Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“ M aggie? We’re going to be late,” Theodore called up the stairs.

He turned to the mirror and adjusted his cravat another time, well aware that Yates was watching him closely nearby.

“You cannot make it any neater, Your Grace,” Yates said with a chuckle. “It’s as neat as it’s possible for it to be.”

“Hmm, maybe.” Yet Theodore tried all the same, adjusting it another time before he stepped back and looked around himself once again. “The carriage is all set?”

“It is. It will take you straight to the Duke of Dummore’s house.”

“Excellent.” Theodore was hardly looking forward to Gabriel’s ball, but he had agreed to go and that was that. He supposed it was also a good thing for the ton to see him and Margaret together now that they were married. Maybe it would stop any whisper of a scandal for good. “Maggie? I have no liking for lateness.”

“Let me guess, it does not appeal to the perfectionist side of your personality?” Her voice was much closer than he had anticipated it being.

He turned to find Margaret was halfway down the stairs.

She was wearing one of the new gowns he had purchased for her, this one a light blue. There was white lace across the bust and brushing each hip, down to the hem of the gown. With her dark hair curled behind her head and pinned high, it emphasized the curve of her neck and the delicacy of her collarbone.

“I think Mrs. Sinclair has outdone herself with this gown,” Margaret said, running a white silken gloved hand down the skirt as she reached the bottom step. “Do you approve?”

Theodore was rather distracted. Not only did the dress suit her perfectly, he was also taken by just how much she was smiling. He was not sure he had ever seen Margaret smile in this way before.

It is a full smile! Could it be this is all just because someone has taken the care to buy her something nice?

He made a resolution not to shy away from buying her other nice things in future, if this was the response it go.

“Is there something wrong with it?” She looked up with concern at his silence.

“No, no, nothing wrong,” he assured her, clearing his throat. He had to pull at his cravat, his neck feeling suddenly tight. “It is a very fine dress indeed.”

“Thank you for buying it for me.” She took the pelisse from Betsy behind her, who was smiling just as much, then walked forward. Margaret stopped in front of him as she pulled on her pelisse. “This isn’t like you,” she remarked, pointing at his cravat.

“What isn’t?” He angled his head to the side, catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror. In being so flustered, staring at her, he had ruined the position of the cravat.

“Here, allow me.” She reached up and adjusted it for him.

Theodore felt heated once more. Margaret’s fingers were very close to touching his skin. It didn’t quite happen, but it was enough to give him palpitations, his heart thundering in his chest.

“There, shall we go?” she offered, turning to the door.

“Have a good evening,” Yates wished them well and they both thanked him for it as they left the house and ascended the carriage.

The night drew in fast on their journey, so it was dark by the time they arrived, and it was not the only thing to change. Margaret went from happy smiles to chewing her lip excessively.

“What is wrong?” Theodore asked as he stood to descend the carriage, opening the door for the two of them and offering his hand to her.

“Nothing,” she obviously lied. He caught her arm before she could walk away and tucked it through his.

“Maybe we are growing to know each other better, Maggie, for I know you are lying. What is it that worries for you?”

“It does not matter.” She shook her head sadly. “I do not want worries about my father to affect this evening. Tonight, we are here for my sister and your friend.” She pinned a smile in place.

Theodore was torn between his admiration for her forbearance and his annoyance that her father once more had tarnished the air between them.

The Viscount has a lot to answer for in his life.

Theodore was shocked by the feelings swelling inside of him, reminding him of the conversation he had shared with Margaret a few days before outside of her bedchamber.

For so long in his house, he had shut down all emotion. He didn’t feel happiness, sadness, fear or excitement in that building, for he had blocked it out long ago. He made it a cold and lifeless place for it was easier to live that way, but Margaret had changed all of that.

In the month she had been there, she had indeed annoyed him, intrigued him, worried him, and infuriated him. Occasionally, he’d wanted to smile, though he didn’t understand that feeling.

Did it all start that night we met in the library with her gown torn?

