He peered into her face, looking for only God knew what, but she feared she lacked whatever it was. “You can’t run when things grow too real, my lady. Only cowards do that,” he said in a barely audible voice.
Is that what he thinks I am?The thought made her want to weep. “There is no harm in trying my way.”
“Agreed, but if that way fails, promise me—yourself—you won’t abandon the men you wish to help.” He lowered his voice. “It’s not their fault England treats them as outcasts.”
Jane nodded, for Finn had given her much to think about.
Fifteen minutes later, she walked beside him through Mayfair. Neither of them spoke, but a certain companionable silence had fallen between them.
“Where do you live?” she finally asked after another long stretch of silence.
“Just here. Number twelve, but shall I escort you home?” He came to a stop at a wrought iron gate. “I don’t mind the trip.”
She glanced at him as her pulse jumped. Under his layers of grumpy bitterness, he was quite the gentleman. “Thank you, but there’s no need. I’m only ten houses down from you and on the next street over.” They’d spent perhaps an hour together, yet she could have sworn it had been years instead of mere minutes. Why? Perhaps he was an old soul-type of man, the sort of man who’d seen things beyond the usual ken of others, and that, in turn, attracted her soul like a moth to flame. There was a comfort in that, but she was at sixes and sevens in his presence. “Do you go to the Adkins dinner tonight?”
“I do not.” He laid a hand on the gate. “I’ve grown tired of being in society, so until my mother demands I do the pretty again, I’ll stay in.”
“Well, goodbye then.” Why was her chest so tight at the thought of leaving him? They were barely friends.
“Jane?”
“Yes?”
His grin held a wicked edge that sent her heartbeat soaring and butterflies dancing in her belly. “This isn’t our last meeting.”
She returned his grin, for he’d repeated her words to him that she’d uttered when they’d met. “I’m counting on that.” With a cheerful wave, she continued on her way.
What it all meant she couldn’t say, but she couldn’t wait to find out.