“It’s certainly a little thick. We’re spotted as strangers. They will get used to us.”
She cast him a long glance. “You seem very…comfortable.”
“Do I?” He sounded surprised, but since the potman in his greasy apron plonked down two mugs of ale between them, he said no more, merely delved in his pocket for coins and dropped one into the potman’s grubby palm. The man retreated without a word, back behind his counter.
“It strikes me it might not be easy to ask questions in a place like this,” Griz said, darting a quick glance at the nearest occupied table.
“Listening might be best,” he agreed. “And while they get used to us, it might be good to look as if we have something to say to each other. What has your sister done to upset you?”
She had gingerly lifted the mug, trying not to imagine when it had last been washed. At his words, it slopped, and she lowered it to the table again. “My sister? Which sister?”
“The one we encountered yesterday.”
“Azalea doesn’t upset me,” Griz said with dignity. “In fact, she is my favorite sister.”
“Then why did you melt into the railings and turn into a sullen child?”
Her color high, Griz took a defiant gulp of her ale. “I did neither.”
“Is she everything your family wishes you to be?”
Griz glared in outrage, then gave in and shrugged. “Of course. I didn’t even try. There is no point. Azalea is Azalea, and I am not.”
To her surprise, he pushed his glass against hers in what might have been a toast. “You are you.” His lips quirked into a smile, and he drank. “I can’t imagine your sister coming here for any reason.”
“Most people would count that in her favor,” Griz admitted, ridiculously pleased that he did not appear to do so. “But what of you? Will you stay here in England?”
He shifted on his stool, instantly restless. “I don’t know.”
“Perhaps you can go home soon. Is the emperor not beginning to pardon those who fought against him?”
“He will never pardon me.” His lips twisted. “And I will never accept that I need to be pardoned. I will never go home.”
His voice was carefully flat and expressionless, and yet she knew. She could feel the surge of sorrow and anger leaking from him like blood.
“Could you not sit your medical examinations here?” she asked. “Perhaps go into partnership with Dr. Cordell?”
“He has suggested it.”
“But you are not convinced?”
“I could bring nothing material to the partnership.” He gazed into the murky depths of his ale. “And it seems I am too…unsettled to make such commitments.”
A man who had given up his studies to march against his government and create revolution. Who had fought two years in a war to protect that revolution. Commitment did not appear to be a problem for him.
“You’re bored,” she guessed.
His gaze flew to hers. He emitted a short, bitter laugh. “How could I have the ill-manners to be bored?”
“It isn’t really a matter of manners, is it? It used to happen to me a lot. Until I set about finding ways to do exactly as I liked.”
His gaze rested on hers, half-amused, half-intrigued. “And what is it you like to do?”
“Lots of things. There are my good works, of course. And I spend a good deal of time in museums and galleries. And bookshops. Sometimes I like to hide in my room and read. Others, I walk, even run with Vicky, though of course, that is much easier when we are in the country. I like music, and sometimes I play with other people or go to concerts. Sometimes it’s fun to go to a teashop by myself and observe the other patrons. And the staff.”
The smile in his eyes was more pronounced. “And your family have no idea about any of this, have they?”
She considered. “My parents have given up on me and have clearly decided I will be the spinster daughter who looks after them in their old age. My siblings have concerns of their own, but mostly we don’t interfere or tell on each other.”
“And so you manage to lead an independent life without scandal or husband. I doff my hat to you.”
She flushed. “I’m aware that only my privileged position allows me to do so. I have a generous allowance and busy parents, and servants who do not question the daughter of the house.” She drew in her breath. “Except Nancy. She was curious, always asking where I was going.”