Mr. Darrow was slow to start and the look he gave her was well interpreted, but Caroline would have been remiss in her duties if she did not at least comment on such a fact. “I’m very sorry to hear that.” Caroline demurred sincerely. She had lost three elder brothers herself, or rather, her family had. She could hardly say she had felt the loss as each had perished before she had even been born. Indeed the family hardly spoke of it to the point where there were Caroline often forgot they had even existed. Had Shawn not disappeared for years Caroline might not have been able to relate with Mr. Darrow at all upon the matter, but he had been presumed dead for long enough that Caroline had had to grapple with the death of her favorite sibling. “Were you close?” Curiosity urged the question forward, hoping her kind tone would favor him toward her impertinent question.

At least his brother was still alive. Caroline remembered when she first arrived in London hearing the name. Something to do with an expedition to Avalon. Shawn had been rather interested in the news story, although Caroline had been much more intent on integrating herself into British society, such adventurous thoughts based on already being in a new land. “I have.” She agreed with a nod as he continued on.

The look he gave her though, the shrug, she knew it all too well. How to explain such a complicated past. “My brother, Shawn, he too was thought to be lost at sea.” Caroline’s tone was softer for a moment as she remembered the loss she had felt then. But echoing Mr. Darrow’s lightness of tone, Caroline added; “It was hopelessly complicated explaining things four years later when he arrived home.” She gave him a conspiratorial smile as if this were a thing only the two of them could ever understand.