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“I do not like the idea of him being in here and seeing where I sleep,” Millie said. “It is the first time, I suppose, that I have realized how odd it is for the man to come into my room while I am not present.”

Wesley nodded toward the door. “So you would like to lock your door while you are not present.”

“While I am,” she said with feeling.

Wesley’s mouth quirked into a smile, and she could not tear her eyes away from it. “Does your door lock without a key?”

“No. At least, I do not believe so, and I do not have the key.”

Wesley returned to the door and fiddled with the doorknob. He ran his finger over the space in the doorway where the lock would connect. After another moment, he looked up, his green eyes triumphant. “Come here, Mildred.”

She obeyed, ignoring his use of her full name.

“See this small design above the doorknob? When you turn it…” He demonstrated, turning the small metal embellishment. A narrow, rectangular bolt shot out from the door. “Now, you try.”

Wesley opened the door again and stepped back.

Millie pressed the door closed, mindful of Wesley watching over her shoulder. She turned the small embellishment and heard the iron piece snap into place.

“Give it a tug,” Wesley recommended.

Millie did so, and the door would not budge. It was well and truly locked. “I have never seen a mechanism like this before.”

“It is called a privacy lock. My father had them installed in our parlor.”

Millie looked up sharply. “Why was I unaware of this feature?”

“Nell probably never had use of them when you were in the room.” He glanced down at the door, then to Millie.

She noticed they were locked together in her bedchamber, and her cheeks blazed with heat. Quickly undoing the lock, Millie opened the door and looked into the corridor, glad to find it empty. She pushed against Wesley’s back. “Thank you for your assistance.”

He went into the corridor willingly. “Are you coming to skate? I will walk with you.”

“Yes.” She turned back to the writing desk and put the letters away, then picked up her gloves.

“Are you amenable to walking with me?”

“I am not sure, Wesleton.” She thought over the last day since the moment they shared in the mausoleum. “Are you going to continue to pretend I am not here?”

“That is not what I was do—I was trying to give you adequate space and respect. I thought you wanted me to.”

Millie closed her door, wishing she could lock it from the outside as well. “Thank you for your consideration.”

“Then I realized you will never believe me to be sincere if I keep you at a distance, so I have revised my plan.”

“You have a plan?” she asked, eyebrows lifted.

“Yes. I am going to prove I am worthy of being one of your suitors, Millie.”

They had reached the top of the staircase. Millie paused, resting her hand on the railing and tipping her head back to hold his gaze. “One of my suitors?”

“As I see it now, you have three. Four, if the anonymous admirer is neither Mr. Kendrick nor Mr. Stroud.” He stepped as close as he could while maintaining a respectable distance.

Millie inhaled a whiff of his pine scent. “Mr. Stroud is not on that list.”

“He might not realize that.”

She shook her head. “I do not yet know if Mr. Kendrick is my anonymous suitor.”