The early morning sun struggled to come through the clouds, but it was putting up a fierce fight against the bad weather.
A flurry of activities followed as a footman took his wet coat. The butler gave him a towel and stoked the fire without disguising his complete disapproval with a sour expression. When tea was finally served, he had the opportunity to talk to Effie.
“Do you need Dr. O’Neil?” she asked.
Steam rose from his clothes.
“No. I didn’t go to The Octagon last night,” he said, sipping his tea.
“Really?” A bit of colour returned to her cheeks.
“I walked in the rain all night.” He wanted to say more, but those were words to be said when they had complete privacy.
Coming here like that had been a mistake. He couldn’t expect to be left alone with Effie after such an entrance. The butler kept peeking inside the room, the footmen came and went every other second, and the voices from the corridor meant other servants were close. Not to mention Winchester might come in at any moment.
He put his cup down. “Forgive my rudeness. I’ll go home now.”
“You’ve just arrived.”
“I’ll see you later, I hope.” He bowed low. “I shouldn’t have disturbed you.”
She followed him when he walked to the front door. “Tristan.”
He took his drenched coat from the footman. “Yes?”
She glanced at the small army of servants hanging around. “I’ll see you later.”
