"We are as of one mind on the same idea," he muses, as if thinking out loud. "I'd appreciate the partnership. Our respective knowledge and, dare I say, personalities, can lend each other balance.

He may hold out one gloved hand to her. "There's been partnerships sealed with a handshake where I come from. May we do the same?"

It would be a first for him, creating a business, rather than working for another organization, not a first for having a partner, but this time one who might be good for him.

"I'd be willing to open my door to you. Any time that the lights are on in Arklay House, the door is open," he says