“A woman?” Delphine asked as she finished his thought.
Lord Dallington looked at her thoughtfully. “Yes, a woman,” he replied. “Surely you want to get married and have children. Not tend to goats.”
Delphine shifted in her chair to face Lord Dallington. “What a keen observation, my lord. But, as a woman, I do not need a man to take care of me. I have my own funds available to me and my own title.”
He chuckled, as if the mere thought was amusing. “Women are lonely creatures and require companionship.”
Lady Dallington cleared her throat. “Lionel…” Her words carried a warning.
Putting his hand up, Lord Dallington said, “I apologize if what I said offended Lady Dunrobin, but it is no different than what any member of high Society would think.”
Elodie spoke up. “Then the problem is with high Society and not Delphine. What would it benefit her if she were to wed?”
“She would have a husband to help her with the more serious matters,” Lord Dallington stated plainly.
What an absurd thing to say, Delphine thought. But she needed to be careful and not insult her host. “I assure you that I am of a more serious nature,” she settled on. “Marriage is not something that would benefit me at this time. I am content on my own, considering I spend all my time ensuring that my estate and business are thriving.”
Bennett reached for his glass and interrupted. “Perhaps we could talk about something else and not interrogate our guest.”
“I am not interrogating her,” Lord Dallington defended.
Lady Dallington bobbed her head. “You are, my dear,” she stated. “We could always go around the table and share one interesting fact that we have learned recently.”
Melody let out a slight groan. “I hate this game. I never know what to say.”
Shifting her gaze to Lord Dallington, his wife asked, “What tidbit do you wish to share with us?”
Lord Dallington considered her for a moment before saying, “I have recently discovered that if we invest in new farm equipment our profits could go up as much as ten percent.”
“Well, that was not at all interesting,” Lady Dallington remarked.
“I disagree,” Lord Dallington stated.
Lady Dallington shifted her gaze towards Winston and gave him an expectant look. “Do try to do better than your father,” she said lightly.
Winston placed his spoon down and shared, “If you see a sheep on its back then you should gently roll it back to its feet.”
“How did you learn of this?” Elodie asked.
“I recently bought a sheep farm with some of my inheritance,” Winston announced.
The clatter of Lord Dallington’s dropped spoon echoed through the room. “You did what?” he exclaimed.
“Must I repeat myself?” Winston responded calmly, unperturbed by his father’s outburst.
“But you are a barrister,” Lord Dallington protested.
Winston remained composed, responding to his father’s reaction with great poise. “I am. But being a barrister is not as lucrative as I would like. I thought I would branch out and try my hand at business.”
Lord Dallington frowned. “Do you know anything about sheep?”
“Apparently, he knows enough to not let them sleep on their backs,” Elodie quipped.
Delphine resisted the urge to laugh at Elodie’s remark, despite wanting to very much. But it was neither the time nor the place to do so.
As Lord Dallington opened his mouth to no doubt continue the conversation, Lady Dallington spoke up. “Let’s move on, shall we?” She met Delphine’s gaze. “What say you?”
“I suppose an interesting fact would be that goat cheese has a tangy flavor and may turn slightly yellow as it ages,” Delphine said. “Is that sufficient?”
