They left the apartment quite early the next morning.
Evelina listened as Ruben hummed a happy tune. He must have been glad that he made a friend. She recalled how Luther gave him a present of his own, a necklace made of leaves and flowers. She would not call it pretty. In fact, it was hideous.
Yet it looked like the boy loved it, since he was still grasping on it as it hung on his neck.
"Soften your grasp," Evelina advised.
"Oh?"
"You do not want it to break, do you not?"
Ruben shook his head frantically, letting go of the lace. West chuckled, giving his hand for the child to hold on to, instead.
"By the by," Evelina said, her eyes on the street before them. It was almost empty, with only coaches and their drivers tending the horses, and ladies parading their baskets and trolleys present. The day was just starting. Two more blocks and they would already be at the in. "What has Raoul told you?"
