Really really glad you liked the last chapter, hope you like this one too.

The knock on the door came as a surprise; he wasn't used to visitors during the week and it was usually him who did the calling round to visit his dad.

It surprised him even more when he saw who was standing there, still in her coat and hat from travelling.

For a moment he simply stood and looked at her in surprise.

She waited, blinked at his expression, and when he said nothing, she said; "You said I should come."

He stirred himself quickly at the quiet, familiar sound of her voice. He realised he was holding on to the door for a little bit of support.

"I didn't know you'd be back so soon," he told her.

"Her Ladyship said I should call round if I wanted to," she gave him a soft, wry smile, oh, how he'd missed that smile, "She seemed to think the sooner the better."

"She wasn't wrong," he affirmed quietly.

They were silent again.

"Can I come in?" she asked him, "Or would you rather I came back l-…"

He'd already stepped back, allowing her in. She smiled at his understanding, looking down as she took off her gloves. He hovered beside her taking off her coat and hanging it on the peg on the wall, as she removed her hat and smoothed a hand anxiously over her hair, checking it was still in place.

He didn't know what made him pluck up the courage to say it, but when he saw her graceful hands pressing at her hair, he leant forwards a little, telling her; "You look lovely."

She relaxed immediately, she flushed a little, even. He flushed, seeing her do so, and he blinked again.

"Do you want to come through?" he asked her, leading her into his sitting room, "Do you want some tea or anything to eat?"

"I'm alright," she told him, "I had something on the train. Thank you, though."

"Please, sit down," he told her suddenly, realising that he hadn't invited her to do so before, indicating the little settee in the middle of the room.

She smiled a little as she settled herself, looking back up at the room when she was there. He sat down on the chair at the end of the settee where she sat, leaning forward so that he was a little closer to her.

"It's lovely here," she told him, "You've made it very nice."

"A lot of it was like this when I got here," he told her, "I haven't added much."

"I bet they were you," she told him, nodding the metal watering can filled with flowers on the window sill.

He looked back at her, saw her barely holding back a grin.

"I'm glad you like it here," he told her a moment later.

"It's more important that you like it here," she reminded him, "But, yes, I do. Very much."

"That's good," he told her softly, "I don't want anything to put you off coming to see me. When you can, of course," he added hurriedly, "I don't want to impose."

"I know you don't, Joseph," she told him softly, calling him by his given name.

He didn't know if she could imagine how it touched him to hear her do that. They were both quiet for a moment.

"What you asked me before I left-…" she started at last, "Or rather, as I left?"

"Yes?" he replied quietly, his voice box somehow suddenly more reluctant to work.

"I've been thinking about it a lot," she confessed.

"Oh?"

"Were you certain about it?" she asked him, "Were-… are you sure?"

"Whatever makes you think I wouldn't be sure?"

"Nothing," she replied softly, "I just needed to check, before I went wading in," she smiled a little to herself, "And made a right fool of myself."

If possible, he sat even further forward.

"You can't make a fool of yourself in front of me," he assured her, "Many have tried. It's impossible."

She laughed, she couldn't help it. She was glad when he smiled a little too. Cautiously, she moved her hand from the arm of the settee, reaching out, taking hold of his hand.

"When I left, I was very sad," she to him softly, looking at his hand in hers, at their fingers wrapped together, "I was sad to leave you, sad that we'd been rushed like we were. I was ever so quiet on the train. Her Ladyship noticed too, and she asked me what was wrong, though I think she already knew."

"I'm sorry to have got you in trouble with her," he told her earnestly, "I'm sorry that I made you sad."

"No, she wasn't angry," she told him softly, "She was… interested."

"What did she say?" he asked her anxiously.

"She tried to cheer me up, actually," she told him, "She said that now we didn't live under the same roof, we'd be able to have a proper courtship. If we wanted to."

He looked up into her face.

"And do you?" he asked.

She shook her head softly.

"I want more, Joseph," she told him, looking into his eyes as they widened with surprise, delight, all manner of emotions that he barely knew how to name.

Without that look, his silence that followed would have been truly unnerving. But it wasn't, she just sat there, letting him think it out.

"Did you tell her that?" was the first thing he said, decidedly not what she had been expecting, nearly making her laugh.

"No, I didn't," she replied, "I thanked her for her kindness, and said nothing else."

He was quiet for a few more moment. Enquiringly, she moved her thumb softly across the back of his hand.

"What do you think?" she asked him, almost timidly, "Have I asked too much?"

He looked up at her, and all of a sudden, his eyes were shining.

"Oh, Phyllis. You couldn't ask too much of me, you couldn't."

He grasped her hand tightly in his, raised it to his lips and kissed the back of her hand, turned it over a gently as if it were made of silk, as kissed her palm. As she watched him, the emotion of his face almost brought a lump to her throat. He looked up into her face.

"Stay?" he asked her.

She nodded fervently.

"Yes," she told him, "Yes."

He rose from his chair and she moved to make space for him beside her, his hands were on her face, cupping her cheeks softly, staring at her features.

"I love you," he whispered so softly that the gentle stroke of him thumb on her cheek was almost louder.

She nodded, fighting back her tears.

"I know you do," she told him quietly, "I love you too."

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