Nicholas was not surprised that she did follow him out of the shade of the tree, what surprised him was how gentle her voice sounded in his ears. [i] That doesn’t count, you know,”[/i] she said as she stood beside him on the riverbank. Both their eyes were watching the gentle downstream flow of the water, not once straying to the other person’s face. [i]”I already won, no second chances.”[/i]

He didn’t comment, but soon felt her hand seeking the warmth of his, gently squeezing as if telling him that she understood. But she would never understand. The story he told her was a cliché, a story between two persons living in different worlds – star crossed, like Romeo and Juliet. In a way, they were like that, two characters from different worlds, but unlike the heroes and heroines in the story, neither of them loved the other. 

[i]“I have thought of you as a lot of things, Nicholas, but below me was never, not once, one of them. Is that it, then? You see me the way you do and put a wall between us because we simply don’t belong together?”[/i] Claire explained. 

Nick nodded. He didn’t love her. This woman who sat by him when he was too sick to move, even after he pissed her off by disappearing for two weeks, he couldn’t love her. He was a total stranger and yet she cared for him as if he was her lover. She held on to him and told him her deepest secret and insecurity, but he could never bring himself to do the same. She was all sincerity and warmth, anger and laughter, but he was a fabricated shell with nothing but hollowness inside. In the end, it was not really that she was a high born lady and he was a commoner, it was that he was not really meant to be with her. Agents like him could not afford to be attached.

She was just a mystery to him, he decided. And perhaps once he had solved the mystery he would stop being curious about her. And after his curiosity was satisfied, then perhaps he would stop caring. 

[i]“I’m sorry. You were right…again, though I don’t enjoy admitting it. I will not judge and assume you want to leave the room as soon as I enter it. Forgive me? I'm new at this thing called marriage we have between us.”[/i]

Nick squeezed her hand. “I’m as new to this as you are,” he admitted. “But perhaps we could start by learning how to trust each other.”

Claire used her free hand to run over his hair. He was fond of the gesture that he thought he understood why puppies, no matter how excited they were, would be tamed once scratched at the side of the face or behind the ears. [i]“ Tell me what you were going to say before. You were going on about contradicting yourself…I don’t understand, and it is important. You said you would be honest.”[/i]

He used his other hand to catch hers. Without breaking eye contact, he brushed his lips over her knuckles then let go. “I believe I have married a very smart lady,” he flashed her a lopsided smile. “You can figure it out yourself.” 

What time was it? Nick put a hand in his pocket and brought up his pocket watch. It was only a quarter past three in the afternoon. They had so much time to spare before sunset and he promised Mr. Bennett that he and Claire would be out of sight until it was dark. Thankfully the effects of his hangover were fading or else he might find more reason to turn back home. “It’s too early to be heading back home,” he said thinking aloud and still holding her hand in his. “Have you been to the Royal Observatory?”

He started to guide her from the river and up to where their carriage waited for them. “I know somebody who will let us in to watch the stars tonight. If we leave now, we might be able to catch a ferry to Greenwich. Do you want to go there? Or perhaps do you prefer to go to London and shop. I haven’t taken you out shopping and I would like to learn your taste.” He shrugged. “As a reference for the future.”