"A prior engagement?"

"I am a very eligible bachelor, Emily. You must expect that my calendar will be very full in the coming months."

"Well, before you begin proposing to any of the debutantes who are sure to throw themselves at your feet, I do hope you'll consider my feelings. I'd be quite lost if you refused to help me with my Greek."

"How kind of you to find some use for me." He squeezed my hand. "It's work, actually, that will keep me from you tonight."

"Anything that might interest me?" I asked. Colin was frequently called upon by Buckingham Palace to assist in matters that, as he explained it, required more than a modicum of discretion.

"Definitely not." Without another word, he led me, rather forcefully, to a quiet corner of the garden, where, though we did not have the privacy my library would have afforded, we were able to greet each other in a much more satisfactory manner.

That night, though I wished I could have seen Colin, I applied myself to translating passages from Homer's Odyssey. I brought my work to bed, where I continued to read until I drifted off to sleep, only to be awakened long before morning, disturbed by the hard cover of the book, which had wedged itself against my back. Sitting up, I gathered my now wrinkled papers and placed them on the bedside table. As I laid the volume of Homer on top of them, something moved near the wall across from me. I hesitated for only a moment before quietly slipping out of bed to investigate, but I was too late. There was nothing there. I might have dismissed it as a dream had I not noticed the curtains begin to sway. Flinging them aside, I half expected to find someone standing before me. Instead, all I saw was the window, which had been closed when I went to bed, now wide open, rain blowing into my chamber.

I quickly lit every lamp in the room, and the flitting shadows that followed me startled me whenever they caught my eye.