Noble smiled wryly. "Did the tutoring help?" he asked. The longer he was out here, talking to Constable Dorset, the more likely it was that someone from the Potts family would come out and see him. That would be awkward, if only for Noble. The worst case scenario by far was that Daff would come out. He ought to get away from here as soon as possible. But he'd conjured that excuse for being here, so now he had to — wait until Dorset grew bored, or until they had plausibly been making small talk for long enough that Noble could give up on 'waiting.'

What had he been thinking, coming here, loitering on the street as if that could allow him to have the window into Daff's life he so desperately wanted? The answer was easy: he hadn't been thinking.

And that was the worst thing — after the Sanditon, and after Verity's kidnapping, Noble had secretly vowed to think more.

---