“Come, let us go inside,” she urged, apparently sensing his hesitation, though she evidently did not know the reason why.

Theodore led the two of them inside.

Plainly, Gabriel had spared no expense on the ball. Every surface in the ballroom was decorated beautifully for the event. There was a mixture of white and dried russet flowers, hailing the changing of the season into autumn.

Everyone was smiling as they wandered back and forth, with some ladies hurrying to the dance floor, waving their dance cards in the air, as some gentlemen stood back, poring over glasses of wine and whisky. Amongst the happy faces, Theodore spied Cedric. His friend was already charming two young ladies, making them laugh at some grand tale he was telling about the continent.

A short distance away stood Gabriel and Evelina, welcoming their guests.

“Margaret!” Evelina called.

Margaret released Theodore’s arm and moved toward her sister, as Theodore followed behind to greet Gabriel.

“You’ve done a grand job,” Theodore observed. “Enjoyed the preparations, have you?” He already knew Gabriel had little liking for such arrangements.

“It’s all down to Evelina,” he explained. “She has been magnificent. You two should hold a ball of your own now you are settled.”

“One party at a time, Gabriel,” Thoedore warned him, prompting Gabriel to chuckle in a low tone.

Distracted, Gabriel looked to the side.

Margaret and Evelina had embraced warmly, but as they spoke, a gentleman had come up to speak to them both. It was a gentleman whom Theodore did not recognize, though he was now trying to repeatedly take Margaret’s dance card.

“You’ll have to forgive Mr. Urwin,” Evelina said, trying to smooth over any awkwardness as Margaret tried to pull the dance card out of reach. “He is an eager dancer.”

“An eager drinker, too,” Gabriel murmured, for Theodore’s ears only.

“Come, Your Grace.” Mr. Urwin tried to take Margaret’s dance card once again. “I see you have no name on your card yet. A lady such as you must dance tonight! Allow me to remedy that.” He offered his hand gallantly. “To turn me down now would be a great insult.”

Theodore gritted his teeth together in anger as Gabriel tried not to laugh at Mr. Urwin’s audaciousness.

Margaret clearly now felt cornered as she stood there, clutching to her dance card.

“I… erm…”

“My wife will not dance with you tonight.” Theodore stepped forward, offering his hand to his wife swiftly. “Maggie is dancing with me.”

“Oh, oh, I see.” Mr. Urwin chuckled, as if he had not realized he was stepping on a husband’s toes. “My apologies, Your Grace. I did not realize the lady had… such an attentive husband.”

“Good evening to you, sir.” Theodore gave him a quick dismissal as he pulled lightly on Margaret’s hand and towed her away, toward the dance floor.

“We are to dance?” she spluttered in surprise. “I did not know you were a dancer.”

“I’m not. I’m shockingly bad,” he assured her, “but I am not watching another man bully you into dancing with him.”

“Theo –”

“What kind of man is he to speak to you in such a tone? It’s an outrage –”

“Theo,” she spoke in a sing-song tone as she tried to get his attention, but he was furious, struggling to notice her saying his name at all.

“I was standing right there, beside you, and yet he had the audacity to suggest it would be an insult to turn him down.”

“Theo, in case you hadn’t noticed, your hand is the one I’m holding onto.” She smiled at him as they reached the side of the dance floor. “He is long gone now.”

Her words cut through at last. A sort of softness muffled the red mist which had descended, and he sighed, trying to release the anger which had filled him.

“Shall we?” she murmured, gesturing to the floor as the dancers changed places with the shifting of the music.

He led her onto the floor, somewhat relieved to find it was a waltz and not a heavily choreographed cotillion. He took up their place in the center of the dancers and bowed to her as the music began. Pulling her forward into his arms, he tried not to think of the delicate curve of Margaret’s waist beneath his touch, not the softness of her hands, in his grasp and on his shoulder.

At first, neither of them said anything. They danced in silence.

Theodore would have thought it would be awkward, but it was nothing of the kind. Instead, all he could think about was the way Margaret looked up at him, and how perfectly she fitted into his arms. It was as if they had their own private moment in this busy room, a moment which could not be encumbered by anyone.

