“So, you did choose me then.”
“Well, don’t mistake me,” she said with a smile. “I wasn’t overjoyed about the idea. I still thought it was very likely to bring me nothing but unhappiness—a prediction I’m very glad to have been wrong about by the way. But I took the chance because I thought the unhappiness I would face with you would be of a safe and predictable nature. If I had run from you, I had no idea what would happen next. The only thing I knew was that itwouldn’t be under my control. Given the choice, I always prefer for things to be under my control.”
“Well,” Leonard said, returning her smile, “that’s something you and I have in common, then.”
“I can’t say it surprises me to hear you say that.”
“No?”
“Oh, you’ve always been clear about your feelings when it comes to matters of control,” Prudence said with a smile. “I don’t pass any judgment against you for it. It’s good to know what you want in life. You’re more at ease when you’re in control of everything going on around you. And so am I.”
“I didn’t realize you saw that about me,” Leonard admitted.
“I suppose I notice more than you think I do.”
“You do seem to,” he agreed. “And I think your father underestimates you considerably, by the way, when he acts as though you need to be instructed on everything you face in life. You aren’t in need of his help.”
“I agree,” Prudence said. “I don’t feel like I am. But he thinks he knows best about everything, and sometimes it’s easier to just go along with whatever he’s saying than it would be to try to argue with him.” She examined his expression. “That frustrates you, doesn’t it.”
“Of course. Very much. I don’t like seeing you spoken to in ways you don’t deserve,” he said. “It would be my preference to always stand up and tell him he’s in the wrong—every time he’s out of order, I would want to tell him that he is. And Iwilltell him so if he behaves like that in my house ever again. I won’t have that.”
“It’s nice to be defended,” Prudence admitted. “Even though I don’t think you’re going to change his mind about anything when it comes to me, it’s nice to have someone stand up and say that the way he acts is out of line.”
“It is. Very much so. Your sisters never stood up to him on your behalf?” Leonard frowned. “Or on their own?”
“I wouldn’t say never but only when there was no other choice about it,” Prudence said. “When I was about to be forced into a dreadful marriage, the whole family stood against Father and helped me out of it. When push comes to shove, they are on my side, and I appreciate them for it. But in the little things, the day-to-day matters, I have always been on my own and had to fend for myself. So there’s something very special about having you stand up to my father and tell him that you won’t tolerate the way he talks to me, even if I know I could have handled it.”
“I don’t doubt that you could have,” Leonard said. “I’ve learned not to doubt your capability in any affair.”
“We’ll see my sisters and my cousin at the season’s coming events,” Prudence said. “But we needn’t associate any further with my father, if you would like to be finished with him for the time being. I would have no argument.”
He put a hand on her shoulder. “Is that what you want?”
She was momentarily driven to distraction by the reassuring weight of his hand and the sheer closeness of his body. She couldn’t remember whether she had ever been this close to him before, outside of a handful of times. And those times had all been so conflicted. This was different. He was reaching out to her, drawing her close, almost as if he was the kind of husband who genuinely loved his wife. Almost as if there was something of substance between the two of them.
Ridiculous when she knew that there wasn’t.
She took a quick step backward to spare herself having to think about that. “It’s not what I want,” she said. “He’s still my father after all. I don’t want to be rid of him, even if it is difficult to have him in my life at times. He should be invited to spend time with us from time to time. And I want you to know that there is nothing he can say that will affect me so severely that I won’t be able to handle it. I appreciate your concern for me, but you don’t need to worry.”
He cleared his throat, looking awkward at the way she’d stepped away from him. “I don’t worry,” he said rather brusquely. “Not about you, Prudence. I learn more and more every day about how well you can handle yourself.”
The two of them lingered for just a moment, and then Prudence turned and hurried from the room, unable to face him directly any longer. Her heart beat madly.
When did it become so wildly difficult just to stand in his presence?
CHAPTER 26
Leonard felt as if the breath had left his lungs as he watched Prudence descend the stairs to the foyer. “You… you look breathtaking,” he managed.
Her cheeks turned sweetly pink, and she ran her hands over the lavender skirt of her gown. “Do you really like it?” she asked. “I’m very excited to show it off tonight though I didn’t know that I would feel this way about it.”
“I think you’ll turn many heads,” he told her, offering her his arm. “I’m eager to showyouoff.”
“I’m so glad to hear that you feel that way. I did want to do a good job dressing to impress the members of the ton for you,” she said. “I know how important this is.”
He pulled her a little closer than was strictly necessary as the two of them made their way out to the carriage, and he helped her aboard.
“Remember,” he said as he got in, “the purpose of our presence at Staffordshire tonight is to show everyone that there is no scandal here. We want them to see that we are in a happy and functional marriage and that we care deeply for one another. We can do that, I think.”
