“Why is that?”
Theo was now the one to shift in his seat awkwardly. He reached for the carafe and topped up his glass. He seemed so distracted with his own thoughts that he nearly dropped the carafe.
“Something is wrong,” she mused, watching him.
“You have no doubt read of my business reputation in the scandal sheets. Others must have mentioned it to you, Maggie.”
His nickname for her made that warmth spread through her gut once again, but she shut it down. This was not the moment to become distracted.
“I may have read some things,” she acknowledged with a nod. “There was some suspicion that the deals you have entered into in the past have not been entirely…”
“Legal.” He finished the sentence for her when her nerves grew too much, and she nodded.
“That is because…” He shifted even more in his seat now, so much so that the chair creaked ominously beneath them.
“Maybe we need some new chairs for this room,” she whispered, trying to lighten the stiff air between them. His lips barely lifted into a smile, but he inclined his head in acknowledgement of her effort.
“My father may not have been the most honorable of men.” The confession looked difficult for him. The muscles in his neck had become strained, and he chose to look down at his wine glass rather than her at all. “Old sins cast long shadows. His have cast shadows over me.” He jerked his chin up at last and inhaled sharply, that stiffness still present though he plainly made the effort to shift it. “I will not be that kind of businessman.”
“I see.” She watched him with interest.
It all made sense. It was why he had wanted to marry a woman with a family who had been in the ton for as long as anyone could remember. Her father’s fall from financial grace hardly mattered when all he was after was a good reputational name.
“But you have never –”
“Never.” He cut her off sharply. “I wouldn’t bend the law, let alone break it.” Though his manner was so dark and his tone so much a warning, that she was hardly surprised people found the claims easy to believe.
His manners does not help dispel the rumors.
“Let us leave the discussion at that.” He downed what was left in his wine glass.
“This is ridiculous,” Theodore muttered to himself as he paced his study. He had left Margaret’s side at dinner some time ago once they had finished their food and retreated to this room, but he had been unable to sit since he had returned.
Something nagged at him, this feeling that he was being incredibly rude indeed by hiding in here all the time.
The door to the study opened and Yates entered, carrying the usual brandy decanter on a tray with a small glass.
“Your Grace…?” Yates hesitated. “What is wrong?”
“Nothing, I just…” Theodore marched the other way. “Where is my wife, Yates?”
“She is in the sitting room. Mrs. Lancaster has just served her a port. She is playing cards.”
“Alone?”
“Yes. She asked if Betsy would sit and play with her, but Betsy has too much to do.”
She’s lonely.
Then, as if he had always meant to make the decision in the first place, Theodore took the tray from Yates.
“Thank you.” He strode back toward the door.
“Where are you going, Your Grace?”
“To the sitting room,” he grumbled, not bothering to add an explanation why, though he was fairly certain he caught a little mischievous smile appearing on Yates’ face.
He swiftly left the room and walked down the corridor, entering the sitting room with the same firm pace he had entered the dining room earlier that evening. Maggie was so shocked that she dropped one of the playing cards she was toying with at the games table. She nearly elbowed her port glass too, though she managed to narrowly avoid it as she whirled around to face him in surprise.
