“Instead, he purposely ignores me,” she complained to Margaret. “And I thought we had made some progress with our previous conversation. But it seems to have been for naught.”
“Perhaps you should initiate a conversation. Speak to him instead of waiting for him to speak to you,” Margaret suggested.
Diana hesitated, but the next time she passed him in the hall, she took her chance.
“Have you had a good tea?”
Matthew looked up in surprise. “I have, thank you,” he replied slowly, though his voice was not quite as stiff and formal asusual. Perhaps because he had been startled by her question. “And you?”
“Oh, the tea was just fine. However, I must say, there is nothing that can beat my cook’s pastries. I do miss those.”
She gave him a smile, even though she was unsure how he would react. And she was unsure if she even wished to be friendly with him.
He did not smile in return. However, he did nod slightly and then continued on his way.
And the next time she saw him, she spoke to him once more, seeking… something. Anything to acknowledge that there had been a change in their relationship. A change of any kind.
“Shall you be going out today?” she ventured as she saw him in the halls yet again. And again he paused, staring at her for a moment before answering.
“I do not expect to be going out today.” For a moment he said nothing and then, “Shall you being going out?”
“I expect to go riding this morning. The weather is so fair.”
He glanced out the window to their side with a slight nod. “It looks to remain so for the morn at least.”
“Excellent. I hope to ride a bit down the lanes.”
Again another pause and then he looked back at her again. “Through the park is excellent riding this time of year. You’ll see the gardens to better effect.”
Her surprise was likely evident at the way he offered the information but he seemed not to be finished either.
“But take Magnolia rather than Celeste,” did he know what horse she rode when she went out? “Magnolia does better in the park where there could be dogs and such.”
“I will speak to the grooms,” she agreed, and he gave a sharp nod but seemed unsure what to say next.
“I shall return to my study.” With that he strode away, though he stopped a few steps away and turned back to her, “have a good ride. Perhaps you can enjoy the weather for the both of us.” There was almost a hint of a smile as he glanced at her and then he was gone and she was left wondering if she had imagined it.
Things had changed. Whether he wanted or not.
The fact that he had opened up to her so much and that she now spoke to him when she saw him in the halls had to mean something, didn’t it?
The next morning, when he was ready for breakfast he hesitated to go straight to his study.
For longer than he had been married he had often gone directly to the study in the morning and had taken his breakfast there. But something told him that he should go downstairs.
Perhaps he should take the opportunity to eat breakfast with his wife. Would she expect it? Had she been expecting him to be there all this time and he had not?
“Henry, I shall take my breakfast in the dining hall,” he instructed and the valet bowed and acknowledged his request before leaving the room.
Within only a few minutes he was striding down the hall himself, sitting at the table and wondering if she would come.
But it seemed he was mistaken on that front as well. Because she did not come. And according to the servant who brought him his own breakfast, the mistress preferred to take her breakfast in her own rooms.
“Has she always done that?”
“She came to breakfast for a few days, Your Grace,” the man replied, “but she has since taken to eating in her own rooms. Her maid comes to the kitchen to collect a tray of breakfast for her most mornings.”
“Very well,” he replied, feeling somewhat foolish that he had even attempted such a thing. To even come down here … well, there was no reason for it. He could just as well have eaten his own breakfast in private as well.
