Page 128 of A Scandal for the Beastly Earl

"Such as?"

"Opening doors."

"He already does that."

"All doors."

"What do you mean, all doors?"

"Including locked ones."

"Cordelia!"

"It's a useful skill!"

"For criminals!"

"For emergencies!"

"What emergencies require a lock-picking dog?"

"We don't know yet. That's what makes them emergencies."

Arabella, despite her nausea, was laughing. "She has a point."

"She doesn't have a point. She has a criminal training program."

"That's very dramatic."

"It's very accurate."

They argued pleasantly for the rest of the journey, arriving at Dover as the sun set. The packet boat to Calais wouldn't leave until morning, so they took rooms at an inn, where Thistle immediately made friends with the innkeeper's cat by not eating it.

"Progress," Arabella observed.

"Low standards," Lucien countered.

"Still progress."

That night, as they lay in the unfamiliar inn bed, Arabella said quietly, "are you prepared for whatever we find in France?"

"No."

"Good."

"How is that good?"

"Because if you were prepared, it would mean you'd already decided what to believe. This way, you're open to truth."

"What if the truth is worse than what I believed?"

"Then we face it together."

"You shouldn't have to face my past."

"Your past is part of you. I love all of you, including your history."

"Even the ugly parts?"