This is a bad idea, he thought, but his feet moved towards her all the same. She'd looked surprised to see him, but he wasn't the one out of place at an event like this. He didn't know exactly how much the audience seats cost, but he suspected it was more than someone in her position could comfortably spend, so someone must have bought her ticket tonight. Did she look surprised to see him because she felt he'd caught her? Not that there was anything to catch; they were nothing to each other. She owed him no loyalty. It would be foolish of him to think that the type of comforts he had been willing to offer her were ones she could not and would not just as easily seek elsewhere.

So why had she turned away? If there was nothing for her to be embarrassed about, nothing left tying them together, why had she looked surprised and then diverted her eyes? Perhaps that was why he moved towards her — the mystery. (At any rate, she could hardly accuse him in such a public place as this, so this interaction would end more civilly than their last had).

"Mrs. Voss," he replied curtly. Mrs, instead of Madam; putting her widowhood front and center in this interaction to let her know he hadn't forgotten and was not inclined to gloss over the fact. "Are you a fan of the opera?"

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