Ben shrugged off her response with an easy grin, although it did occur to him to wonder if he had really done much to merit the emphasis she placed on the name Reuben Crouch. He'd only been back in the country since December, and he'd been mostly keeping quiet since then. And had he really been so bad before? Ben had always considered himself reasonably circumspect in his dalliances, at least in Britain. Overseas, all bets were off, but here he was nothing but a harmless flirt. What had happened in the last twelve months that had ruined that for him?

Whatever. They weren't here to talk about his reputation as a womanizer. They weren't really here to talk about her lack of a chaperone, either. To be honest, it would have been offputting if she had showed up with someone else, given the lengths that they'd gone through to plan a meeting no prying eyes would be privy to.

"And do you often wander off to meet strange men in pubs?" he asked with a teasing eyebrow raise. "Ah, but I'm being rude — you don't have a drink yet. What would you like, milady?" he asked, making a gesture and attempting to catch the eye of the barkeeper.