“Lord Hartford,” she repeated, cutting her eggs. “He’s the gentleman I met at the wedding.”
“Yes, that’s right. I’m surprised you remember. The two of you didn’t exchange many words.”
“I have a knack for names,” she told him. “What are the two of you working on together?”
“I have a tip on a reliable investment fund,” he explained. “I’ve been trying to convince Lord Hartford and some other gentlemen to invest with me. I manage their funds for them and receive a share of their profits in return.”
“What if the funds aren’t profitable?”
“They will be,” Edward said confidently. “I have great faith in this particular fund. I know it’s going to pay out very well.”
“Well, that’s good,” Lydia replied. “I suppose Lord Hartford must feel very lucky to have someone like you to help him with this.”
“I think he trusts me, at least, which is about as much as I can ask for,” Edward said. “And he’ll trust me that much more when he sees his profit.”
Lydia beamed at him. “It all sounds very exciting,” she said. “I’m glad to know about it.”
“Are you really?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, I didn’t imagine you’d care very much,” Edward admitted. “After all, it has nothing to do with you. And I’ve never met a lady who cares about investments.”
“But it’s what my husband does,” Lydia pointed out. “Oh, I know I’m not supposed to think about you that way, and I don’t, not really. But at the same time, you married me so that you would be able to call someone your wife, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“Well, I enjoy being able to call someone my husband,” she said. “Even if we don’t have the relationship of a husband and wife. And I enjoy the fact that my husband is so skilled at his business. It makes me feel proud to be married to you. I know I’d be able to describe what you just told me to a friend, and that my friend would feel impressed. That’s something I enjoy.”
He smiled. “I never expected you to feel that way about it,” he admitted. “It never occurred to me that you might take such an interest in what I do. But I’m glad to know it, Lydia. I would have told you about it sooner if I had realized you would care.”
“You have a nice smile,” she commented. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile before.”
“Oh, really?”
That surprised him. Had he truly never smiled in her presence before? It was hard to believe, and yet, now that he was thinking about it, he couldn’t remember when he might have done it. He knew he smiled only rarely.
It made him sad to realize that she wouldn’t have seen him smile on their wedding day. And it was a bit of a shock to him that he felt that way about it. On the day of the wedding, he had been thinking only about the practicalities—about what he would be gaining and about how it was going to help him, going forward. He hadn’t considered the fact that a wedding was an occasion that would bring out happiness in a lot of people. He’d known about that, of course, but he hadn’t been thinking about it.
But now, it occurred to him that, of course, Lydia would have been thinking about it. She would have expected her wedding to be a happy occasion, even knowing as little about him as she had. She would have been disappointed when that hadn’t happened.
How odd that today was the first time she could recall seeing him smile. How odd, and how sad.
And he found himself wanting to make it up to her.
“You know,” he said, “Lord Hartford is having a ball in a week.”
“Is he?” Lydia didn’t react.
“Well, I wondered whether you might like to attend. If you would have any interest in such a thing.”
“Just me, alone?”
“No, I would accompany you, of course,” he said.
Now she looked up. “I wouldn’t have thought you would be interested in that sort of thing,” she replied. “You didn’t take any interest in our wedding ball. I got the impression you didn’t care for balls generally.”
“Well, I don’t,” he said, because there was no point in lying about it. “Not usually. But I do feel you were shortchanged at the wedding ball. I think you were hoping for something a bit more exciting than what happened. Perhaps the best way to atone for that is to attend another ball.”
