"For what?"
"For talking about him. For letting me talk about him." He rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. "I don't often have the chance."
"Neither do I." Harriet's smile was bittersweet. "Everyone is so careful around me. So worried about upsetting me. They don't understand that sometimes I just want to remember."
"I understand."
"I know you do." She looked at him with an expression he couldn't quite decipher. "You always have."
Sebastian didn't know what to say to that, so he simply held her hand and watched the road ahead, and tried not to hope too desperately for things he might not be allowed to have.
***
Fordshire Park rose from the landscape like an old friend.
Sebastian had visited before, during his years of friendship with Richard, but he had never approached it like this, as a returning son, as the husband of its daughter. The house seemed different now, somehow. More significant. More personal.
Lady Fordshire was waiting at the front door.
She looked better than she had the last time Sebastian had seen her, the colour returned to her cheeks, a new steadiness in her posture. But her eyes were the same: sharp, assessing, missing nothing.
"Well," she said, as they descended from the carriage. "This is a pleasant development."
"Mama." Harriet embraced her mother, and Sebastian saw her shoulders relax in a way they rarely did. "You look well."
"I feel well. Considerably better than I did a month ago, thanks to you." Lady Fordshire's gaze moved to Sebastian. "Lord Vane. I trust you've been taking adequate care of my daughter."
"I've been trying, Lady Fordshire. Whether I've succeeded is perhaps a question for Harriet."
"Hmm." Lady Fordshire's expression gave nothing away. "We shall see."
She led them into the house, and Sebastian felt himself being observed at every turn, not just by Lady Fordshire, but by the servants, by the very walls themselves. This was Harriet's home, the place where she had grown up. Every room held memories he wasn't privy to, histories he was only beginning to understand.
It was, he reflected, rather intimidating.
"I've put you in the east wing," Lady Fordshire was saying. "Separate rooms, of course, as is proper."
Sebastian caught Harriet's eye and saw her suppress a smile.Separate rooms. As though they were mere acquaintances rather than husband and wife.
"That will be fine, Mama," Harriet said. "Thank you."
"Dinner will be at seven. I'm sure you'll want to rest after your journey." Lady Fordshire paused at the foot of the stairs. "And Sebastian, I’d like a word with you before dinner, if you can spare the time. In my sitting room. Shall we say six o'clock?"
It was not a request.
"Of course, Lady Fordshire. I'm at your disposal."
"Excellent."
She swept away, leaving Sebastian alone with Harriet in the entrance hall.
"Well," Harriet said. "That went well."
"Did it? I felt rather like I was being evaluated for purchase."
"You were. Mama is very thorough in her assessments." Harriet patted his arm in a gesture that was probably meant to be comforting. "Don't worry. She is fond of you.”
"How can you tell?"
