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worth it.
Finch leaned closer, eyelids drooping, then, with a start, opened his eyes and took a polite
step away from Hugh. “My apologies, sir. I, um… I… well. This is rather embarrassing. It seems
I’ve forgotten what we were talking about.”
“We weren’t talking about anything,” Hugh said softly. He looked at Finch—at how his carefully
coiffed black hair had been mussed around the site of impact—and frowned. “I startled you
and caused you to bump your head, so I apologized.”
“Ah.” Finch pinched his lips and looked aside. “I see. No apologies are necessary. You are not
at fault. I hit my head due to my own carelessness, not through any fault of yours.”
“You do seem a bit out of sorts,” Hugh agreed. He stepped forward and smoothed Finch’s hair
back into place with a stroke of his hand. “Now a little less so, if by appearance only. Did you
sleep poorly last night? When I woke up, you were already gone, so I didn’t have the chance
to ask.”
A dreamy look flickered like shadows through Finch’s eyes before he sucked in a breath and
stood with his shoulders back. “I slept well enough, sir. Thank you for asking.”
“Good. Good.” Hugh returned his hand to his side and gave Finch a small amount of space. It
seemed he had no desire to let his guard down, and that was fine. Finch was Finch no matter
how he conducted himself. Hugh could respect that. “I, um, well… I was hoping you might be
able to help me with the current situation.”
“What do you mean by ‘situation,’ sir?”
“I mean the ongoing events with Ms. Forsberg,” Hugh said with a sad flap of his hands. “Finch,
I’ve apologized, but it hasn’t helped any. Poor Ms. Forsberg continues to seem awfully out of
sorts. You’ve always been good at this sort of thing. What should I do? What should I say? I
haven’t the foggiest idea where to begin.”
“Well, what have you said to her?”
“I apologized for my behavior last night, and explained that my actions were a reflection of me,
not of her. I was polite, but made it clear that while I think she’s an exceptionally lovely woman,
she’s not the one for me. I then offered her the chance to stay here as my guest as long as
she’d like and told her that travel would be arranged for her once she decides it’s time to head
home.” Hugh sighed. “Isn’t that enough?”
