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mean?”
    “You appear to be a gentleman and are impressively well spoken in the English language and yet you don’t even wear a cravat.”
    He’d been accused of that before. “I had a rather unusual upbringing. My father was a privileged gentleman who veered off the respectable path.” He made sure not to mention how.
    “Have you ever been married?” she prodded.
    He rose to his feet, straightening. “No. Why do you ask?”
    Those prim features wavered in the shadows of the garden. She shrugged and looked away. “I was curious, is all.”
    By God. Was it possible she was actually interested in getting to know him? As a person? As a man? This was a first. And he didn’t even have one hundred thousand in his pocket yet. “Uh…I was engaged once. When I was younger. She was from a decent family but my father didn’t approve. He was very protective. So he hired a few men to investigate her life and it was discovered she was seeing three other men. It hurt but I got over it. Since then, I was involved with a few women but it always ended with my face against a floor. I make poor choices when it comes to women. I want the moon but can only afford peat moss.” He tapped at his head. “I am not very nimble.”
    Her eyes caught and held his. “I find that difficult to believe, Mr. Levin.”
    “So says the woman who is not involved with me. Hardly helpful.”
    A bubble of a laugh escaped her.
    He smiled and leaned in. “Tell me more about yourself. You said you have a son and three daughters. Which, in truth, astounds me. What are their ages and names?”
    She smiled as if he had finally introduced a topic she could gush about. “John is my eldest and the one I came into Russia for. My second eldest is Giselle. She is sixteen. Abigail is fifteen and then there is my youngest, Juliet.” Her tone softened. “She is thirteen and is always at the cook’s elbow. There isn’t a thing that child won’t eat.”
    He searched her face. Listening to her made him realize just how little he had seen of life as a man. He missed having a family. Here he was at thirty and what did he have to show for it? Nothing but all the fists he had dodged. “They sound endearing.”
    Her smile widened. “They most certainly are.”
    That smile said it all. She was part of a happy family. The sort a man rarely saw. “I take it you were happily married, as well?”
    Her smile faded. She looked away. “Whilst I am close to my children, my husband and I were not so fortunate. Which was to be expected. He married me for my youth and I married him for his money.”
    His brows went up. “I am rather surprised. You appear to be a bit more passionate in nature than to settle for anything less than what beats in your heart.”
    She didn’t look at him. “The heart does not pay bills, Mr. Levin. My mother married for love and it taught me well. Whilst my father was titled, he had very little to his name. We struggled to keep creditors from our doors all our lives and lived off the generosity of relatives who openly mocked us. One relative, in particular, wanted me to marry his son as if I owed him my hand in matrimony for all of the financial assistance my father had been given. I did not want that for myself and therefore settled on a relatively better man. Above all else, I wanted financial stability away from my relatives.”
    “Judging by your tone, you seem unhappy with the decision you made.”
    She shrugged. “My husband was not unkind. He was a much better man than my cousin who used to try to force himself on me. My husband also knew when to be generous.”
    “Yet he was not generous enough to make you happy.”
    She said nothing.
    He quietly waited for her to say something else.
    She didn’t.
    Which meant this conversation was at an end. He gestured toward the side door leading into the inn. “We should sleep. ’Tis late.”
    She blinked rapidly, nodded and hurried past, the soft scent of her perfume clinging to the night air.