The clink of the knife against the plate only added to the thick silence that had spread from him to Catherine. He tried to think of something to say as he carefully placed the slices onto her plate. That much Mr. Wilkins had been sure to remind him of.
A gentleman must always serve a lady.
“That is enough. Thank you.”
He began piling meat onto his plate. “You said the boy was left with you a few days ago.”
“Yes, it was a little after lunch when Mrs. Caversham dropped him off.” She took a delicate bite of her own meal. “I was having some friends round for tea.”
“I thought perhaps it had been longer.” Alaric gestured for the servants to refill his wine glass.
“It has not.” Catherine looked down at her plate.
The sound of forks clinking against China broke the thick silence between them. Alaric wondered if dinners had always been so awkward or if this was something new.
He decided to make another attempt at conversation. “Is he well-behaved?”
“From what I have seen of him, he seems well-mannered. Though I suppose only time will tell.” Catherine sipped from her glass, and Alaric noticed a bead of wine on her lip.
His breath caught as he watched her dab it away, and he tore his gaze from her and back to his own plate. “He is quiet.”
“He stopped speaking several years ago. Apparently, it is rather common for the poor souls who find themselves abandoned in orphanages.” She met his gaze, and he could see a righteous anger in her eyes and a challenge.
He frowned. It felt as though she was waiting for him to say something, no, for him to deny something.
Understanding hit Alaric with the force of a bullet. “You expect me to think less of the boy simply because he does not speak?”
Catherine nodded. “Plenty of men would. Especially if the boy in question was their son.”
“Then they do not deserve to be fathers.” The strength of his anger surprised Alaric, and the smell of stale whiskey swam to the front of his mind.Stop.“I will not hold the boy’s lack of speech against him.”
“Good.” Catherine’s gaze softened, but did not warm.
“But I still do not think he is my son,” Alaric added, and to his surprise, she let out an exasperated sigh.
“Why are you so convinced that he is not?” She gestured to him as she sipped on her wine.
“I just know it. I do not have affairs.” He shrugged. “That is not who I am.”
“How can you be sure of that? When I walked in here today, you had no idea who I was. Can you really be certain that you are not his father? How much of your life do you even remember?” Catherine leaned toward him. “You would not be the first man to indulge in such things, nor would you be the last.”
Alaric opened his mouth, then closed it. He understood her point was valid; what she said made sense. Still, whenever he tried to picture himself having an affair, every fiber of his being rebelled against the concept. Anger overwhelmed him atthe mere thought; he felt disgust so intense that he yearned to cleanse himself.
I suppose I might not have always felt that way.It seemed unlikely, but until he recovered more of his memories, he would not be able to say anything for certain.
He looked at Catherine, who was watching him expectantly, her blue eyes so light they were nearly gray. “I suppose we will just have to discover the truth.”
He put his knife on the left-hand side of his plate, or rather, he tried to. Catherine reached toward him. Her fingers brushed his knuckles and then clasped around his hand, guiding it to the right-hand side of his plate.
“That is the correct place for a knife. When you are done, you place your knife and fork together on your plate. Like this.” She demonstrated, placing her knife and fork together in the middle of her plate.
To his surprise, she even gave him a small smile. He felt his own smile quirk in return. “You seem well practiced; did I always forget my table etiquette, or is this the result of the accident?”
“I would not know.” The smile fell from her face. “We never shared a meal.”
“Never?” Alaric arched an eyebrow at her, feeling the motion tug against his scar. “I find that rather difficult to believe.”
“It is true.” Catherine sipped from her goblet.
