The fact that Austin was not responding right away tore at an opening wound in the center of her chest. He must be reconsidering his options. Trading in the plain, bossy sister of a merchant for the beautiful and wealthy daughter of a marquess.
“My butler will escort you two out,” Austin said at last.
Lavender listened as he made his way to the door. Lady Anna moved first, then Lady Lively stood. She didn’t have to say anything for her satisfaction to be obvious. As if this meeting had gone exactly the way she had expected it to and knew that there were many more to come.
“It was a pleasure meeting you, my lord,” Lady Anna was saying behind Lavender. She still stayed where she sat, shaking.
Austin grunted something Lavender could not hear and soon the ladies were out the door, leaving them alone. Lavender suddenly wished she hadn’t come here at all.
***
“Lavender.”
She didn’t respond to him, her attention out the window. Austin stared at her for a few seconds longer, admiring how lovely she looked this morning. He wanted to say as much to her but he was not sure it was the best thing to do at that moment.
“What do you think of the changes I’ve made here?” he asked. “Replacing the wallpaper with the same one was your ideabut I thought it would be nice to add a few more artistic pieces as well.”
“Hm.” She didn’t look back at him. From the moment Lady Lively and Lady Anna left, Lavender had stood and made her way over to the window. Minutes had gone by and she was yet to say a word.
Austin scratched the back of his head, not knowing what to say. That entire conversation had been nothing short of uncomfortable. Austin had considered sending them away when his butler had announced their visit and had only accepted their call when he thought that it might be able to help Lavender. He didn’t think that it would turn into…that.
“What are you doing here?” he asked after a few more moments of silence.
“Why?” she snapped without looking at him. “Were you hoping to have some more time alone with Lady Anna?”
“Of course not,” he answered easily, a little confused as to why she would think such a thing. “But when we parted ways yesterday, it was on the agreement that I would come to call on you. Not the other way around.”
“I made a mistake, it seemed,” she mumbled.
“Lavender.” Austin sighed. He didn’t know how to fix this. He didn’t even know what he was fixing. So he tried to distract her. “The art pieces. Do you like them?”
“Yes,” she answered.
“You have not even looked.”
Lavender didn’t say anything for a moment before turning to look at him. Austin pointed to the mantle. There, next to the portrait of his stepmother was one of his late father. He had rummaged through his father’s old things and thought it would be a nice addition to the drawing room, as per Lavender’s suggestion.
Her expression hardly changed as she took it in. “That’s nice,” she answered noncommittally.
Austin stifled his sigh. “I have a few more changes that I would like to show you. And I do need your input on what other renovations I should do.”
Lavender shook her head. She turned away from the window to face him. “Perhaps I should just leave. I am in no mood to talk about such things and I will be terrible company.”
She attempted to do just that. Austin stepped in her path before she could make it to the door. “What is the matter, Lavender?” he asked, sounding a little weary.
Fire flashed behind her brown eyes. “What is the matter?” she repeated. “Surely you do not think I would be fine after hearing such a thing?”
“That was a bit outrageous of them to do, I agree. But you needn’t be bothered by the sayings of an egotistical countess and her lackey.”
“Is that so?” She crossed her arms, face flaring with anger and something else Austin could not name. The anger, however, he could respond to. Anger he was used to. “You mean for me to stand here and talk about renovations with you when it is clear that you could trade me in for another lady at any moment.”
Austin scoffed. “Do you really think so lowly of me to think I would give a damn about a title? Surely you must know me better by now.”
“It is not so much the title as it is the benefits that comes with it. It is obvious, Austin. Lady Anna is the daughter of a marquess and likely possesses a dowry that will be more than enough for you to attain all your goals. Not to mention the fact that she is far more—”
She broke off, turning away.
“Far more what?” Austin pressed.
