"You once threw a rolling pin at Mr. Martin."
"He said my sourdough was dense. Violence was justified."
"And what would justify you holding the duke's arm?"
"The prevention of aristocratic injury. Can't have him falling and breaking something important. Who would sign all those papers he's been signing to fix the village?"
"I could sign with my left hand if necessary," Alaric offered.
"See? He's already planning for injury. Clearly he needs supervision."
The conversation might have continued in this vein indefinitely, but the vicar appeared, looking harried.
"Your Grace! Wonderful! We need someone tall. A torch fixed on top of the bonfire structure is crooked and Thomas's father is afraid of heights since the tree incident."
"I'll help," Alaric offered immediately.
"So will I," Marianne added, which caused another ripple of interested murmuring from the observers.
They spent the next hour helping with various celebration preparations, working side by side with an ease that felt both new and familiar. Marianne had released his arm to work, but she stayed close, their hands occasionally brushing as they passed tools or materials, each touch sending little shocks of awareness through him.
"You're staring," she murmured at one point, not looking at him as she arranged wooden tables for the food.
"I'm admiring your table arrangement technique."
"I'm literally just putting tables in a line."
"But you're doing it with such precision and grace."
"That might be the worst compliment I've ever received."
"I could try for worse if you'd like."
"Please don't. Your compliments are already painfully awkward."
"That's part of my charm."
"You think you have charm?"
"I have something. You're still here, aren't you?"
She looked at him then and something in her expression shifted from jesting to something softer, more serious. "Yes, I'm still here."
"Even though I'm terrible at compliments?"
"Even though you're terrible at most things involving human interaction."
"That seems harsh."
"You literally hid behind a newspaper to avoid talking to people."
"That was strategic avoidance, not poor human interaction."
"That's the same thing."
"It's really not."
"It really is."
