“Of course, I accept you, Thomas!” She brought my hand to her lips and kissed it, her smile growing. “After everything that happened on the Etruria… I was…” she exhaled. “I wasn’t sure if you’d still want to court me. And then when you didn’t say anything after… I thought—I’d hoped you’d ask after we’d discussed Mephistopheles. When days passed and you didn’t bring it up, I didn’t think you wanted to.”
