Lucien cleared his throat as Charlie went to leave the table.
"I want to talk to you Charlie, but I need you to keep what I'm going to say to yourself. Can you do that?"
Charlie looked hurt. He had thought that the Doc trusted him now, and that the days when Blake thought he was feeding information to Munro and Melbourne were behind them. He opened his mouth to object but thought again.
Better to find out what the Doctor was trying to tell him.
"Yes, I can do that." Charlie winced at the memory of Lawson bawling him out over his indiscretions to witnesses. But he'd learned the lesson well.
Lucien noticed the embarrassment on Charlie's face. His point had been made.
"Right. Well, Jean and I are courting, since we came back from Adelaide. We thought you should know. But if everyone else knows about it too, it could be difficult for her. So, we are only going to tell you and Mattie."
Charlie grinned. "Congratulations, Doc." The two men smiled at each other conspiratorially. "I won't ask what happened in Adelaide then."
Blake ignored that; sharing confidences didn't go that far. Charlie thought for a moment and then shook his head.
"There's no chance of this staying private, though, Doc. Everyone knows how you feel about her. I'm afraid that's the worst kept secret in Ballarat."
Blake looked appalled. He knew there were occasional rumours because they lived in the same house, but this was far worse; it seemed he and Jean had not hidden their intentions as well as he had thought.
"Really, Charlie? Have we been that transparent?"
Charlie laughed. "Of course. It's really very obvious. And you followed her all the way to Adelaide." And then he got up and left, thankful that, for once, it wasn't him who had been indiscreet.