Darwin slowly lifted his hands away from his sides and spread his fingers docilely.
The motion left him feeling oddly bare; with no weapon and not even a retort to deflect Marian's scrutiny, he found himself momentarily at a loss.
His coat and scarf hung over one elbow, along with the hat and gloves he'd gathered on his way out.
But, even without wearing these layers, heat and sweat clung unpleasantly to his skin.
Marian's coat, however, remained buttoned to her throat, just as it had been during their "interrogation."
If the night's humidity troubled her at all, it did not show.
As Darwin followed just a step behind her, he mulled over his options. 'I need to act soon,' he warned himself.
Once she succeeded in dragging him into the open streets, his chances of leaving discreetly would be all but lost.
He considered and discarded several plans in quick succession.
Calling for help would inevitably be futile. After night fell, this quarter of the city had long since emptied.
The pair passed under a sagging wooden arch between two brick walls.
Beyond it, the narrow alley lay deserted, lit only by a wan sliver of moon and the orange haze of a distant street lamp, slightly looming over the low walls.
Marian's figure stayed just within Darwin's peripheral vision. Her back was straight, and her left hand hovered near the folds of her coat. One wrong move, and she would be upon him in an instant.
He needed a more suitable approach.
'It seemed that our long exchange had already proven that persuasion wouldn't move her. Perhaps something else still would.'
Recalling their earlier conversation in the classroom, Darwin reaffirmed that Marian's patience had been scant from the start.
She had indulged his evasive answers only to a point before tearing away all pretense.
Though the more he reflected upon it, the more frustrated he felt.
She had merely indulged his words, allowing him to speak at length while he kept his suspicions to himself, only to lose interest and expose him with trivial detail.
Only now did he see how poorly he had misread the situation.
He'd believed their exchange had a genuine objective; however, in truth, he hadn't understood the roles they were truly playing.
Marian was obviously perceptive. She had likely realized he wasn't Gabriel from the moment she first shook his hand.
Darwin squinted behind his invisible spectacles as he began to inwardly rationalize, 'Although I can't make her walk away, perhaps I can slow her down…'
There were many qualities beyond the positions she had expressed. When he contested one of her ideas, she would respond with an overly pleasant smile, as if suppressing a yawn.
However, what truly made her unusual was her entire perspective, which inclined toward self-interest.
She showed no genuine concern for anything that didn't benefit her directly. Even her remark about people's mistakes revealing more than their successes sounded different in hindsight.
It felt less like idle analysis and more like a personal creed that conveniently allowed her to look down on others as incompetent.
'After all, if one assumes most people are fools, it's much easier to judge them by their missteps rather than their merits,' Darwin mused bitterly.
It was a mindset that likely came from someone with a profound apathy.
At that, he was struck by an absurd notion. Darwin was no stranger to such people. They were often easy to spot by the way they spoke and preformed their emotions.
The only person whose 'indifference' had ever made him wary was Benedict, but dealing with him had taught Darwin how to tolerate their ilk.
In his experience, the best way to rattle someone so emotionally numb and self-focused was to turn their own impersonal sense of order against them.
At the very least, it might catch them off guard.
If Marian is indeed that kind of person, she would likely pride herself on lacking the "useless" emotions that weighed on others.
By their logic, they stood above everyone else precisely because they did not share those weaknesses. This woman might not care a whit for his well-being, but she would certainly recoil from a spectacle that tarnished her own image.
Darwin subconsciously began to worry about the location that awaited him ahead.
Alarm swiftly welled within him, and his body instinctively came to a halt.
Marian took a few more steps before realizing that she was no longer being followed.
Immediately after, her heels scraped against stone as she whirled around.
Only about a yard of dark alley lay between them.
She narrowed her gray eyes at the sight of him standing calmly by a wall.
"Keep moving," she ordered in a deep voice. "We're not far."
Darwin met her gaze briefly. Then, as if he hadn't heard her, Darwin lowered the bundle of belongings from his arm.
He knelt and placed his folded overcoat, hat, and gloves at the foot of the wall, moving almost leisurely.
Once everything was arranged in a neat little pile, he then paused to brush a bit of dust from the coat's sleeve.
