“I am, in a way,” he said. “I am learning what you love.”
The door chimed. A group of women passed the window again, slower this time. One of them laughed. Margaret glanced toward the glass, then back to him.
“Do you ever mind being watched like this?”
“I mind when it is empty,” he said. “If nobody can see us, they will draw their own conclusions. This way, we are not allowing them to.”
“Then what conclusions are we drawing for them?” she asked.
“That we are not hiding,” he said. “That we are not afraid of being ordinary and like everyone else.”
She considered that.
“I like being ordinary,” she said. “Is that strange for me to say?”
“Not at all.”
She smiled at him over the rim of her cup.
“You should drink your tea before it goes cold.”
He lifted his cup.
“To poetry, then.”
“And to people who listen,” she said.
Their cups touched softly.
A small cluster of ladies slowed outside the window. Nathaniel saw the shift in their steps, the tilt of their heads as they looked in. He reached across the table.
“There,” he murmured, brushing a grain of sugar from the edge of Margaret’s glove. “If we are to appear convincing, you must allow me to take care of you in small ways.”
His touch was light in a way that surprised him.
“You are enjoying this far too much,” she said, though she did not pull her hand away.
“If I was, would it be so awful?”
Her gaze dropped to where his fingers rested for a moment longer than required.
“No. I would not say so.”
They settled back into their seats. The ladies outside drifted on, interest satisfied.
They finished their tea in companionable quiet. When they stood, Nathaniel noticed the way she drew her shawl closer.
“Are you cold?”
She hesitated, but of course he was right.
“A little.”
He offered his arm. This time, there was no window full of eyes to satisfy. No audience to convince. He was offering it because he wanted to, and she took it without comment.
They stepped back onto the street together. Her hand rested easily against his sleeve. Neither of them spoke of how natural it felt, and Nathaniel was grateful for that. They walked on, side by side, the city moving around them.
The house was quiet when Nathaniel returned.
