Despite whatever fate or magic had been at work that night, she knew that she was grateful for that mistake she'd made walking into that burlesque. It was truly one of the last places she would have ever gone to get away from the thoughts of that wretched man which had been the original driving force behind how she'd ended up there to begin with. Had it not been for that letter, what were the odds that the French woman and the roguishly charming and handsome man would have ever crossed paths? It was almost startling for the young woman to think that she couldn't imagine having not met Taylor that night, having not been given that first ride on the back of that motorcycle with arms wrapped around the waist of someone who had been nothing more than a kind stranger that had stepped forward and proved to Adelaide that chivalry was still out there in the world. She'd been so close to considering such acts of selflessness to have died away with the years until it could only ever be seen in books of knights and dragons, of troubled young maidens in need of someone to save them from a dreadful demise of some kind. And then, before she'd even come to know who it was that had walked into her life that moment or how much he would come to mean, Taylor showed her that there were still men out there that didn't think they could take whatever they wanted. He'd taken that blow to his arm for her, taken the risk of injury much worse because he'd felt that he should. She'd never needed anyone to step in and save her and all her life, she'd refused to be that damsel in distress, that princess in need of a knight in shining armor to come along and set her free, and still to this very day she refused to play of the meek little woman who couldn't stand up for herself but the difference that night was that he hadn't done it to impress her or take her for himself. He hadn't stepped in to try and sweep her off her feet, he'd stepped in because in his eyes, it was the right thing to do and nothing more. He hadn't asked anything of her in return, and that had spoken even louder to what he'd done for her. Perhaps in the end, she could have taken a swing at the man that would have been strong enough to daze him for a moment only just long enough that she could slip from his violating touch and back out into the cold and made her way back home. She might have been able to fend him off on her own in the end, but she would never know and had that been the way that the night would have ended, she would very much have missed out on finding Taylor, the only one aside from Townsend that managed to win his way into that rare trust and something so much more. Maybe they would have eventually met down the road, away from that burlesque and in an overall better time and place, there was really no telling. If there was one thing she was certain of though, it was that last night had happened as it was meant to, and she wouldn't change it for anything. In the end, the "why" and the "how" didn't matter. He was in her life now, and for the young woman, that was all that mattered.

Very few things in Adelaide's life had been genuine, almost entirely convincing her that searching for someone real would only be a waste of her time, and it had taken her moving almost halfway across the world and so very far away from her prison in Paris to find something, someone that could show her that there were still diamonds in those endless mounds of fool's gold. Yes, while the man sitting there across the bar from her was far from that sharply dressed and suave man that so many women would swoon or fawn over, the French woman was only ever more certain that what she saw through those sage eyes of hers, as they searched Taylor's hunter green depths for anything that might tell her this was all just some finely tuned and wickedly convincing scam to earn her favor so that he could take whatever he wanted from her only to disappear entirely, was as real and true as her own every heartbeat. She found not the faintest of shadows in his warm smile, heard nothing hollow in his playful and teasing words. She could not help the feeling that everything about him, from every easy chuckle or heartbreaking revelation of his past and all things in between, could not be any farther from the lies and deceit that she had grown far too familiar with. She truthfully couldn't explain how it was she could be so certain, why it was that there was such a sudden and strong connection that seemed to tie them together somehow, but she trusted him. She trusted him in a way unlike anything she was familiar with, and it was this strange and unknown bond that had come out of nowhere as they came to know of the other's demons that haunted one another which only seemed to assure Adelaide that what they now had between them was true, untainted by deceit or some sort of leverage. It was almost alarming really, how strong that unintended bond already seemed to be and yet she did nothing to fight against it. Maybe it was time that she truly allowed for another to have that whole trust she hadn't given to anyone in so long. He was nothing like Julien. He was nothing like Melody. He was nothing like the people that had been in her life, even her beloved companion Townsend. What she and the Englishman had was something of a brother and sister bond, especially considering what she knew of the man with blonde hair and pale blue eyes. But what she dared to think that she and Taylor had, it was almost more than that in a way. She refused to think that she would have fallen so quickly for the man that she shared this morning with... but was it impossible? She supposed not, but she needed to be certain of more than just how he could draw her in, needed to be sure that it was not just the embers of something that would never grow into a flame. It was that fear, that fear that she almost refused to admit to, that he would leave her broken with no hope of putting the pieces of her guarded heart back together. There was always the chance that he did not feel the same, and she couldn't find that more worth admiring, even if it left her quietly wounded. When the time was right, and only then would she trust herself to know, and trust him to somehow show her, tell her.

