“On the contrary. It is a relief to find, for once, a man who does not believe women must be led at the pace of a small child. In this weather we should both freeze at such a speed.”

“I wouldn’t want you to think me too eager for the brandy.”

“Oh, it’s too late for your character, I’m afraid. I already have you down as a hardened drinker and frequenter of public houses in the mornings.”

“And you are a person who would accompany such a fellow.”

“I find that I am.”

He smiles at her and is so intent on doing so that he almost steps into the path of a hurtling gig.

“Be careful!” Lilith pulls him back to safety. Laughing at him, she says, “It is a good thing you have a companion for your loose living today, else you might not have lived long enough to die a famous artist.”

“Then you must always come with me when I visit the many public houses where I am known by name. You owe it to the world of art. How could you live with yourself if I were crushed beneath the wheels of an omnibus because you were not there to save me? Think of the loss to future generations.”

She regards him closely for a moment. “Do you always tease your visitors this way?”

“Only the ones I have lured into dissolute habits,” he says.

He finds they have come to a stop and stand on the pavement, regarding one another intently, each openly studying the face of the other, neither speaking, as if to do so would shatter the moment.

“Lilith,” he forces himself to say at last, “I have been thinking of you constantly. Since the party. Since we spoke…”

“Please, don’t…”

“Bram!” Perry calls from a little farther down the street. “Hurry along there.”

They catch up to the others and soon arrive at a weathered door, which is protected from the elements by a dozen layers of thick brown paint, its brass hand plate worn to a thin sliver of metal. The door creaks as Perry pushes it open, and the four of them step inside.