‘But of course! I must congratulate you both!’ Nathaniel gushed.
Hannah felt a little leap of surprise; that Nathaniel had known yet not mentioned it. Looking at Sophia, who wore a knowing smile, she realised that - of course - Sophia would have communicated this to her cousin.
‘May I admire your wedding ring, Your Grace?’ Nathaniel directed at Hannah. She felt uncomfortable with an old friend addressing her in such a way but did not feel that she could deny that title when her Duke was standing right next to her making the exchange feel much more formal than it had been in previous moments.
Instead, she simply held out her hand and Nathaniel exclaimed at the beauty of the gold band. Sophia leaned in to admire it, despite having seen it already. Caleb watched Hannah’s face as she smiled, showing her friends the band that symbolised their union; pride lit him up on the inside.
Hannah felt as though all her nerves were standing on end – her back rigid at the light touch of Caleb’s hand. She could feel his warmth hovering there; it was not an unpleasant sensation but was certainly unfamiliar to her.
‘Come, Hannah – I’d like you to explain this one to me…’ Caleb lightly guided her over to the right, effectively removing them from Sophia and Nathaniel.
They landed at a seascape and Hannah looked first at the canvas and then at Caleb, questioningly.
‘What would you like to know?’
Caleb panicked a little – all he had really wanted was to extricate Hannah from Nathaniel. The sensation sat uncomfortably with him; he had never considered himself a possessive man when it came to people. The prickle of agitation he had experienced when he saw Lord Bryant leaning over Hannah provoked action in him; a reaction of needing to remove her from the situation, to bring her closer to him. He did not wish to distance her from her friends; he knew from his own companionships how crucial it was to maintain close relations with friends. However, he could not help but feel that Nathaniel laid some claim to Hannah, having known her for so many years and having a common interest. Now he had feigned intrigue in the painting before them, he needed to find a pertinent question to support his subterfuge. He may have to risk seeming imbecilic, but it was all for the greater good.
A rare flash of uncertainty crossed Caleb’s face before he responded to Hannah; ‘This painting. What is it…?’
Hannah looked back again at the framed painting, which seemed quite obviously to be a depiction of the ocean, but ahead of replying, Hannah reminded herself that art was subjective and not always as discernible as she might consider it to be.
‘That all depends…’ she spoke slowly ‘upon whatyousee…’
Caleb glanced at her with a frown. He had half-expected her to laugh and exclaim ‘why the sea, of course!’
‘What do you see, Caleb?’ Hannah asked softly.
He watched her face and for a moment could only seeher– and desperately wanted to tell her so. If he were an extravagant man such as Nathaniel, he might. But he was the Duke of Montwood and so tore his attention back to the painting.
‘I can see….water.’ Caleb deciphered.
‘Is it calm?’
‘No – there is swirling and chaos.’
‘A river?’
‘No – the ocean, most definitely.’
‘How do you know?’
‘The rippling undulation and energy…’
Hannah smiled as if she were a tutor guiding a student to find the answers for themselves.
‘You know what I find most interesting?’ Hannah leaned in as she might if she were disclosing a secret.
Caleb shook his head, mirroring her leaning in. He really wanted to know what she thought – what made this painting magical and how she analysed art to reach certain conclusions.
‘When you think of the sea – what colour do you think of?’
‘Blue, of course,’ Caleb clarified.
Hannah nodded, satisfied.
‘Now step closer to the canvas and look –really look…’ Hannah instructed and as Caleb did so, she followed closely behind.
‘Examine which colours you can see…’
