What she had just said was a testament to her kindness. It was also a testament to her perception.
He had told her very little of himself. In fact, he had told her nothing, and yet she had observed how much this room meant to him. She had also observed that libraries were an escape. It was an escape he very much needed from the world.
He watched as she reached for one of the thin ladders leading all the way to the tops of the shelves. She climbed up, her body strong and lithe as she reached for the top shelf.
A soft sort of sigh escaped him. Realizing it was all because he watched her far too much, he huffed and picked up the book again.
“If you do not like me being in here, I can leave,” she called as she turned the pages of a book she had retrieved. Clearly, she had heard him.
“It’s not that.”
“Then what is upsetting you?”
“Who said I was upset?”
“As the sun comes up every morning, Theodore is upset about something,” she mused with a small grin. “You complained for half an hour straight this morning about the tax raises in the newspaper.”
“It was not half an hour,” Theodore insisted, thinking about the breakfast they had shared. Just like now, he had found it hard not to stare at Margaret this morning. The result was him seeking out a subject complain about in the newspaper so he had something else to think about.
“It was at least a little while. What is upsetting you now?”
“Nothing,” he lied.
The fact I always seem to be staring at you.
He closed the book, giving it up as a hopeless endeavor. As he watched her, quite unencumbered as she didn’t seem to notice, that soft sigh escaped his lips again.
There must be a reason I am looking at her so much.
Then it hit him. It was as if someone had struck a flint in a tinder box, and with that strike of flame, he saw the light.
Margaret had been working for days on end to improve the house, to make it beautiful these last couple of weeks, btu she had not spent any time or money on herself. He was fairly certain she was wearing the same gown she had worn the day he had proposed.
Like all her other dresses, it was faded and frayed at the sleeves. The hem of this gown was even a little shorter than it should have been, revealing a flash of pale ankle. She clearly had slender legs.
Theodore snapped his gaze away from her legs and back to her face.
Then I shall do something about this, so I no longer have to stare at her so much.
“Tomorrow, we shall be going to Covent Garden.”
“Covent Garden?” she repeated, looking up from the book she had been looking at. “Why?”
“You’ll see.” He stood and went to retrieve his muddy boots. “I’m surprised your sisters haven’t been to see you since you have been here.” He thought it would start another conversation, that they could talk about something other than himself for a change,yet Margaret blushed a bright shade of red and looked down. “What is wrong?”
“My father has clearly told them not to come. Yet. I shall keep inviting them for tea,” she whispered, turning the pages of her book.
“Invite them for dinner. Invite your father, too, if you have to. You shouldn’t be alone here, Margaret.”
His words seemed to strike something. She looked up from the book, her lips parted a little.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He smiled, somewhat awkwardly, then hurried out of the room. The moment the door closed behind him, he grunted under his breath.
Her gowns. Those poor gowns are the only explanation as to why I stare at her so much. That has to be it.
Margaret sat between the candlelight, staring intermittently between her plate that was full of food and the empty place at the head of the table.
