idea that those tattoos were evidence of a close link between you and Mr. Rohan. Being so ill, I had little to do except observe the people in my sphere. I noticed things that no one else had the time to perceive, or think about. And I've always been especially attuned to you.' Taking in his expression with a quick sidelong glance, Win saw that he didn't like that. He didn't want to be understood, or observed. He wanted to stay safe in his iron-clad solitude.
'And when I met Mr. Rohan,' Win continued in a casual tone, as if they were having an ordinary conversation, 'I was struck by many similarities between the two of you. The tilt of his head, that half smile he has… the way he gestures with his hands… all things I had seen you do. And I thought to myself,
Merripen stopped completely. He turned to face her, standing right there on the street while other pedestrians were forced to go around them, muttering about how inconsiderate it was for people to block a public footpath. Win looked up into his heathen dark eyes and gave an innocent shrug. And she waited for his response.
'Improbable,' he said gruffly.
'Improbable things happen all the time,' Win said. 'Especially to our family.' She continued to stare at him, reading him. 'It's true, isn't it?' she asked in wonder. 'He's your brother?'
Kev hesitated. His whisper was so soft she could barely hear it. 'Younger brother.'
'I'm glad for you. For both of you.' She smiled up at him steadily, until his mouth took on a wry, answering curve.
'I'm not.'
'Someday you will be.'
After a moment he pulled her arm through his and they began walking again.
'If you and Mr. Rohan are brothers,' Win said, 'then you're half gadjo. Just like he is. Are you sorry about that?'
'No, I-' He paused to mull over the discovery. 'I wasn't as surprised as I should have been. I've always felt I was Romany and… something other.'
And Win understood what he didn't say. Unlike Rohan, he wasn't eager to face this entire other identity, this vast part of himself that was so far unrealized. 'Are you going to talk about it with the family?' she asked softly. Knowing Merripen, he would want to keep the information private until he'd sorted through all its implications.
He shook his head. 'There are questions that must be answered first. Including why the gadjo who fathered us wanted to kill us.'
'He did? Good heavens, why?'
'My guess is that it was probably some question of inheritance. With gadjos, it usually comes down to money.'
'So bitter,' Win said, clinging more tightly to his arm.
'I have reason.'
'You have reason to be happy as well. You have found a brother today. And you found out that you're half- Irish.'
That actually drew a rumble of amusement from him. 'That should make me happy?'
'The Irish are a remarkable race. And I see it in you: your love of land, your tenacity…'
'My love of brawling.'
'Yes. Well, perhaps you should continue to suppress that part.'
'Being part-Irish,' he said, 'I should be a more proficient drinker.'
'And a far more glib conversationalist.'
'I prefer to talk only when I have something to say.'
'Hmmm. That is neither Irish nor Romany. Perhaps there's another part of you we haven't yet identified.'
'My God. I hope not.' But he was smiling, and Win felt a warm ripple of delight spread through all her limbs.
'That's the first real smile I've seen from you since I came back,' she said. 'You should smile more, Kev.' 'Should I?' he asked softly.
'Oh yes. It's beneficial for your health. Dr. Harrow says his cheerful patients tend to recover far more quickly than the sour ones.'
The mention of Dr. Harrow caused Merripen's elusive smile to vanish. 'Ramsay says you've become close with him.'
'Dr. Harrow is a friend,' she allowed.
'Only a friend?'
'Yes, so far. Would you object if he wished to court me?'
'Of course not,' Merripen muttered. 'What right would I have to object?'
'None at all. Unless you had staked some prior claim, which you certainly have not.'
She sensed Merripen's inner struggle to let the matter drop. A struggle he lost, for he said abruptly, 'Far be it from me to deny you a diet of pabulum, if that's what your appetite demands.'
'You're likening Dr. Harrow to pabulum?' Win fought to hold back a satisfied grin. The small display of jealousy was a balm to her spirits. 'I assure you, he is not at all bland. He is a man of substance and character.'
'He's a watery-eyed, pale-faced gadjo'
'He is very attractive. And his eyes are not at all watery.'
'Have you let him kiss you?'
'Kev, we're on a public thoroughfare-'
'Have you?'
'Once,' she admitted, and waited as he digested the information. He scowled ferociously at the pavement before them. When it became apparent he wasn't going to say anything, Win volunteered, 'It was a gesture of affection.'
Still no response.
Stubborn ox, she thought in annoyance. 'It wasn't like your kisses. And we've never…' She felt a blush rising. 'We've never done anything similar to what you and I… the other night…'
'We're not going to discuss that.'
'Why can we discuss Dr. Harrow's kisses but not yours?'
'Because my kisses aren't going to lead to courtship.'
That hurt. It also puzzled and frustrated her. Before all was said and done, Win intended to make Merripen admit just why he wouldn't pursue her. But not here, and not now.
'Well, I do have a chance of courtship with Dr. Harrow,' she said, attempting a pragmatic tone. 'And at my age, I must consider any marriage prospect quite seriously.'
'Your age?' he scoffed. 'You're only twenty-five.'
'Twenty-six. And even at twenty-five, I would be considered long in the tooth. I lost several years-my best ones perhaps-because of my illness.'
'You're more beautiful now than you ever were. Any man would be mad or blind not to want you.' The compliment was not given smoothly, but with a masculine sincerity that heightened her blush.
'Thank you, Kev.'
He slid her a guarded look. 'You want to marry?'
Win's willful, treacherous heart gave a few painfully excited thuds, because at first she thought he'd asked, 'You want to marry me?' But no, he was merely asking her opinion of marriage as… well, as her scholarly father would have said, as a 'conceptual structure with a potential for realization.'
'Yes, of course,' she said. 'I want children to love. I want a husband to grow old with. I want a family of my own.'
'And Harrow says all of that is possible now?'
Win hesitated a bit too long. 'Yes, completely possible.'
But Merripen knew her too well. 'What are you not telling me?'
'I am well enough to do anything I choose now,' she said firmly.
'What does he-'
'I don't wish to discuss it. You have your forbidden topics; I have mine.'
