“You voluntarily attend dinner,” Tristan continued. “Without drinking enough to tolerate it.”
Dorian exhaled through his nose.
“And,” Tristan added, clearly enjoying himself, “you acquired a duchess capable of forcing grown men to obey her.”
That finally elicited a reaction.
Dorian’s mouth twitched. “She does have an unfortunate talent for that.”
“Unfortunate?” Tristan scoffed. “I watched a trainer apologize to her last week for disagreeing about horse recovery as though he had committed a moral failure.”
“Hewaswrong.”
Tristan paused, then slowly lowered his glass. “Oh, this is much worse than I thought.”
“What is?”
“You defended her without hesitation.”
“She was right.”
“You said it immediately.”
Dorian looked briefly around the room, regretting the direction of the conversation already.
Tristan leaned forward slightly. “You are proud of her.”
“That is hardly scandalous.”
“No,” Tristan agreed, far too pleased. “The scandalous part is that you look as though you wish to be beside her even now, rather than enjoying your time with me.”
Dorian reached for his drink again. “You invent narratives when bored.”
“You smile differently when someone mentions her. You also stopped flirting.”
“That is hardly true.”
Tristan raised an eyebrow. “Name the last woman you flirted with.”
Dorian opened his mouth, paused, then frowned. Tristan grinned at that, and Dorian knew he was going to crucify him for it.
“Oh my God.”
“Do not start.”
“You cannot even remember.”
“I have been busy.”
“Yes, with your wife.”
Dorian gave him a flat look.
“You do hear yourself, yes?” Tristan continued. “You disappeared into marriage and returned discussing household management.”
“I discussstablemanagement.”
“You discuss her, too.”
