“I’ll try harder,” Cordelia said. “I will not give up teaching music to the village children, but perhaps you could give me some other suggestions?”
Penelope shook her head, her sorrowful expression returning. “I do not think that we can be friends.”
“Because you love my husband.”
“No, becauseyoudon’t.”
“Why should I?” Cordelia countered. “Our marriage is a bargain. Cash for a coronet. And I have upheld my end of the bargain. The new roof. The new bathing rooms. The new windows. The newly painted walls. The new furniture. All from my money.”
“But you’re unhappy, and it makes Thomas unhappy.”
Cordelia raised one eyebrow. “And you want Thomas to be happy with someone else?”
“I only want Thomas to be happy,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. “He of all people deserves some joy.”
“Why?”
Penelope blinked her big eyes, as if the answer was obvious. “Be-because he is the kindest person I have ever met. He always puts his needs last.”
She watched Penelope leave the room and couldn’t help but think that Thomasdiddeserve to be happy.
But how could Cordelia make Thomas happy, when she wasn’t herself?
22
“What do you think of this carpet?” Thomas asked Cordelia as they stood together in an Ipswich shop.
She looked drawn and forlorn after the near accident yesterday. He wondered how much sleep she’d gotten the night before. From the black circles underneath her eyes, very little. Her expression looked unimpressed as she ran her hand over the thick dark weave. “For the servants’ rooms, or for the family rooms?”
“Which one do you think it would be best for?”
One side of her mouth quirked up in an almost half smile. “Clever answer. I think it would be better suited for the servants’ quarters. I would prefer something prettier and less serviceable for the ground floor and the first floor.”
“Very good,” he said, giving her a wide smile, hoping to coax one from her.
She took his arm and guided him across the shop to an ornate burgundy carpet, with a pattern of interlinking golden rings. “What do you think of this one?”
“For the family rooms?”
“Yes.”
Thomas touched the elegant carpet, with its thick weave and fine material. “I like it. What carpet would you like for the ground floor?”
“Over here,” she said, and touched a lush thick carpet.
Thomas followed her and ran his fingers over it. The carpet was softer than a down-feather pillow. It would be like walking on clouds. “It’s perfect. I’ll talk to the clerk about purchasing all three and arrange for them to be installed.”
She folded her arms across her chest and walked to the window. Her face grew paler. His eyes kept darting back to where she stood while he spoke to the clerk who promised to send a man to measure the areas by tomorrow. Thomas thanked the clerk and saw Cordelia closing her eyes. He stepped quickly to her and placed a hand on her waist. She flinched and stepped forward, away from his touch.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, turning to look at him.
Thomas felt his face color. “I thought you were going to faint. I was only preparing to catch you.”
“Why did you think I would faint?”
Her expression was suspicious. If she had been carrying her pointy umbrella, it would have been impaled into his heart. She had not been lying when she told him not to touch her.
“You closed your eyes and looked rather pale,” he explained hurriedly. “The same way you looked at our wedding right before you fainted and I caught you.”
