"Not in the same way."
Charles let that settle for a moment.
"And do you object to this? I cannot say that this is a bad thing to have happened."
"I did not say that."
"You did not need to."
Julian’s gaze remained forward.
"It is a change. I was the only person that she needed before, and now it is as though she would rather be with my wife than with me."
"Children change," Charles said. "Particularly when given something new to attach themselves to."
"This is different. She is at ease with her. There is no need for any prompting, nor any encouragement. She has instinctively decided that my wife is the most wonderful thing."
"And this troubles you?"
"It is unexpected. That is all."
Charles’s mouth curved slightly.
"You have always had a limited tolerance for the unexpected."
"It is generally inefficient."
"And yet here you are," Charles said, "having married without warning and acquired a wife who disrupts your carefully arranged household within a matter of days."
"She has not disrupted it."
"She has."
Julian did not answer immediately.
"That remains to be determined," he said at last.
Charles let out a quiet breath that might almost have been a laugh.
"And what of her?" he asked. "Besides what there is with your sister."
Julian tried to think of a response his friend would accept, one that did not refer to the fact that he thought she had looked lovely at dinner, and how she preferred to wear lighter colors, and how he agreed.
"She fulfils her role."
"I had assumed as much."
"She requires no instruction."
"Which I imagine you appreciate."
"It is certainly efficient."
Charles sighed at that, clearly exasperated. Julian was taken aback by it, for his friend had never been the sort to feel irritation from anything at all.
"You know," he sighed, "most men in your position would find something about their wife to remark upon beyond her efficiency."
"Most men are not in my position."