“If by chance you no longer wish to care what the world believes,” she said quietly, “then perhaps you could begin by changing this.”
Nathaniel waited. Margaret drew a small breath.
“Would you like to join me tonight?” she asked
The question hung between them in the quiet corridor. Nathaniel did not know how to respond, and so he did not.
He simply followed her inside.
CHAPTER 27
Margaret awoke slowly.
For a moment she remained still beneath the covers, suspended in that quiet place between sleep and waking where memory had not yet fully returned. Then it did.
It all came back at once; the hallway, their argument, and the kiss that had stolen the breath from her lungs. She had asked him to stay, and he had, and though all they had done was fall asleep beside one another, it felt like a real start for them. Warmth spread through her chest before she even opened her eyes.
The bed beside her, however, was empty.
Margaret’s eyes opened fully then. Nathaniel was gone. The sheets beside her had cooled, the faint impression where he had lain already fading. She sat up slowly, brushing a hand across the empty space.
Of course he had left.
The thought arrived quickly, carrying with it the familiar caution she had learned since marrying him. Nathaniel was a man of restraint. Perhaps the night before had been an exception, she considered, and daylight had restored his discipline.
Margaret rose and dressed with quiet efficiency, determined not to dwell too heavily on what might simply have been a moment of weakness on his part. Even so, as she made her way downstairs to the breakfast room, something inside her felt fragile in a way it had not the evening before.
The breakfast room was bright with morning sun when she entered. A tray had already been set upon the small table near the windows with tea, fruit, and fresh bread. It was as though it were any other day.
Margaret had just poured her tea when footsteps sounded in the doorway. She looked up and saw Nathaniel standing there. For a moment neither of them spoke. He had removed his coat, his cravat tied less precisely than usual, as though the morning had been busy, but what struck her most was his expression.
He looked different, less guarded. When his eyes found hers, something warm flickered there that had not existed before.
“Good morning,” he said softly.
Margaret’s fingers tightened slightly around the teacup.
“Good morning.”
He stepped into the room, and she stood to greet him. Usually Nathaniel would have taken the chair opposite her, maintaining the polite distance they had grown accustomed to. Instead, he stopped beside her.
“You are up earlier than I expected,” he said.
“I thought you had already decided distance was necessary again.”
His brow lifted faintly. She had not meant to say it so plainly, but if they were to have an honest marriage, then she would also have to partake in it.
“Did you?”
Margaret set down her cup carefully.
“You were gone.”
“I had something to settle this morning.”
“Before dawn?”
“Yes, and you looked far too peaceful to wake.”
