Robert raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise. Was she teasing? For some reason he had not expected that from a young lady of a higher rank and greater fortune than his own. But then again, he had not expected to find her out here alone. Perhaps she was the Pearl type. Someone should do a proper investigation into what young ladies were reading and what they were taught in finishing schools these days. Other than the raising of his brow, he did not show any confusion or disapproval however. Instead, he smiled politely at her.

"It is. Thank you. But there is no place like home." That was not strictly speaking a lie. There was no place like home, and that was a good thing too. Robert was very happy to stay away from it. Not only was his family crazy; this town was dirty and uninteresting. He could not see why tourists came here, unless it was because they were too poor to travel to Scarborough or Brighton. It was hard to keep distance from the working people here. Plus, he missed being surrounded by his friends. The only drama at university was when some pregnant maid sought to get one of his friends to acknowledge paternity, or when they went on a trip to the slums and got into brawls with the residuum. But that kind of drama just gave them a good laugh.

"Now, Miss Ennington, I was about to ask you the same. Whatever brings a fine young lady like yourself out here all alone. You oblige me to accompany you now."