"Is it?" he asked, his gaze shifting to the side briefly so that he could see her. The woman had pushed her curly hair away from her face and was continuing to eat her ice cream, and his gaze met hers for a moment before he returned his gaze to the bottle of wine in his hand. "Excuse me if I find that hard to believe."
When she offered for him to talk about Merope, his gaze darkened and he took a sharp swig of the alcohol, licking his lips briefly to catch all of the drops. "No. I do not," he replied, his lip curling up in a slight snarl. This woman did not know Merope and Gellert would not be enticed into talking about Merope with strangers. "What occupation did you get assigned in the village?"