“If you will excuse us, dears,” Lady Ashbury suddenly said, “we must go greet some of the other guests. But it is truly lovely to have you both here.”
“Thank you,” Phyllis and Alexander replied at the same time, watching their hosts lock arms and find their way through the crowd of people which kept becoming larger and larger.
“Phyllis, my dear!” Phyllis heard her name being called out, and when she turned around, she realized that it was her father.
“Father,” she smiled, giving him a peck on the cheek, while Alexander extended a hand in greeting, nodding respectfully. The earl returned the gesture.
“Why, you already look like an experienced married couple, greeting the hosts and looking so dignified,” the earl teased. “Do tell me, both of you, how is married life?”
Phyllis glanced at Alexander, her eyes momentarily betrayed a flicker of uncertainty. Alexander, however, met her gaze with an assurance that hinted at the unspoken understanding between them, and it immediately put her at ease.
“We’ve adjusted quite well,” Alexander began, a tone of practiced sincerity in his voice which surprised even her. “There have been some… significant changes, that is true, but we are managing.”
The earl eyed his daughter. “Good changes, I hope?”
Phyllis nodded. “I certainly hope so.”
“Yes, Phyllis has been instrumental in overseeing certain changes around the estate,” Alexander clarified lightheartedly.
The earl smiled upon hearing this. “Phyllis has always had an eye for style, I must give her that.”
Phyllis resisted a frown. He had never said any such thing, and neither she nor her sister had ever been allowed to make any changes around their own home, unless it was within the confines of their own respective chambers. Their own home had always been the same, without any changes allowed.
Only now did Phyllis realize that her home had been arranged and decorated a long time ago by her mother. Ever since her departure a long time ago, the earl had left things as they were. Phyllis wondered if that was solace or perhaps a way in which he punished himself, by having his own home remind him of what he had so foolishly lost. But this was not the time for such ponderings.
Her father and her husband seemed to have been lost in their own conversation, of which she only picked up some bits and pieces.
“… day to day life… adjustments… marriage… surprises, both good and bad ones…” Her father’s words reached her in chopped up bits of sentences, which she didn’t even try to force into a meaningful unit. Her father liked holding monologues of his own, whether or not someone else was listening to him.
She turned her gaze to Alexander, who surprisingly, seemed to have been focused on her father’s words. “Yes, we are taking it one day at a time,” she heard Alexander say once he had been given a chance to do so. She listened intently, curious. “For instance, I’ve come to learn some of Phyllis’ preference already, as a good husband ought to do.”
“Is that so?” the earl asked with a wide grin on his face, and Phyllis had to admit that she was equally stunned. She had not noticed any such thing.
“Yes,” Alexander quickly glanced at Phyllis, relishing the look of stunned surprise on her face, after which he returned his focus to her father. “I know she takes her tea with a bit of lemon and no sugar. I’ve come to learn of her undying love for scones with blueberry jam, and that she has a preference for hyacinths.”
“Hyacinths, you say?” the earl chuckled. “Goodness, not even I knew that!”
Phyllis was well aware of the fact that her father knew nothing of her preferences, or her sister’s for that matter. That was never something he took the effort to memorize. But now, hearing that Alexander had silently been paying attention to all of that made her heart stir in ways she wasn’t expecting. She was taken aback, turning to her husband. She wanted to ask how he knew all of this, when they had spent so little time together. He had been mostly in his study, and she was busying herself with the renovations, the garden work, the little things she could do to make his home…theirhome a warmer, more beautiful place.
Phyllis could sense her father’s introspective gaze focused on them both, and she could also see the glint of satisfaction in his eyes. Things were evidently going exactly as he had wanted them to. Both of his daughters were married to good men, and in a way, that was all a father could hope for. But not when one of his daughters did not believe in the holy unity of matrimony and wished to spend her life alone, focused on herself and her own endeavors. It was something no one could understand. She knew that well. Not her father, not even her husband, to whom she had tried to explain it. There was no point.
“Well, it seems that you two are adjusting splendidly. I am pleased to see my daughter in such capable hands. And I must also say that I knew this would be a match made in heaven,” her father expressed his satisfaction loudly.
“Yes… well,” Alexander suddenly turned to Phyllis, taking her by the hand without even asking, “if you will excuse us, Lord Cregstone, I would like to dance with my beautiful wife.”
“By all means,” the earl nodded, gently placing his hand on Phyllis’ back and nudging her towards her husband, so that she almost fell into his arms. “I see some acquaintances whom I must greet anyway.”
Phyllis waited until her father left to lock eyes with Alexander. “I’m sorry,” she managed to muster, blushing slightly. “Father can be… nosy.”
Alexander smiled. “He is just worried about his daughter. I see nothing wrong with that.”
“Thank you,” she beamed.
“Shall we?” He gestured at the couples who had already started dancing to the sounds of the waltz. “Remember what I said?”
She lifted an eyebrow. “About what?”
“About dancing with me,” he reminded her. “All your dances will be mine. There is a point to be made.”
