“It was not my intent to hurt myself, but is it so bad that I wish to please you?” Her soft words made something tight constrict in his chest.
His hands itched to have a tighter hold of her, but he held himself back.
“You could have just pleased me by coming to dinner.”
“That would have pleased you?” She blinked in surprise.
He chose not to answer as Yates now walked over carrying a glass of brandy that was promptly passed to Maggie. She took the smallest of sips though under Theodore’s watchful gaze, she smiled with humor and took a second sip.
“Shall we arrange a dessert?” Mrs. Lancaster said, making her way to the door.
“That won’t be necessary, thank you,” Maggie began.
“It will be necessary and yes please,” Theodore called to her as she hurried off and Yates followed behind her. “You need to look after yourself,” he insisted.
“I am perfectly well.”
“Course you are,” he said with thick sarcasm, pushing the fork back into the fish stew and passing it to Maggie again. She took the fork and the second bite.
The moment her lips closed around the fork, Theodore felt he had been struck by lightning.
What am I doing?
He was sitting here in his study, on the settee, with Margaret on his lap. Not only that, he wasfeedingher. As if she were a baby under his care, that was how protective he had become of her.
When did she get such a hold over me?
Feeling cold all over, Theodore moved sharply. He practically picked Maggie up again as he lifted himself up and tipped her off his lap and onto the settee.
“Oomph!” she exclaimed in surprise, somehow managing to hold onto the plate and fork, and not send them flying. “What was that about?”
“I…” He backed up from her. He collided with the table he had put down for the food tray, tripping over it. Grabbing the arm of the settee, he managed to keep himself standing and flicked himself around to facing her again.
“Theo, what is wrong?” she asked, sitting at an uncomfortable angle on the settee. She balanced the plate in her lap, staring up at him in bemusement.
At least there is color in her cheeks now.
“Eat,” he pleaded, gesturing to the plate. “I just…” Yet he had no words. There was no possible way to describe how much she had just worried him, how alien a feeling that was to him, how no one had ever wormed their way under his skin so much that he would actually carry them through his house and protect them fiercely, guarding them in his lap.
“Theo?” she whispered, her voice soft.
He didn’t have any words at all. With nothing to say, he turned on his heel and marched out of the room.
I have to get away from her. I have to stop this feeling, but how?
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“Well done, Your Grace. It is quite stunning indeed.”
“Thank you.” Margaret smiled at Mrs. Lancaster as she turned to face the ballroom.
Every surface was decked beautifully with either dried flowers or autumnal leaves. The large fireplace, big enough to hold a whole rhinoceros, was full of flames, emanating great heat across the room. The tables full of glassware, punch bowls and food glittered in the candlelight.
“I can never remember the ballroom being so beautiful,” Mrs. Lancaster whispered as in the distance, the sounds of coaches could be heard arriving.
“Never?” Margaret said with interest. “Did Theodore’s parents not hold any balls?”
“They…” Mrs. Lancaster looked awkward, fidgeting with a set of glasses nearby which were already well laid. “They had other things on their mind. They were not especially warm to those they welcomed to the house,” she added in a confessed whisper, then blushed red, as if she feared she had said too much.
