“How was your day, Your Grace?” she asked sweetly, settling back against the cushions, her gloved fingers toying with the trim of her cloak.
“Productive,” he said, his gaze fixed steadily out the window.
April sucked in her breath, undeterred. “And what, pray tell, did you produce?”
“Estate matters.”
She bit back a smile. “You must be positively thrilling at dinner parties.”
He turned his head slightly, meeting her gaze. “I do not attend dinner parties.”
She leaned in. “What are your thoughts on the new canal projects Parliament is funding?”
“Useful.”
April frowned. “The debate over the Reform Bill?”
“Complicated.”
She let out a soft laugh. “You are a master of understatement, Your Grace.”
“Precision,” he corrected, one brow lifting the slightest fraction.
April studied him, the flickering lamplight casting deep shadows across his sharp features. “Do you ever say more than one word when answering a question?”
“When warranted as you have no doubt observed earlier.”
She pressed a hand to her heart. “I may swoon from this bounty of conversation.”
He watched her, utterly unmoved by her theatrics. April tried again, smiling mischievously this time. “What about poetry? Are you a secret admirer of sonnets?”
“Rarely.”
“Byron? Wordsworth?”
“Neither.”
She gasped, clutching her cloak dramatically. “You are determined to be the most stubborn man I have ever met!”
A faint glint of amusement shone in his eyes, but his mouth remained unsmiling. “Determination is a virtue, and loquaciousness is not.”
“Is that directed at me?”
“Yes, Lady April.”
“Am I to understand that you find me…”
“Loquacious, yes.”
“Not something you wish for in your bride, is it?” She folded her arms across her chest in challenge, hoping he might begin to rethink their engagement due to her qualities—or lack thereof.
“I might have use for it.”
Drat him!April huffed. “You will find it very lonely if you continue to answer every question with less enthusiasm than a marble statue.”
The corner of his mouth almost, but not quite, quirked. “Yet you persist.”
“I must,” she said brightly, “for I am determined to uncover at least one of your secrets tonight.”
