“Oh?” he said, seeming to enjoy the intrigue of that answer. That curling at the corners of his lips that he’d given to Hannah was now playing about that mouth of his for her. “Perhaps the most entertaining ones?”
“Oh, you haven’t earned those, I’m afraid,” Vix said with a bat of her lashes. “We’ve only just met, Mr. Aster.”
“Victoria,” Teddy said through his teeth.
She didn’t look at him, just wiggled her fingers in his direction from the stem of her wineglass. Instead, she kept her eyes on Mr. Aster, who was also not looking away.
“I make a terrible servant,” she said. “I was very good at governance but very poor at deference. Unfortunately, one must have both for a life in service.”
“Very tragic,” he answered, that smile of his continuing to grow. “I imagine all the entertaining bits are hidden in the folds of that failure to defer.”
“Many of them,” she agreed, and sipped more of her wine. “Is that a problem for you, Mr. Aster? Do you expect deference to be required in manners of matrimony?”
“I haven’t the faintest idea,” he answered, leaning forward on the table. “I certainly hope not.”
“In my experience,” Teddy said, “it is best not to expect obedience from a wife.”
“One can always hope,” Hannah said with a little smile, reaching across the table for her husband’s hand. “But no, I wouldn’t recommend an expectation.”
“Noted,” said Mr. Aster, examining their clasped hands. “So, am I to understand that we are all agreed in continuing the conversation around the proposed nuptials? Despite the rather silent main course?”
Teddy turned his head very slowly to stare at him, which only made the other man grin.
“Excellent,” he said. “And Miss Beck, you remain amenable, after having examined me?”
“For now,” she replied, giving him a little lift of her shoulder. “Though perhaps we ought to discuss specifics?”
“Before dessert?” Mr. Aster said with a chuckle. “You really do flout authority, don’t you?”
“I’m afraid so, Mr. Aster,” Vix replied, unable to stop herself from giving him half a smile, just a little thing, which she usually was so easily able to suppress.
Teddy gave a heavy sigh and stood. “Hannah, why don’t we let them talk for a moment? I expect my portion of any specifics will be delegated to me rather than requested, anyhow.”
She nodded, smiling brightly as she dabbed her lips and moved to stand.
“I’ll have the cake sent in for you,” she told them before departing. “Enjoy your dessert. And congratulations!”
CHAPTER 4
Ambrose felt pleasantly alert, his heart buzzing in his fingertips as the door shut behind Mrs. Beck.
The evening had unfolded in ways he had not anticipated, which in and of itself was enough of a reason to have justified his attendance. Not enough was unexpected, in his estimation, and life often suffered for its predictability.
Perhaps most unexpected at all was his prospective bride, the formidably upright young woman currently sitting across from him, watching him through a pair of jet-black eyes that seemed exceptionally unimpressed, despite being appropriately engaged in the conversation at hand.
He had guessed a few things about what a sister of the large and imposing Thaddeus Beck might be, among them a hulking build, a predisposition toward over-politeness, and perhaps more visible scars than were strictly fashionable.
This woman had none of those things.
“I am shocked,” he said languidly, “that your brother would risk your reputation so, leaving you here alone with me.”
“Shocked, you say?” she answered, tilting her head so that some of that dark, glossy hair brushed her shoulder. “You seem perfectly at ease.”
“As do you,” he replied, unable to hide the delight tugging at the corners of his lips.
“I have no reputation to speak of, Mr. Aster,” she reminded him, taking up her wine to swirl it around in the glass. “You must be accustomed to those of a higher social echelon than the modest tier of the Beck family, of course. For that, you might expect apology, but I shall not offer you one.”
“Indeed not? Well, then, Miss Beck, I hope you never do, for apologies are dreadfully predictable,” he replied. “And you, it seems, are not.”
