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“Oh.” She paused too long, caught herself. “Oh! Do come in. Why were you waiting out in the rain?”

“I assumed you were out. The house was dark.” He smelled like rain and sweet limes. Like Bram. The frown he sent down her dark hallway was also pure Bram. “Where’s your butler?”

“I don’t have one.”

“Footman?”

“One and a maid. They’ll be back tomorrow.”

“You’re here alone?” The frown turned to a scowl.

She had to smile. “My footman is barely seventeen years old and weighs less than I do.”

“That is not comforting.”

“It’s Mayfair. Perhaps not Grosvenor Square, but still. I hardly expect an attack.” He grumbled under his breath, turning to investigate the lock on her door. “Did you come to assess my defenses, Captain Thorn?”

“Someone has to,” he muttered. “And no, of course not.”

“Perhaps we could put a cannon on the front step.”

“Don’t be ridiculous—a moat would be better.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Clara?”

“Yes?”

“At ease, sailor.”

She narrowed her eyes at him but relaxed her shoulders nonetheless. She hadn’t realized they were all but tucked under her ears. “If you’ve come to tell me what we had was temporary, can you do it quickly?”

“Is that why you think I’ve come?”

“It’s been over two weeks,” she said. “You disappeared.”

“I went to Scotland. I don’t know how you all travel by land—it takes twice as long as it should, and there’s bloody mud everywhere. I never thought I’d be grateful my sister moved to the Lowlands. If I’d tried to go to Inverness, I’d still be there.”

“You never said.” He hadn’t been in London, at the docks or at the pubs, forgetting about her.

“I said I would be back—” He opened his mouth, closed it. “Damn it. You’re right.”

“I am?”

“Of course you are. I should have said something more, been clearer. But goodbyes are bad luck at sea. Though since the carriage threw a wheel anyway and I spent two days in the mud, I should have risked it. I sent a messenger but ended up overtaking him somewhere outside Hammersmith. It was a disaster. Even before my sister threw a glass duck at my head because I did not bring you home with me. I see she was entirely in the right.” He did look tired. His boots had definitely spent some time in mud. “I deserved a brick to the head, not just an ornament, if I made you doubt me.”

She shrugged one shoulder, but hope was unfurling in her chest again. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“That’s my fault again,” he said. “That you would say something so absurd. I swear you’ll never have cause to doubt me again. If I’m not with you, Clara, it’s only because I’m on my way.”

Disbelief, happiness, nerves. Love. It all washed over her at once. For some reason, a giggle bubbled in the back of her throat.

“I went to fetch my grandmother’s ring, you see,” he added, closing in on her so she had to tilt her head back to meet his gaze. She saw heat, affection, raw need. “But I’m still not part of your world, Clara.”

“I’m not really part of my word either.”

“I love you. I’ve loved you longer than I care to admit to.”