She eyed the window. Dusk was already darkening the streets outside. It seemed like he wouldn’t be coming, which was fine of course. He didn’t need to come more than once or twice a week. He had already more than fulfilled his end of the bargain.

Diana stacked her papers neatly and stood from her desk. “Mrs. Oliver, I believe it’s time to clean up and call it a day. It was another productive one.” She brushed her finger over the knotted gold on the lapel of her periwinkle dress. She enjoyed the days she felt she deserved to walk home with it.

Mrs. Oliver stood. “Your Lord Bryant didn’t visit, though. I thought for certain he would, seeing as he didn’t come yesterday.”

“He is a busy man. He doesn’t have time to stop by every day.”

“He is busy doing what? Parliament isn’t in session yet.”

She couldn’t exactly tell Mrs. Oliver that he was courting Lady Emily and most likely flirting with several other women. She had never known him not to have at least one woman, if not two, with whom he was bandying about.

Lady Emily was one.

And Diana was the second.

She shook her head. No matter what she thought of Lord Bryant or how comfortable his hand had felt in hers while they were locked in the storage room together, she had to remember that none of this was novel to him. She needed to keep her heart locked and her eyes away from the door during working hours.

Mrs. Oliver lived fairly close to the Richardsons, so they walked home together most evenings. They had been leaving earlier since Lord Bryant started coming into the office. Often, Mr. Oliver would meet them at Mrs. Richardson’s home and walk the rest of the way with his wife after they saw Diana off.

After gathering their things and leaving the office, Diana locked the door behind them. She turned to see a carriage pull up in front of them, a carriage she knew well by now. She kept her eye out for it every single day.

“Oh, Lord Bryant,” Mrs. Oliver said, as though Diana didn’t have his carriage memorized. “I knew he would come today.”

“He didn’t come yesterday,” Diana said under her breath.

“Which is exactly why I knew he would come today.” Mrs. Oliver stood proud in her correct knowledge, eyes shining as she watched Lord Bryant descend from the carriage.

His hat was askew and his cravat hastily tied. Where, exactly, had he been?

That was none of her concern. Lord Bryant was entitled to do whatever he wanted to do in his free time. “Finished already?” he asked.

Diana smiled at him. It was hard not to. “Yes.”

He glanced at the locked office behind them. “Seems early for you.”

“Lately, I have more time to get everything done,” Diana said.

“Thanks to me?” Lord Bryant raised an eyebrow and curved the edge of his mouth into the impish grin she so often wanted to wipe off his face, one way or another. His smile lifted to the other side of his mouth, as if he could read her thoughts. “It is thanks to me, isn’t it?”