In the few days Finnian had been home, he'd collected a bit of data about his fellow expedition-goers, but he admittedly knew very little of Mrs. Bones' life outside of her hospital career and family life (both of which he'd only heart about through train chatter). He struggles, her hopes, her dreams - all were unknown to Finny, but that mystery only drove him to push further in his attempts to charm her. (What was more of a challenge than charming a woman who was not only older and wealthier than him, but also more powerful? It was a thrill, really.)

"Jealousy, I'm sure," he responded, unable to keep a smile off his face. (Would he be more alluring if he could keep a calm, cool demeanor like her? He supposed it didn't matter, anyways; it wasn't as if he could even if he wanted to.) "An average man's ego will go a long way to undermine a woman's ability." As opposed to him, a not-so-average man. "No, a real man can look a woman in the eye and see her value for what it's truly worth." It wasn't very subtle, but subtlety was not a gene that ran in the Byrne family.

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