Alfred considered saying that he liked her, too, but was concerned that might only serve to brand him as on the side of the enemy in her mind, not to make Caroline any more palatable. He could have pointed out the simple fact that living where she did might get uncomfortable if she and Caroline couldn't see eye to eye, but he wasn't sure that was the right tactic either.

After a moment, he crossed his arms. "I thought when I came back to England after being shipwrecked and lost so long that I'd stay in our old house, where my mother lived. Only I couldn't, because she'd died while I was away and they'd sold the house and I had to stay with Evander instead," he said thoughtfully. "And I hated it. It didn't really have anything to do with the house. It's a fine house. You know. You live there."

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