Coaxed away from those stirring thoughts as her gaze fell upon Taylor when a soft chuckle echoes from him and in those words, again she finds a challenge that her own sage eyes answers, glittering boldly up at him."Is that another challenge, monsieur?", she questions, that coy smile finding her lips then as she lifts a brow at him before. Those eyes of hers only leave him for a moment before he says that he would take her on another exhilarating ride upon that Harley, and she certainly does not miss the ever so subtle tension now in his jaw before he broke the gaze between them. When he speaks, she can hardly resist the notion of being with him beneath a sky full of stars beside a gently flowing river under the veil of night."I look forward to it", she purrs smoothly to him, her sultry smile only growing as delight glitters in those sage depths when she can him swallow almost nervously with brows rising at her closeness. She is tempted to linger there longer, but she moves back to her original space and takes the plate of grated cheese from him. Oh, the amusement she found she took in making the man shy beneath her gaze and lilted tones like milk and honey. When the air between them shifts and he is sharing that past of his with her once more and she in turn shares those feelings that had been so trapped within her heart, never daring to let anyone know that they wer3e very much there in the deepest recesses of her heart, there is a comfort in the silence and those warm smiles that they exchange. They didn't need words to know that the other cared, and that only added more depth to the invisible ties that brought them together, brought them to this very moment where his hands took gentle hold of her own, that smile of his only growing ever gentler that it threatened for hidden tears to burst from those sage eyes. It was as though she could feel her soul wanting to pour everything out to him and yet she refrains. Not now. Not when they were enjoying each other. And certainly not when it was likely that Townsend would make an appearance any moment. So, she is quick to bury those long-held emotions, and when he releases her, he lifts his hand with pinky extended and just like that her smile is softening and she wraps her own slender pinky around his. When his brows rise again as she touches his cheek, sage eyes so full of compassion and belief, he lowers his gaze for a moment before looking back to her once more, his tenor tones soft and almost pleading as if his own heart had heard her own unspoken want to be there, be what he needed."For you, Taylor, there isn't anything I wouldn't do", she whispers softly and yet she can feel her own heart thundering in her breast as they fall past dusty rose colored lips. She wonders now if he would hear more than just the words that she'd spoken in that gentle accented voice that was almost entirely unlike the Adelaide who once lived behind those guarded iron gates, but she says nothing more when she moves away only to see him lean in towards her before suddenly, the moment is broken.

Offering Taylor a soft smile as he takes the mug from her, Reginal trailing after the man to sit a small distance away, she moves to prepare Townsend's, greeting the Englishman with a warm smile tinged with amusement as she notices the clear look of suspicion on his chiseled features. If he knew what had nearly happened moments ago, had he heard the words that she and Taylor had exchanged, she was certain he would have looked more than suspicious. She simply nods when the Englishman thanks her for the coffee and she goes to sit beside Taylor at the small table with her own plate and coffee. She has to refrain from casting the man beside her an amused glance as he seems to shift his chair a little farther from her, but she definitely didn't blame him either. She eats slowly, quietly as she allows for her gaze to shift between the men as they exchange words, and she nearly giggles with amusement when Taylor straightens as Townsend's critical gaze rests squarely over him. How endearing Taylor's reply was to the Englishman... and how unnoticed by the Englishman they seem as the blonde man opens the door, Rose and Reginal quickly moving outside. It is when those doors close that Taylor chuckles before taking another bite of the skillet on his plate, his words awakening that amused look of her own."Sometimes it's almost like he can tell when I'm enjoying myself a little too much. But he'll just have to accept you since I have no intentions of not spending time with you", she replies with that same amusement in her sage eyes dancing over every syllable. Once she's finished her plate, she moves over to the kitchen and begins to wash the dirtied dishes."Thank you having breakfast with me, Taylor. It was... fun", she says sweetly at first before looking over to him, giving him that coy and knowing smile that she was sure he would understand. Once she'd cleaned and dried her things and Townsend's mug, she moves down to the hallway though not without giving him one last glance over her shoulder, dark hair tumbling around her with that movement. She planned on lounging outside today as it wasn't too terribly cold, but first she would need to find that book she'd been reading last night, although she wasn't sure exactly how much reading she would manage to get done. She smiles to herself then as she ascends up those stairs to where she knew the book sat, trusting that Taylor would be perfectly capable of finishing his breakfast without her before going to join Townsend in the yard for his first day of hard work.