“Trying to intercept you before you started to work and managed to rebuild all your defenses against me. I didn’t want to have to go back to square one after I’d worked so hard to establish minimum trust. I knew it was going to be an uphill battle no matter how you decided to play it.” He grimaced. “Last night was a mistake on so many levels that I was pretty dizzy before I threw you out.” His lips suddenly curved in a rare smile. “But some of them were yours, and I don’t think I should take total blame. Your reaction was…unexpected. You caught me off guard. But that was probably my fault, too. In my profession I have to be able to read the other players or lose my shirt. I thought I was beginning to be able to gauge your responses.” He made an impatient gesture. “Anyway, that’s my elaborate explanation that was at least a half apology. Now may I fix you breakfast, give you a cup of coffee, and mend fences?” He added coaxingly, “I talked to Kaskov and Rennell last night after you went upstairs. I’ll share it with you.”

He was being completely honest, and as usual it disarmed her. “This isn’t necessary. I was partly to blame. I’m sorry if I made you feel awkward. We’ll forget about it.” She slowly came down the final few steps. “And you shouldn’t feel bad for not being able to read me. These days I have trouble doing that myself. Everything is…new to me.” She frowned. “No, that sounds like an excuse. It’s not as if I was sheltered or anything. Maria tried to shelter me, but once I was in a Trial, I was on my own. I had to make whatever adjustments were necessary to get it done. I suppose Maria is right, and I couldn’t behave normally with the people around me even if I’d wanted to.” She shrugged. “So I guess you could say I sheltered myself.”

“And your Maria is displaying her usual perceptiveness.” His eyes narrowed on her face. “When did she utter those particular words of wisdom?”

“This morning when I went in to wake her to tell her about what happened at the airport. Why?”

“If she’s awake, then I should invite her to breakfast. I never want to get in her bad books. Will you come to breakfast if she chaperones you?”