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“Y ou’re not going anywhere.” Ollie glowered at Evelyn from across the dining room table, clearly irritated she had announced she would be going to the millinery herself.

After some back and forth, she had finally agreed to let him cover her financially while she hid at his home, on the condition he allow her to pay him back in the future.

But they remained in disagreement about her leaving the house.

Evelyn was exasperated. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea for her to go to the millinery, even one in a part of town she quite likely wouldn’t run into anyone she knew, but she was getting fidgety being stuck inside during the day.

And after sleeping twelve hours straight, eating an enormous breakfast of sausage and eggs at the noon hour, and dawdling in a hot bath, she felt like an entirely new woman.

One restless to her core, like she could conquer the world!

She was itching to go out and do that, ill-advised or not.

“Ollie, be serious,” Evelyn replied. Though it was now three o’clock in the afternoon, they were having their second meal of the day.

Ollie normally ate a late supper at the pub long after an enormous breakfast at home, with nothing in between.

The cook was thrilled to be making multiple meals with Ollie and Evelyn now there.

Food was plentiful and that edge of hunger that had gnawed at Evelyn for the last few days had subsided. The afternoon sun shone brightly through the large windows. The sky was sapphire blue, and a bird sang happily at the window.

“How many people are in London?” Evelyn turned up a hand before biting into a tiny éclair petit four.

“I know red hair isn’t the most common hair color, but I’m hardly the only one in the city with it.

I won’t stand out amongst all the people going about their business.

Then, on my way back, I’ll have my hat.”

Ollie had been poking his fork at a tiny square cake that could easily fit in the palm of his hand with room for more.

He set the fork down to rub the bridge of his nose.

“You saw the evening edition of the paper when you had breakfast. I watched you study the photograph of the earl grabbing you. I was in the background of that photograph, Evelyn! They doubled—doubled!—the reward for your return to the earl. Not even to your father, straight to the earl now. They’re not faffing about when it comes to finding you, they’ve an entire fleet of police officers whose full-time job is to find you.

They’re breaking down doors and flooding the streets, upturning everything in their path to locate you . ”

“No one will recognize me. I won’t be out flaunting myself and will do everything I can to blend in with the crowds. Life is full of risk, is it not? I cannot hide forever.” She took a sip of her tea.

Ollie scoffed. “Do you have any idea how many people I know with the kind of money they are offering in the reward?”

Evelyn had the good sense to show some humility. “No.”

“None,” Ollie replied with pointed annunciation.

She lifted an eyebrow to show her skepticism. “What about your grandparents?”

He stammered. “Right, so I know two, then. Regardless. The coin they’re offering for your return will make even the most saintly nan greedy to turn you in. That is the kind of money that changes not only one life, but generations of lives.”

Evelyn waved her hand dismissively. “All I’m asking is to go to the millinery myself, not to run around Hyde Park. I won’t even go to the shop I usually go to. I’ll go to a brand new one. Of your choice.”

“Absolutely not. Just give me your hat size, and I will go find you a hat that covers your hair.”

She felt a sinking feeling at losing the one opportunity to get out in the sunlight. Maybe she was being a bit silly, but surely, heading out for a short time to a part of the city where no one knew her would be safer. “But—”

“If you insist on putting both of our hides at risk, I’ll have no choice but to get you an outfit to match our favorite art thief.”

Evelyn couldn’t help it. She huffed.

Ollie, knowing he’d won this round with humor to boot, grinned in that easy way that always made her heart palpitate.

Evelyn forced herself to look away from him.

Staring at Ollie had become a bizarre habit as of late, and she didn’t know why.

Yes, his green eyes were captivating, his neatly styled dark hair begging her fingers to run through it, and now she knew how hard his body felt against her own.

Evelyn recalled the first time she’d laid eyes on Ollie.

He’d come into the museum with Lady Vivian, who had not yet married Ollie’s brother, to discuss the art restoration after the pub fire.

Evelyn had been working on a nude painting at the time and had become flustered when Ollie had stood beside her to see it.

