“Miss Havenford.” Owen Rondell appeared at her side with that well-fed smile of his. “You have deprived the stables of their usual audience.”
“I have brought my admiration to them,” Maria said, as if she had meant to stand precisely here all along. “You are riding today?”
“I am,” he said. “If only to give the hounds a handsome view. It is much needed when the weather is as cold as it is now, don’t you think?” He laughed at himself easily.
She only nodded, smiling to herself.
“Do you bless me with a favor for luck?” Owen continued on.
“I hardly know what counts as a favor,” she said, looking at her glove.
“Choose a color,” he said, pointing with his chin toward the flowerbeds. “I shall make it my talisman and swear it worked.”
“Blue,” she said before she could stop herself, and he looked delighted, which was generous of him, as if she had bestowed more than a word.
But even as she said blue, it was Stephen whom she was really thinking about.
When they parted, her cheeks were strangely warm. She waited until he had turned his back, then went looking for the one person she’d told herself not to tell.
Stephen found her first. Of course, he did.
“You are not meant to look as if you’ve misplaced your own name,” he said, stopping just near enough. “What has Mr. Balcony given you to fret over?”
She nearly saidnothing, then swallowed the lie.
“He mentioned a proposal,” she blurted, “Not in so many words, but… we spoke at breakfast this morning, he asked so many of the right questions and said so much that was… nice. He teased about how quickly gossip would tire of us if we wereusefully married.”
Stephen’s face did not change, which was instructive.
“Usefully married,” he repeated in a mild tone, “And what did you say to that comment?”
“That I must consult my… my own thoughts,” she said with mortifying honesty. But in earnest, she had to consult Stephen. “But I think he means to offer very soon. He has such good manners.”
She realized she had begun to defend a case no one had yet argued.
“Yes,” Stephen said. “But he sounds a bit too keen.”
“I believe that you are being too quick to judge,” she said. “Is that not a good thing, being keen?”
“I am being cautious,” he said. “Keenness might also hint at desperation, and it would be in your favor to avoid that sentiment altogether.”
“Or it might not,” she argued, “perhaps it would do us well to consider the bright side.”
“There is no consideration of a bright side if it is one that is based in delusion,” he said simply. She knew that in his mind, he must be right. But just the way that he delivered the words to her made her second-guess herself as well.
“So you think that my judgment on him is one that is based on delusion?” she questioned, trying to understand him better.
“I am merely saying that you need more information in order to make a better decision,” he replied. “Tell me, does he speak of his family with ease?”
“We have not gotten the chance to discuss his family much,” Maria replied.
“And what of past obligations?” Stephen continued on. “Has he ever mentioned anything of debts?”
Maria only shook her head.
“And what do you know of his friends?” Stephen’s questions were growing more and more pointed. “Did he tell you the nameof the man who would stand up with him if he ran to Scotland at a foolish hour?”
“Why would we discuss Scotland?” She had to let out a laugh at that. “Surely, you must also realize that your questions are rather specific. Besides, I trust that he shall reveal all of this to me in time.”