John left the study, and Gabriel remained staring into the fire without seeing it. Shadow had fallen asleep, entirely unbothered by the shift in atmosphere.
Gabriel looked down at it and sighed faintly. “You are entirely unaware of the complications you have walked into,” he muttered.
The kitten did not respond. He found, somewhat to his irritation, that he was already thinking about how Amelia would react when she learned about her sister, and strangely found it concerning that he was thinking.
I hope this does not hurt her.
That evening, the dining room was unusually quiet, broken only by the soft clink of cutlery and the occasional rustle of linen. Gabriel sat at the head of the table as he always did, though tonight he found his attention refusing to remain on his plate.
Amelia sat further down with David and Valerie, deliberately avoiding his gaze, her posture composed yet slightly too careful to be natural. David, in contrast, was behaving with suspicious decorum, as though determined to prove he could survive an entire meal without incident. Even Grover lay unusually still beneath the sideboard, though the kitten Shadow was already plotting chaos from a chair.
Shadow chose that moment to announce himself with a loud, insistent meow and a reckless leap toward Gabriel’s lap. The movement was so sudden that even the servants paused, and Valerie’s lips twitched as though laughter was dangerously close to escaping.
Gabriel caught the kitten with a resigned hand, staring down at the small creature now clawing determinedly at his sleeve.
“This,” he said flatly, lifting the kitten slightly away from his waistcoat as it attempted to climb again, “was a terrible idea.”
Amelia looked up immediately, her eyes bright with amusement, which she was clearly trying to suppress. “He appears to disagree, Your Grace,” she replied lightly, folding her hands as if entirely innocent of the creature’s behavior.
Gabriel attempted to place Shadow back on the floor, but the kitten responded by extending its claws into his sleeve with remarkable conviction.
A faint hiss of fabric tearing made him pause; then, much to his own surprise, he let out a short, unwilling laugh. Valerie looked sharply at him as though she could not quite believe the sound had come from her uncle.
Amelia’s expression softened into something warmer, though he noticed that she quickly hid it behind a sip of water.
“He is not a dog,” Gabriel muttered, still holding the kitten at arm’s length as it continued to purr loudly, “and I am a dog person.”
Shadow responded by digging in more firmly, as though offended by the classification.
Amelia tilted her head slightly, watching him struggle with something so small and determined. “Then perhaps he is simply a very confident cat,” she said, as though offering a diplomatic compromise.
Gabriel finally gave up and set Shadow carefully onto his lap instead, where the kitten immediately curled up as if it had won a war. “Confident is not the word I would use,” he replied dryly, brushing invisible fur from his coat. “I have not yet decided whether I am keeping him or tolerating him,” he added as Shadow began purring like a small engine.
Valerie, unable to help herself any longer, let out a brief laugh before quickly composing her face again.
The conversation shifted as servants cleared plates, and Gabriel set his hands together with deliberate precision.
“Valerie,” he said, glancing toward his niece, “your debut will take place in London this season at the ball hosted by Aunt Provie.”
Valerie stiffened, her fingers tightening slightly around her napkin.
Amelia leaned forward gently. “It is quite normal to feel nervous,” she said reassuringly, her tone calm and steady. “Every debutante does, no matter how prepared she is.”
Valerie nodded once, though her anxiety remained visible in the set of her shoulders.
After a moment, Valerie’s curiosity overcame her composure. “How does a man propose,” she asked quietly, glancing between them, “when he genuinely wishes to marry a woman?”
The question landed suddenly and heavily in the room, and even David paused mid-bite to listen.
Amelia hesitated, her fork lowering slowly as she considered the question. “I am not certain I am the best person to answer that,” she admitted carefully, offering a small, self-deprecating smile. “Despite my many betrothals, none of them were ever… that,” she finished softly, her gaze dropping to her plate.
Gabriel studied her more closely than he intended, the words settling in his mind with unexpected weight.
“None of them was genuine?” he asked before he could stop himself, his tone quieter than usual.
Amelia shook her head slightly, her expression composed but not entirely unaffected. “No,” she replied simply, as if it were a fact long accepted, “they were arrangements. Not choices.”
There was a brief silence in which even Shadow seemed to settle more quietly in Gabriel’s lap.
