Maybe her beckoned fingertips could feel a slight increase in the mass of his heart, as they stayed underneath his shirt and behind his vest, when she promised and assured him about her usefulness. He had thought of her courage many times when he was learning his new life, and wondered what she would do about the problems he faced. "I know you would have conquered the world in my stead." he affirmed. There was no doubt in him that Tillie would have been formidable. Mother might be taking his return a bit like mother would, with some thorns waiting to be bent, but Tillie had become this smooth rose, with buzzing pollen and heavy crown. Even on this bed she was swaying a little nonchalant, boasting how she'd ripened in the sun, and how she wouldn't notice if he pinched her free.<br/><br/>Ewan intended to.<br/><br/>He had not been friendless through the sea salt and the new roads, but he'd rather have braved it with his sister. Ewan had seen another person with Matilda's hair, coming home. They way she let him kiss her by the carriage, and how she danced along with this, it couldn't just be a role she was forced into, defending him because he was presenting himself so aggressively, funneling mother into disapproval. Tillie had become something more in his time away. Little wild river, fresh and exploratory.<br/><br/>"But you're acting perfectly." he said, leaning into her hand which had stayed against the beats of his heart and skeletal box that had hugged it when Matilda could not. "What a lovely thing you became without me." he admitted and looked at her with sensibilities in his intentions, like he only meant to stay on his knees at her feet from now on. Tillie wouldn't like that. Tillie could have gotten any man to lover her. Mother must have had a hard time with the suitors. Ewan was brimming with gratitude for this much freedom, at least. Perhaps all good things started with the overdue death of Henley.<br/><br/>What a perfect kiss she gave. This was going to be the dawn her discoveries, and he meant to lead her. Selfishly he meant to design her. In the tribes that the foreign cities called dirty, Ewan had learned an undressed view of love. He'd taken inspiration, and peeled his own affections to try and free them too. Even for the men at the borders that loaded his ships, Ewan had become something extreme. He used it for respect, outwardly, but intended to stitch it into his soul. She could feel the devotion there, kissing her, and eating her sweet breaths, and seeking her deeper when she invited it. Matilda had this courage naturally, and he worshiped her for it. Nobody would attach shame to her heart if he could help it.<br/><br/>His body wanted to eat her quaking, and wondered if he should. Hungry for the women he'd left, Ewan was a hollow. "But I won't be gone, ever again." he said once she'd prettily drawn back, which had only fueled his determination to taste her more. But a hollow with famish is different than a hollow with earth, so he stayed himself a little, and took her cheek instead, savoring her blush and counting the breaths that reminded him she would be delectable now or later. He leaned close again, after their dramatic break from each other, brow brushing hers with a challenging expression.<br/><br/>"Did you grow up to be a little bit of fun, Matilda?" he asked and stroked her arm like he was teasing a cat into play. It was good to fall into old patterns with adulthood's spices. "You're absolutely stunning." Mother to a tee. He shoved her to lay on her back on the bed, and laid over her like that was still appropriate. This was their house, not Henley's. And children play. There should be no inherent boundary to love. They'd be in the nighties here soon, anyway, if he could help it. "Have you had your own little outings, sister?" he asked as he kissed her jaw and his hand petted her stomach until the dress became the skirt, and his hand could carefully shape the mourning fabric around her celebratory mounds. He wanted like a parched chest wants, but he could wait for at least some secrecy, or for Matilda to adjust. "You have to tell me all about yourself. I know you Tillie, but I've not heard enough about you."<br/><br/>Happenstance allowed for some time in which the girl could brag, but then there was a knock on the door Ada had left open, and Abraham's voice revealed the butler to be just at the right angle to hear but not see them. Appropriate man. Ewan lifted his head from Matilda and grinned at the door frame.<br/><br/>"Sir... Master Bradford. Eugene Grant is here with the papers. I've put some whiskey in the old office and fresh ink." he said. Ewan kissed her nose quickly before getting up, and taking her hands with him.<br/><br/>"Is Grant still impossibly infatuated with you? Or has he lost his sens of taste after school?" he asked her as he held her hand and came toward Abraham.