"She didn't insult you directly. That's practically a declaration of affection." Harriet started up the stairs. "Come. I'll show you to your room."
Sebastian followed, his mind already racing ahead to the conversation with Lady Fordshire. He had a fairly good idea what she wanted to discuss, and he wasn't sure he was ready for it.
But then again, he wasn't sure he would ever be ready. Some conversations simply had to be endured.
***
At precisely six on the hour, Sebastian presented himself at Lady Fordshire's sitting room.
She was seated in a chair by the window, a cup of tea cooling on the table beside her. She gestured for him to sit, and he did, feeling rather like a schoolboy called before the headmaster.
"You wanted to speak with me, Lady Fordshire."
"I did." She studied him for a moment, her dark eyes which were so like Harriet's were assessing.
"Tell me, Lord Vane. Do you love my daughter?"
Sebastian blinked. He had expected pointed questions, but not quite so directly.
"Yes," he said, because there was no point in dissembling. "I have for some time."
"How long?"
"Seven years. Since before she hated me."
"And you entered into matrimony with her knowing she did not return your feelings."
"I wedded her hoping she might learn to. But I would have wedded her regardless." Sebastian met Lady Fordshire's gaze steadily. "I would rather have Harriet's tolerance than any other woman's love."
Lady Fordshire was quiet for a moment. Then, unexpectedly, she smiled.
"You're either a fool or a romantic," she said. "Possibly both."
"Almost certainly both."
"Hmm." She took a sip of her tea. "My daughter is not an easy woman, Lord Vane. She is stubborn, sharp-tongued, and has spent the better part of her adult life convinced that vulnerability is weakness. She will not make your life simple."
"I don't want simple. I wanther."
"Even when she pushes you away? Even when she says things she doesn't mean? Even when she retreats behind her walls and refuses to let you in?"
"Even then." Sebastian leaned forward. "Lady Fordshire, I've spent seven years watching Harriet from a distance. I know exactly how difficult she can be. And I know exactly how extraordinary she is beneath all those defenses. I'm not espousing the idea of her. I'm espousing the real woman, walls and all."
Lady Fordshire set down her teacup with a soft click. "Splendid,” she said. "That's exactly what I needed to hear."
"It was?"
"My daughter deserves someone who sees her clearly. Not a fantasy of who she could be, but the reality of who she is." Lady Fordshire's expression softened slightly. "I believe you might be that person, Lord Vane. But I wanted to be certain."
"And are you? Certain?"
"I'm... cautiously optimistic." She rose, signalling the end of their interview. "Don't disappoint me, Sebastian. I would hate to have to destroy you."
Sebastian rose as well, recognising a dismissal when he heard one. "I'll do my best to avoid destruction."
"See that you do." But she was smiling, and as Sebastian left the sitting room, he felt as though he had passed some kind of test.
He found Harriet waiting in the hallway, her expression anxious.
