Tristan rolled down his sleeve and cleaned up. Then he put on his jacket and sat down in a chair near the fire. The chairs here were hardly as comfortable as in the drawing room upstairs. This was his consultation room after all. But he was happy to just sit and he could already feel the familiar drowsy warmth spread through his system.

"Bit of a handful, eh?" he said, more relaxed now. "Well, you turned out well enough, learning skills and earning medals and all. I should apologize. I judged you rather unfairly when we first met."

John smiled "you've nothing to apologise for doctor. Everyone around here knows me because of my past. I wasn't an angel. I left to protect my family from me."

He stared into the fire and took another drink from the glass "I left here to better myself but in away I lost part of me serving over there. I didn't care if I came home. It wasn't till I got hurt....I didn't want my family to be affected. I've been learning a trade while I was over there. The army always recruits in areas like this. People with no future or career prospects. So you were right to judge me. I earned medals thinking it would male my family proud of who I am. But I realised for the likes of Miss Danes and my family....I had to change who I was. And not be the same person. I'm looking to the future. Hopefully start my own business and lose the past"

Tristan watched John quietly as he spoke. Poor lost soul. He seemed to mean well, and Tristan was sorry to crush his good intentions. All the same he answered: "Changing for someone is hardly ever the beginning of a happy marriage, John."

John finished the last of the glass "this is true. But the person I was.....didn't care if he came home. Part of him wished he had died in that desert. But I don't know. Part of me wonders if the man upstairs had plans for me to return to whitby a different person. I needed the army to help me find me. And make me the man I am. Now I'm looking to the future. Make everyone proud of me. Not look away"

Tristan didn't believe in the man upstairs. But he did believe that people could make incredibly stupid decisions on the belief that something was 'providence'. He had seen how that had worked out for Tobias. There was a slight tremor in his hand as he thought of it. He balled his fist to stop it. He now wished he had stayed out of the whole affair.

And yet, with an alarmingly short memory, he meddled once again: "But tell me. Do you truly care for Miss Danes? And do you truly care for your family?"

John simply nodded "indeed I do. I'd do anything to protect my family and also Miss Danes. Truly I've never cared for anyone more than my family and Miss Danes. Sure my fellow soldiers but nothing like this. While yes I did some stupid stuff and bad stuff but they were done with the best intentions and I would also never let anything happen to Phillipa"

Tristan watched the younger man as he spoke. Poor guy. His heart was in the right place. And perhaps Tristan wasn't in the best state for a serious conversation. But it had to be said.

"If that's how you feel, the best thing you could do is to write Miss Danes a farewell letter and return to your distant army post tomorrow." He held up his hand to pause any potential interruption. "You're a good man, John. I can see your heart's in the right place. But you are not her equal, not even close. It's not for me to tell you more, but her situation has changed entirely. She has a chance to return to the world of privilege she was born in. It will catch up with her either way. And you can offer her no hope of covering up her scandal. Marrying down, marrying someone with your reputation, your family's reputation - I'm sorry -" he shook his head, "would only expose her to more scandal. As it would your family. They'd be dragged through the mud as social climbers in the best scenario. But I could think of worse things they'd say. I don't wish it on them or you. And I certainly do not want to see Miss Danes' life destroyed."