"It was convenient."
"And reassuring," she replied. "It is good to know where one stands."
"And do you?"
"Not always," Eleanor said lightly. "But I find I manage well enough."
"You appear to be managing very well this evening."
"I make the effort."
"I had not expected you to enjoy it."
"I do not recall saying that I did."
"You did not need to. You have been smiling since your arrival."
She smiled faintly at the thought of him watching her. There was a brief pause, and not an uncomfortable one. The air was cooler, the quiet more pronounced.
"You have been much discussed this evening," she said.
"That is not unusual."
"No," she replied. "Though the subject is perhaps more focused than usual."
"In what way?"
Eleanor tilted her head slightly, as though considering how much precision she should give him. He had to be aware of the whispers, after all, but then that might have been his way of warning her not to say anything. Regardless, she had come this far. She had to see it through.
"You intend to marry," she said.
"People seem very certain of that," he chuckled.
"They are rarely so certain without cause."
"That does not make them correct."
"No," she agreed. "But in this instance, I believe they are."
Lord Harrowby said nothing. Eleanor studied him for a moment, as though confirming something she had already decided.
"You are making a lot of assumptions."
"I am," she said. "And I believe they are correct. You favor stability and predictability. A marriage would satisfy that."
"That depends entirely on the marriage."
"Yours certainly would, because you would not permit it to be otherwise."
There was a brief silence. Lord Harrowby regarded her steadily.
"You speak with a great deal of confidence."
"I speak with a reasonable understanding of your character."
He did not immediately respond. He looked out across the gardens as though in thought. Eleanor knew that she was being coarse, and that she had been the very same that morning. It was not entirely unlike her, and she wondered if that irritated him as much as his tendency to need perfection annoyed her.
"You are very direct this evening," he said at last.