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She was certain they could make this work.

“Mr. Shepherd?” she began.

The elder Mr. Shepherd looked toward her with a smile.

“My apologies, I meant your son,” she clarified.

“Oh, call him Charles, dear,” Mrs. Shepherd said, catching on at once.

Marie glanced at Charles. “Very well. Charles?”

She waited until he looked her way, but he only did so by staring at her gloved hands on her lap. “Yes?”

“Marie,” Mrs. Shepherd urged under her breath.

“Yes, thank you, Mother. I’m aware of her name.”

She raised her brows. “Just making sure. As was the vicar before,” she muttered under her breath.

He scowled. “I knew her name then, too.”

She batted her eyelashes at him with a sweet smile. “Then use it.”

Marie watched in silence as the battle took place before her, intrigued as the son finally relented.

“Yes…Marie?” he said slowly.

As sardonic and stubborn as he was, at least he knew when to submit to his mother.

“I was merely going to ask if you enjoy balls as I know your parents do,” Marie said.

He looked back out the window. “I am not particularly fond of them.”

Mrs. Shepherd frowned at him, but he ignored her, and Marie pressed on. “Does this mean you do not enjoy dancing or balls in general?”

“I cannot say I enjoy either.”

“That is not entirely true, son,” Mrs. Shepherd said. “I always see you enjoying yourself while dancing.”

The corner of his jaw twitched again, sharply outlined just above his tall collar. “That was many years ago, Mother. I’m afraid I’ve lost my enjoyment for them. I far prefer being out of doors.”

He paused, then shifted toward her. This time, his eyes focused on his own hands that had finally stilled in his lap. “Do you enjoy being out of doors…Marie?” he added when his mother gave him another look.

Heavens. How was she to respond now that she knew how greatly he enjoyed the outdoors? She shouldn’t lie, but she had to find something in common with him to convince him his life was not over. Thus far, they only knew how they opposed one another.

Enjoying balls versus the outdoors.

Acting dutifully versus acting out of fear.

Expressing humility versus boasting pridefully.

Surely there was something they shared.

“I...can enjoy being out of doors.”

“And what exactly do you enjoy?”

“As I said, I do not mind walking when the weather permits.” That was true. When the temperature was perfect and the sun was neither overbearing nor absentee. “And I love picking berries.” But that was because she enjoyed eating berries.