“She was, but I think she’ll be fine by morning when she finds out you haven’t been murdered. Truth is, we were all quite worried, your brother included.”
“Forgive me, Rhys, but something came up – a project of sorts – so I do believe keeping late hours will be the norm for some time. You mentioned my brother. Is Losturn at home?”
“He is indeed, Your Grace.”
Brody was not just surprised. He was extremely pleased. “Excellent. I’ll have a word with him then.”
“Very good, Your Grace. He’s in your study.”
“Perfect.”
Brody turned, prepared to head in that direction when Rhys quietly told him, “I’m happy to know all is well.”
It wasn’t yet, but Brody had no intention of bringing that up with his butler. So he merely dipped his head and offered his thanks before continuing on his way. Tomorrow morning, he’d dispatch notes to Anthony and Callum, informing them that he too was working on getting their novel published.
In case Ada’s efforts failed.
5
Despite expecting to see Mr. Evans the following day when she returned to work, Harriet managed to avoid him by choosing to arrive through the back entrance. And since Oliver was happy to fetch the title block they needed from Mr. Hudson, she had no reason to enter the front office where Mr. Evans would likely be found.
Still, she remained forever conscious of his presence in the building, constantly on alert and freezing up slightly whenever the door to the print room opened.
“Is everything all right?” Oliver asked when they closed for the day. “You’ve been looking over your shoulder a lot today, like you keep expecting someone to sneak up on you.”
“It’s nothing.” She grabbed her things and followed him to the door, exiting after James and Matthew. “Felt a bit drafty, that’s all.”
“Hmm…” Oliver frowned but didn’t address the issue further, choosing instead to say, “I met the new assistant editor when I went to collect the title block. Pleasant fellow. Have you seen him yet?”
Harriet closed the door and locked it with the key Mr. Hudson had given her when he’d increased her pay a couple of months ago. She turned to face her three colleagues. “He came to the print room yesterday after you’d left. Knocked the door straight into me.”
“And?” Oliver asked. “What was your impression?”
“Besides being clumsy?” Harriet shrugged, doing her best to feign indifference. “I suppose I’d consider him to be polite. He apologized numerous times for the blunder. Besides that, I really can’t say.”
“Why are we even discussing him?” James inquired. “It’s not like we’ll be working with him.”
“Exactly,” said Matthew. He lit a cheroot, took a long drag and offered it to Harriet, who turned down the offer. Matthew passed it to James instead. “The editors don’t associate with us lot. Different class of people, aren’t they?”
“Not vastly so,” Oliver argued. “I pretty much do the same as them, sitting about and reading all day.”
“The rest of us don’t.” Matthew took the cheroot from James and set it to his lips for a slow inhale. A cloud of smoke was exhaled moments later. “We supply the muscle, which makes us no different than laborers. Not that I’m complaining. I prefer being physically active, and Mr. Hudson’s a good employer.”
“But we don’t mingle. Do we, Harry?”
Harriet met James’s gaze. “No.”
“Fine by me,” Oliver said. He slung the strap from the satchel he carried to work every day across his shoulder. “Mind if I walk with you, Harry? I’m heading to my sister’s and if memory serves, she doesn’t live far from you.”
“All right,” Harriet said, appreciating the company. They parted ways with James and Matthew, who were headed in the opposite direction, and proceeded toward Piccadilly.
“I didn’t want to ask while the others were around,” Oliver said after several moments of silence, “but I was wondering if you might want to grab a drink with me one evening.”
“Just the two of us?” Harriet asked, to be perfectly clear.
“Yeah. I mean, I don’t know if you realize, but I consider you to be my best mate. Thought it might be fun to spend some more time together. Outside of work.”
“Oh.” She dodged a couple of men who were coming in the opposite direction. As soon as she’d passed them and Oliver had fallen into step beside her once more, she told him, “I’m afraid it might be difficult for me to do so. As you know, I’ve got Lucy to tend to.”
