“Is this someone I should know?” she asked.
He considered his answer.
“In time,” he said.
Her gaze sharpened at that.
“In time,” she repeated.
“Yes.”
Lady Fairleigh’s footsteps sounded faintly in the adjoining room, and Margaret set her cup down with precise care.
“I do not object to your engagements,” she said quietly. “I object to ambiguity.”
“I have not misled you.”
“No,” she agreed. “You have not, but you have not clarified either.”
The words were controlled, not emotional. That, somehow, made them more pointed. Lady Fairleigh reentered, smiling as though nothing had shifted. Nathaniel resumed the conversation seamlessly, yet the air felt altered. When he rose to take his leave some minutes later, Margaret accompanied him to the door as courtesy required.
The hallway felt narrower than usual, and them not saying another word to one another did not help that.
As he stepped back into the late afternoon light, he was aware of two things at once. Margaret was aware that something was wrong, and she would not tolerate uncertainty with regard to it. He had intended to control the timing of it all, and he had only caused himself more trouble.
But he had to have her wait a short while longer.
CHAPTER 18
Margaret had attended balls before. Poppy had not, and that alone transformed the evening.
Poppy could not remain still in the carriage. She leaned toward the window, then back again, adjusting her gloves, then smoothing a curl that had already been arranged twice.
“Do you suppose they will announce us loudly?” she whispered.
“They always do,” Margaret replied.
“Even me?”
“Especially you. It is your first, after all.”
Poppy pressed her lips together, attempting composure. It lasted a full three seconds before she broke into a grin.
“I shall try not to trip.”
“You will not trip.”
“You sound certain.”
“I have watched you practice for a week.”
Poppy laughed softly.
“I did stumble twice.”
“Once,” Margaret corrected. “The other time you were distracted.”
“By what?”