"Mr. Gabriel," Marian sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in irritation, "you were instructed to—"
She fell silent as Darwin's fingers went to the buttons of his waistcoat.
He undid the first with a soft click, then the next, and the next.
Soft light glinted on the brass buttons as they came loose, and with a slight shrug, he let the waistcoat slide off his shoulders, revealing the plain linen shirt beneath.
Darwin folded the garment neatly and set it atop his coat.
Marian's eyes widened a little. "I suggest you explain yourself before I ruin what you've laid out."
"Is there truly a need?" He retorted before unfastening his cuffs and rolling his shirtsleeves up to his elbows.
As he loosened the top button of his collar, the night breeze passed over him, raising gooseflesh on his forearms.
Marian stared, incredulous.
After a second, Darwin said with courtesy, "These clothes have been baking on me since noon."
He tilted his head, pressing his ear against his shoulder, and drew his lips inward. "If you plan to parade me across half the city, I'd rather not collapse halfway and cause a scene."
After swatting a hand, he added, "I overheat rather quickly when I'm overdressed. My nerves simply won't abide it; maybe it is part of my condition."
He was even a little surprised by how sincere his excuse sounded, so much so that it seemed perfectly plausible.
However, Marian merely offered a show of perfunctory pity before saying with a flat tone, "How unfortunate, you will endure it. The sun isn't even out. Pick them up, now."
Darwin immediately responded with an amused smile. "If you insist, Miss Prentiss, you'll have to carry me or leave me here for someone else to find."
Unfortunately, either option will waste far more of your precious time than you'd like. You may even be swarmed with awkward questions that you'll be stuck answering regardless of who ultimately gets exposed."
He stepped away from the wall, leaving his discarded clothes where they lay, and let out a single laugh – "Ha!" – resonating through the alley.
"Even you, so accustomed to never being inconvenienced, may be surprised by how remarkably easy it can be," he continued lightly. "Since we're both rather competent, I think you understand what I mean when I say you're nothing special."
The corners of Darwin's eyes curved upward in a grin as Marian's index finger began to scratch at the cuticle of her thumb.
He could already sense her irritation toward him gradually rise. "Though please do not assume that everything I say or do is directed solely at you," he added. "I'm simply practicing the ideology you introduced to me."
With that, he let his fingers fall to the next button of his shirt.
Simultaneously, his tone remained steady as he spoke again.
Click.
"You see, I also take notice of people's mistakes, but not for the same reason that you do."
He raised three fingers with his other hand and cleared his throat. "I will be kind and only present three."
Click.
"Her first mistake was believing that sincerity alone could disguise the smallness of her intentions."
Click.
"Her second mistake was failing to restrain herself. She may know how to dress her words in something decent, but she cannot suppress the selfish logic that rots beneath them."
Click.
"Her third mistake was allowing herself to be left dumbfounded by indignation, and in doing so, overlooking what I was doing at the time."
Marian narrowed her eyes scornfully. For a heartbeat, neither of them said another word, and in that silence, Darwin almost allowed himself to relish the sight of her knuckles turning white.
Without waiting for Marian to recover her composure, Darwin pivoted and strode off down the alley in the direction she had been heading.
As he slipped past her, he called over his shoulder, "If you want me to follow, Miss Prentiss, then do try to keep up."
Marian's finger slipped from her thumb under the pressure, and she cursed, "Damn it—" A small drop of blood seeped from her fingernail.
She roughly pressed it to her lips, nearly opening another wound with her teeth as she bit down and hurried after him.
Darwin ran even faster.
The entrance of the alley lay just ahead, leading into a slightly wider lane behind a row of tenements.
He reached it within moments.
Instead of turning left toward the broader streets, he veered right, slipping into an even longer passage he'd seen earlier.
As expected, a shallow puddle had collected there from yesterday's rain.
Cold water splashed over his shoes and soaked the edges of his trouser cuffs, but he barely noticed.
Behind him, Marian's footsteps gradually hastened, as the distance between them shortened.
"Darwin!" She viciously called out, "Stop this instant!"
Darwin huffed and faltered for an instant, 'Hah—she really had known who I was all along?'