“You on a hunt for more respect from the likes of the ton?” Margaret knitted her eyebrows together. “I thought you wanted respect in business, not from ladies who think more of the colors of the bows in their hair than they do business.”
“You’re right. I want to be respected in business, but businessmen have lives outside of their companies. They read the scandal sheets all the same, and no doubt, attending a gentleman’s house for a ball is a good step towards trusting his business acumen.” He looked around the room. “Especially now the house is being improved. It will offer… a good impression.”
“Was that a compliment towards my changes in this house?” Margaret jerked forward in surprise, her food quite forgotten now.
He was avoiding her gaze and seemed rather intent on refusing to smile.
“A little one,” he admitted quietly.
“Oh, come, you cannot get away with such scant praise. Pray, do tell me in what ways I have managed to please you?”
“Please me?” he spluttered with a laugh, his gaze darting to meet hers at last.
“Do I not annoy you so much now?”
“I never said that.” His eyes glittered with humor, and she suddenly found herself laughing. They chuckled together, the quiet eventually falling between them a few seconds later.
“You can be really rather good company, you know?” she whispered. “When you let your walls down.”
He inhaled sharply. With that movement, the smile vanished.
Those walls are back up again.
“So, you wish to hold a ball, do you?” She returned to her food and tried to move the conversation on. Though he had lowered those walls for a few seconds, it plainly was not going to last.
“Yes, let us hold a ball.” He nodded firmly. “You can do anything you like with the ball, I will simply add a few names to the list. Do not concern yourself with the costs, for I will cover it all.”
Margaret hesitated, the fork part way lifted to her lips.
“Yes, I will coverallcosts,” he said calmly, clearly sensing her hesitation.
“It’s the suggestion I could do anything I liked with the ball.” She lowered her fork down again and looked at him seriously. “Do you not wish to check the costs? Surely you wish to know your new wife isn’t being too extravagant.”
“Maggie, you come from a family where money has been few and far between. That is not a concern here, and I will not have it continue to be a concern for you. You understand?” His voice softened more towards the end of the sentence as he peered at her over his wine glass.
“But… practicalities dictate –”
“If I was worried about money, I would tell you so. Even in a marriage of convenience, there are some things I would share.”
His words made her fidget uncomfortably. Being reminded of the bareconvenienceof their marriage was no kind or warming thing at that moment. Somehow, it made their dance at Evelina’s ball feel more distant, as if the intimacy between them there had been nothing but a work of her imagination.
Was it all an act from him? Did he make the decision to look like a true married couple in the eyes of the ton?
She shifted and made her chair creak when she realized just how convincing he was. The way he had held her as they had danced had truly made her believe for a minute that she mattered more to him, but it was not the case. Still, she was just the woman on his arm with a titled family and what the ton would call ‘good breeding’ behind her.
What a ridiculous phrase that is.
“What is worrying you now?” he said, his voice a little tense.
“Nothing,” she lied, brushing it off and returning to her eating with vigor. She tried to shake off her disappointment the way that a dog might shed itself of water, being rid of it at once. “Well, I shall be pleased to do something useful at last. Any requests for the ball?”
“Do as you like.” He waved a hand at her encouragingly. “It is your home now. Invite who you like, have the food you want, the musicians you admire. It is your event.”
Margaret blinked. She had never been given such creative freedom before. It made the sadness she had felt melt away, replaced by utter excitement.
“Very well.” She reached for her glass and sipped in a much happier spirit now. “May I ask what business acquaintances you are trying to impress?”
“I have investments in trade in the east, mostly spices,” Theo explained slowly. “Yet there are some parties in that part of business who are… reluctant to talk to me about future deals.”
