Page 49 of Fire Must Burn

‘He quoted Plutarch.’

‘Plutarch had something to say about dating? I’m not familiar with that passage.’

‘Sayings about war can be transposed to love quite easily,’ she said. ‘Too easily, now that I think about it. In any case, he said he’d call me on Wednesday for the post-mortem. It wouldn’t surprise me if alcohol will once again be applied to that conversation. Do I have your approval for that?’

‘Do you think you can restrain yourself from further osculation, Sparks?’ he said. ‘Our operative doesn’t need the competition.’

‘She’s probably a better kisser than me as well, isn’t she?’

‘I have no basis for comparison,’ he said. ‘Very well, go on with your contacts. We’ll leave the rest of it to Miss Lowle.’

‘Thank you for walking me home, Mr Danforth,’ said Miss Lowle the following evening as she clung to his arm.

‘Tony, please,’ he said.

‘All right. Thank you for walking me home … Tony,’ she said, blushing slightly. ‘May we stop here for a moment?’

‘Don’t you live further down?’

‘I do,’ she said. ‘But my landlady is a busybody and I don’t want her asking me questions about you.’

‘Of course,’ he said. ‘There’s a bench. Shall we sit for a moment, Miss Lowle?’

‘I’d like that very much. And you shall call me Evelyn. No! Don’t call me that!’

‘Why not?’ he asked, amused.

‘Because only my gran calls me that,’ she said. ‘Please call me Evie, Tony.’

‘I will.’

‘And what I wanted to tell you before we got within earshot of my landlady is that I had a lovely time with you tonight,’ she said, the words pouring out of her in a rush. ‘I was gun-shy coming into it, because the last date they set me up with … oh, it was awkward. He was nice enough, but there was no connection there.’

‘Do you feel that we have one?’

‘I’m not saying we should find the nearest church and rouse the minister,’ she said with a smile, ‘but I do feel that there is something here, something worth exploring further. I’m being too forward, aren’t I? Sorry, I’m told it’s a fault of mine.’

‘No, no, I find it refreshing,’ he said.

‘It’s just that I came to The Right Sort thinking, well, this is either going to be a complete lark or an act of desperation, do you know what I mean?’

‘I do, in fact.’

‘And, um—’

She stopped.

‘Go on,’ he urged her.

‘I’ve been so lonely since coming to London, and I think I’ve shut myself down after all this time,’ she said, looking down for a moment. Then she looked back up at him shyly. ‘But I’ve felt very comfortable talking with you.’

‘I’m glad.’

‘And I think what I’m trying to say is … I know, I know, I’m the female, and we’re not supposed to take the initiative—’

‘By all means, initiate,’ he said, laughing.

‘What I’m trying to say is if you are wondering what I would say to a request for another date, then the answer is yes,’ she said, looking at him expectantly.