He’d smelled so nice—the exact same way he did now, she realized, recognizing that faint scent of freshly scrubbed man and cedar—and he had quite literally been the most attractive man she had ever seen.

England, America, France… Of all the places Evelyn had lived, she had never met or seen a gentleman who’d made her stomach flip flop the way Ollie had. Especially when he’d smiled at her.

Nowadays, Evelyn felt far more comfortable around him and no longer tripped over herself in his presence.

And while she couldn’t stand when anyone touched her, when Ollie did it, it was different.

Like her skin had burst into flames. It was so strange, she still wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.

Ollie leaned to the side in order to check his pocket watch. “Speaking of which…” Ollie looked up and snapped the silver cover closed. “Shops close in a few hours and I’m sure traffic is horrific. Have you decided what you want to do about the Bethnal Green Museum?”

Evelyn cleared her throat and reached up to touch her hair, feeling nervous under his gaze. “No.”

“You are far more intelligent than I am, so I’ll leave that up to you.

You have more at risk, anyway. I don’t want to push you into something you don’t want to do.

” Ollie strangely fidgeted after those words, as if embarrassed.

He then jumped up from his chair quickly, nearly knocking it backward, and stood rigid beside the table, ignoring the chair.

“Goodbye for now, then,” he said, awkwardly tossing his napkin to the table.

Evelyn decided to blame his odd behavior on stress. “Please be mindful of what you buy, Ollie. I don’t care to wear an entire peacock upon my head.”

Ollie laughed, filling the room with his warmth and presence. A funny palpitation hit her heart as she watched him leave. The room immediately felt cold and empty the moment he left it, making her feel gloomy.

Deciding to take advantage of Ollie’s absence, Evelyn explored the house.

The townhome wasn’t overly large—most weren’t—but it was inviting and comfortable.

Or at least, it looked like it should have felt that way.

But that emptiness upon Ollie’s departure permeated through the house.

And there was something that felt lacking.

Never would she say that out loud, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what the cause was.

Most of the furniture was new, from at least within the last ten years or so, whereas in her social circle, furniture was used generation after generation.

Everything of Ollie’s was newer and didn’t have that worn but comfy look to it.

But the newness of the furniture wasn’t the cause of her unease, either.

Evelyn set her hands on her hips as she looked around the parlor, seeking out the cause, but only finding Hambone curled up on the sofa.

Then she moved on to the library, where furniture gleamed, and so did the new books.

She studied the long hallways of wood paneling, noting even in the hallway something felt off.

Upstairs, she poked her head into the room she was using. It had the same hollow feeling.

As she went back out into the hallway and shut her door behind her, her eyes fell upon Ollie’s closed bedroom door. She tiptoed over to it, glancing around to ensure she was alone, and put her ear to the door in case Mrs. Chapman was in there. But there was no sound.

Which meant no one would know what she was about to do.

Gently, Evelyn turned the brass knob of Ollie’s bedroom door and slid inside soundlessly, shutting the door behind her.

Her heart raced at being in his room. It was so unbelievably inappropriate for her to be sneaking about in here, but she was also far too curious to see the room for herself and it might have been her only opportunity to do so.

Besides, who would know? Unlike her familial home, where someone was always watching her every move, no one paid her much attention here.

Evelyn went to the fireplace to study the mantel, just like she had back in the flat above The Harp & Thistle.

Back there, she’d found the tintype of the McNab brothers’ parents.

But here in Ollie’s bedroom, all Evelyn found were random knickknacks to fill the space.

A cut crystal cat she assumed represented Hambone was the most personal item she found.

Evelyn frowned but continued her tour about the room. That odd, empty feeling continued to linger.

Finally, she came to that which she’d put last. Ollie’s bed. It had four posts and dark-blue, velvet curtains with satin, gold ties that held the curtains open. Feeling bold, Evelyn ran a finger over the bedding.

This is where Ollie sleeps every night , she thought to herself as her attention slid over to the pillows.

Unlike at her house, where decorative pillows were on every piece of furniture, Ollie’s bed had two pillows for sleeping upon and only one decorative pillow in the middle. She suspected the decorative pillow existed because of Mrs. Chapman’s insistence his bed look nice.