He even slid his hand further across her back, holding her a little closer to him. At least here, she was safe in his arms. He would keep her safe from men like Mr. Urwin. From men like her father too.

He jolted in surprise when he realized this was yet another feeling, one which he could not remember ever feeling before in his life.

Protective.

Margaret smiled a little.

“You’re smiling,” he observed softly.

“I am. You’re a much finer dancer than you give yourself credit for, Theo. You should dance more.”

“You are the first person I have danced with in many years.”

“Then I am honored,” she whispered as he twirled her around the floor, narrowly avoiding colliding with the many other couples. “Will you honor me with a second dance tonight?”

“Ah, is a lady asking a gentleman to dance?” he teased her.

“Perhaps a wife is asking her husband to dance,” she mused, her hand moving a little on his shoulder. He rather liked this intimate grasp between them.

It reminded him of their comfortable breakfasts together, how at ease he had become in those moments. There were times when he even resented the staff coming into the dining room now, for it disturbed the privacy he had with Margaret.

“Well, Maggie, how can I refuse you?” he whispered.

“Now, I see it is your turn to smile.” She nodded.

“Maybe just a little smile.”

“It’s a big smile! It makes you very handsome, you know. When you allow yourself to smile.”

“Me? Handsome?” He chuckled at the idea, rather thrilled when she laughed with him. When had things ever felt so easy with her or anyone? “I am far from that.”

“You are, Theo. Believe me, you are.”

“Ha! I do not think I could laugh loud enough for that.”

She giggled with him, until they fell into a comfortable silence again, dancing and staring at one another. He longed to pay her a compliment, as she had done him.

“I wish you had more reasons to smile,” he said softly. “I was glad to see how much the new dress made you smile this evening.”

“It is the kindness that made me smile,” she whispered. “Your kindness.”

He felt warm. It was a foreign feeling, to have such compliments paid to him. He had to shift the conversation for he was so unused to the feeling.

“What else makes you smile?” he asked.

“My family.” She answered swiftly. “My sisters. How about you? Do you have any family left? Cousins that make you smile?”

He slowed their dance a little. With a flash, he saw the one family member he had left in the world. He saw her furious face. He could feel the way she had pursued him across the heathland in her fury.

“Demon!”

Her shout echoed in his mind.

“Theo?” Margaret whispered.

They were barely moving now in the middle of the floor as he rocked them from side to side.

“What is wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing. It’s just, the mention of family.” He looked down between them, dwelling on the lace of her dress instead of her face. “Let’s just say that not everyone is as lucky as you to have some family members which make you so happy. It is a good thing, to have your sisters?”

“Do you not have anyone?” she asked.

She’s not going to let this go.

“My mother is still alive. Let us leave it at that and speak of it no more,” Theodore pleaded.

Margaret nodded, though she smiled rather sadly now.

“Is it so wrong to want to know you better, Theo?” she phrased her question just as the music came to an end.

They stopped dancing, but neither one of them released the other, even though all around them, couples were bowing, curtseying and departing from the floor. Theodore saw them out of the corner of his eye. His usual sense of propriety and neatness demanded that they should do the same. They should follow the crowd and do so at once, but it was rather hard to even consider letting go of his wife.

She was warm in his grasp and her wish to know him made his heart beat harder. He couldn’t remember anyone ever saying this to him. It went directly against what his mother had warned him about, that he should not take a wife, that he should not be intimately acquainted with her.

“Yes,” he answered tightly, prompting her eyebrows to raise. “I do not think it a good thing you know me much better, Maggie.”

“Do you remember what you said outside just now?” she asked. “That you can tell when I am lying? Maybe I can sense when you are lying sometimes, too.”

They now parted. He hastily bowed and she curtsied, though they didn’t look away from each other as they did. He took her hand began to lead her from the floor.

“I do not believe you think it a good thing to keep walls between us at all.”

For some reason, Theodore held onto her hand tighter, though he had no idea why he did it.