She didn’t smile. She didn’t come up with some saccharine comment about how eager she was to begin their life together, or about how thoughtful he was being to consider what was best for her family. And that was the moment Norman knew that Susan was through pretending.
She would marry him, but there would be no more show.
A large part of him breathed easier. He didn’t relish lying. Now he wouldn’t have to do it anymore.
But at the same time, he would miss the game he and Susan had been playing. It was the one part of their relationship he found purely enjoyable, and now it would be gone. Now their marriage would be purely for the sake of improving their reputations—what he had wanted in the first place, yes, but also strangely disappointing after the promise of something more entertaining.
Lord Crownway looked from one of them to the other, and it was clear that he, too, had noticed the change in the way they were acting. “Well,” he said hesitantly, “I’ll leave the two of you to talk, shall I?”
“I think that would be best.” Susan gave her father a smile that was nothing like a smile at all. For the first time, Norman felt sure someone would see through her artifice.
But if he did, he didn’t say anything. He simply turned and departed the room, leaving Susan and Norman alone together, but for Marina’s quiet presence in the corner of the room.
“You didn’t have to come,” Susan said. She was studying the chessboard now as if she found it vastly more entertaining than she did Norman. “I’m sure Father would have been in touch. And since neither of us actually eager to marry, there was no reason to rush things. He’ll tell us what pace he requires us to take in all this.”
“We don’t have to do everything by your father’s timetable,” Norman countered. “If we’re going to go through with this, let us at least try to do it on our own terms. We will set the date for our wedding without his input—that should be an easy enough way for us to reclaim some control over this situation.”
“If you think that’s best,” Susan said quietly.
“Is this the way it’s going to be, then?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she said.
“I think you do. I think you can see how different things are today,” he pressed her. “You and I were never exactly enamored of one another, but today you’re treating me like…”
“What am I treating you like?” she asked him. “Like someone who’s nearly a stranger to me? Like a gentleman I’m going to have to marry even though he cares nothing at all for me?”
Norman’s mood darkened. “You may be angry with your father, if you like, but I’m doing you a kindness,” he pointed out. “You asked me to go through with this marriage that neither one of us wanted, and I’m doing that for your sake. The least you could do is to be grateful.”
Over in the corner, Marina’s head lifted, and Norman saw that she looked positively stricken. For a moment, he felt bad about his words—but only for a moment.
Susan slumped in her chair. It was profoundly unladylike, and yet he felt a burst of sympathy for her. It was obvious that she was feeling worn down and defeated by everything that had happened, and he found himself wanting to say something to reassure her, even though he had no idea where to begin.
He cleared his throat. “Perhaps we ought to discuss what life will look like after we’re married.”
“If you’d like,” she agreed.
He took the seat Marina had vacated and studied the chessboard for a moment. Marina had been playing the white pieces—he wondered whether Susan had intentionally given her sister the advantage. It did seem like the kind of thing she might do.
Marina had also been losing the game, he saw. Several of the white pieces were in compromising positions, and though it was unclear to him whether or not Susan was aware of the whole board, whatwasclear was that the black pieces were much better protected than the white ones were.
He picked up a pawn and moved it into a more protected location.
Susan stared at him, clearly taken aback by the choice to continue the chess game—but after a moment, she seemed to accept that he wanted to play. She moved a pawn of her own.
She’s fencing with me.There had been several better moves on the board for her. She could have captured his rook. Did she not realize that? He had a feeling she did, and that she was just trying to get the measure of him by playing a more cautious game.
That’s clever.
He brought out his bishop. “This is what I want you to know,” he said. “I want you to know that things don’t have to change for you when we’re married.”
She scoffed.
“In a day-to-day sense,” he clarified. “You’ll be able to live however you would like, and I won’t interfere. Whatever you do now to occupy your days, I’m happy for you to go on doing thesame things as my wife. Visit with your sister. Play chess. Read your books. Anything you’d like.”
“You don’t anticipate having any requirements of me?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “You know perfectly well that I only want a wife for appearance’s sake. You will attach your name to mine. Perhaps we’ll appear in public together a few times. Beyond that, your life will be your own.”
