her spoon idly around her soup bowl for a few moments. “Oh, no. Nowhere in particular. I just wouldn’t want to go somewhere I wasn’t welcome.”
Ewan shook his head. “If you need help getting around, I’m happy to assist you.”
“Thank you, Lord Clayton. I appreciate that.”
Ewan cleared his throat. Now was the perfect time to bring up a subject he’d been meaning to. “Yes, as to that, after living under my roof, I feel as if you should call me Ewan.”
Surprise registered for just a moment on Lady Theodora’s face before it was replaced with a bright smile. “Very well. You may call me Thea, if you like.”
“Thea?” He cocked his head to the side. “Not Theodora?”
She chuckled. “No one calls me Theodora.” She drew out the long name and said it in an overly formal tone as if mocking it.
“Your father does,” Ewan pointed out.
Her eyes turned hard. “No one but my father calls me Theodora,” she clarified, her voice flat.
It was time to change the subject. After last night’s debacle where he’d clearly made her sad by bringing up her lost mother and her former horse, Ewan was desperate to keep the discussion light this evening.
“Have you been to London much?” Ewan asked next as the footmen cleared the soup bowls and served the next course of mackerel with fennel and mint. “I don’t remember seeing you at many events.”
“I never go to London,” Thea replied simply. “I prefer the countryside.”
“Don’t you miss your friends?” Ewan asked.
She chuckled. “Maggie is my best friend.”
“Maggie?” He furrowed his brow. “Your maid?”
Thea nodded. “I suppose that seems unconventional of me to someone like you, but—”
He arched a brow. “Someone like me? What does that mean?”
Thea smiled and shook her head slightly. “I’m sorry, my lord … Ewan. I only meant that you seem to be quite … conventional.”
His brow remained arched. “Conventional?” He wasn’t certain he liked the sound of that particular word.
“Yes, you know. Father told me you’re extremely interested in politics, which means I assume you like to follow rules and do things properly and you know, follow conventions.”
Ewan took another sip of wine. “Why in the world would you assume that?”
Thea waved her fork in the air. “Politics seem so proper and, well, conventional.”
“Would you be interested to know I’m a scientist?”
Thea bit her lip. “Now that you mention it, I do believe my father said something about that. What sort of science are you interested in?”
“At the moment? The science of the mind.” Ewan studied her face for her reaction.
“The mind?” She frowned. “What do you mean?”
