She smiled faintly. “That was painless.”
James’s mouth tightened. “It was unnecessary.”
“Most pleasant things are,” Eleanor said.
His gaze flicked to her mouth and back to her eyes, as if he had not meant to look there and disliked that his attention had betrayed him.
Eleanor felt a small spark of triumph.
She took a bite of toast. “What is your favorite food to eat?”
James exhaled slowly through his nose, the sound just short of a sigh. “You are doing this on purpose.”
“What else are we to discuss at the only time of day I see you?” she replied easily.
He speared a piece of fruit with his fork. “Breakfast is not an excuse for an interrogation.”
“It may be,” Eleanor said lightly, “if I decide it is.”
His eyes sharpened, then, and she felt a quiet shift in his attention, the way he became fully present as if her defiance were a door that had opened and he had chosen to step through.
“You are enjoying this?” he guessed.
Eleanor tilted her head. “Are you not?”
James’s lips parted slightly, then closed again. He looked down at his plate as if it had suddenly become very interesting.
After a moment, he said, “Roast beef.”
Eleanor blinked. “Roast beef?”
“With boiled potatoes.”
“Potatoes?”
“You asked.”
“I did,” she said, unable to stop herself from smiling again. “I only did not expect you to answer so plainly.”
“Would you prefer I compose poetry about it?” he asked, dry as dust.
Eleanor’s smile widened. “No. That would be a likely disappointment.”
James looked up. “How?”
“You are not a poetic man,” she said. “You are a practical one.”
His gaze lingered a moment too long. “You presume to know me and not know me all in one. How perplexing.”
“I observe,” Eleanor corrected.
She let the words hang between them like a challenge.
James returned to eating, but Eleanor noticed he was less efficient now. His movements were still controlled, but his attention was split, as though some part of him was watching her even when his eyes were on his plate.
She reached for her teacup and tried to pretend she did not notice.
“What do you do for pleasure?” she asked.
