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“He looks murderous,” Marta murmured under her breath.
“Don’t pay any attention to him. I’m sure he’s just sick to his stomach. He knows what he’s on the verge of losing,” Baldwin said.
Marta’s eyes cut back towards him. She swallowed, genuinely shocked that he’d been so forward. Her heart jumped into her throat. “We really shouldn’t be dancing like this. Not first.”
“We’re allowed a dance or two. Don’t you think?” Baldwin asked. “It seems unfair that the rest of the world can have their minutes with you, their hands on your back, and their lips so close to yours. Why not me, also?”
Marta blushed. “You speak so frankly.”
“I assumed you Austrian girls liked that sort of thing.”
“I think we need to be careful,” Marta whispered.
“But what if I don’t wish to be?” he returned.
A smile snuck its way across Marta’s lips. She rolled her eyes back again and muttered, “I don’t know why it is I always get myself caught in such ridiculously difficult situations.”
“Perhaps you’re just ridiculously difficult yourself,” Baldwin said.
“You sound like my mother,” Marta said.
The song ended far too swiftly. When they parted, Marta muttered an awkward, “Thank you for the dance, before turning back and heading towards Ewan, who, again, had found himself in conversation with a beautiful brunette. It seemed that pretty girls flocked towards him. Marta prayed that he would find pleasure in at least one of them, at some point in his life. Truly, she wanted endless happiness for him if he could find it within himself to allow it.
As she walked back towards her cousin, she spotted Tatiana in the corner, speaking in what seemed like hushed tones to another man with rich chestnut hair and a furrowed brow. Marta’s heart lifted. Was it possible that Laura had been correct about Tatiana’s affair? The moment the thought struck her, Tatiana swung around and caught sight of her. She forced a smile and fled from her chestnut-haired stranger. When she reached Marta, she lifted her hands to Marta’s shoulders and said, “Darling girl! I’m so glad to see you again.”
“I didn’t imagine you’d be here,” Marta said.
“Yes. My husband is again away on business, and it seems I find it harder and harder to remain alone in that big house. I had another maid watch over the children. It seems yours was occupied this evening.” Tatiana grinned secretively. “The boys have informed me that she has a bit of a secret of her own in the village. I think it’s splendid that they’ve become her translation. Certainly not the sort of world experience I envisioned for them at this age.”
“They’ve really taken to German, haven’t they? It makes me terribly nostalgic for the old days in Austria,” Marta said. She cleared her throat and added, “Who was that gentleman you were talking to?”
“Oh! That’s only Peter, a friend of my husband’s,” Tatiana said. Her cheeks seemed to burn red. “He’s a dear friend, a frequent figure at our estate. He had a few questions about my husband’s recent business propositions, is all. Of course, I told him that I knew very little about any of this. I’m nothing but a silly, empty-headed wife.”
“I suppose silly and empty-headed are descriptions I’ve never heard applied to you,” Marta returned.
“Ah. My husband knows me the best,” Tatiana said. She tucked a strand of hair absently behind her ear. “Peter did inform me of something a bit strange, however. It seems that the Duke is enraged that you danced with dear Baldwin.”
“Is the Duke friendly with your Peter?”
“He isn’tmyPeter,” Tatiana insisted.
“I didn’t mean it this way. I meant only…” Marta stuttered for a moment. She peered out across the crowd and caught sight once more of the Duke. He muttered conspiratorially with another of his friends, a man she recognised from other parties.
“I would be careful, darling,” Tatiana said. “The Duke is quite jealous. He seems to think that he had some sort of promise with my mother. A promise to have you. According to Peter, the Duke feels that his goodwill has been slighted.”
“I suppose in his world, goodwill extends to the darkest corners of the Regent’s ball,” Marta said, jaw clenched.
Tatana gave a light shrug. “I am sure he would be difficult to be married to. But so is anyone, darling. You must marry for the good of the family.”
Tatiana excused herself after that. Marta blinked after her, genuinely aghast. She yearned to blare just how little regard it seemed Tatiana had for her own marriage, her own children. What were they all chasing after? What was any of this for? And what was the point of marrying for a title when it seemed that title alone covered very little of humanity’s happiness?
Marta attempted to verbalise these complaints to Ewan minutes later. Ewan chuckled and said, “I have suspected Tatiana has been having an affair for several years, although, as her younger brother, I’ve never been in any position to point it out to her. Still, what you say is correct, regarding title and happiness. I suppose it’s another of your super powers. You’re an outsider, and thus, you can see us all so clearly.”
“Yes, but you’re nothing like this, Ewan,” Marta returned.
“Ah, but I am. And I don’t mind it,” Ewan said. “I will uphold my mother’s hopes and dreams eventually. I just only hope to have a bit more fun before that.”
“How much fun can one man have?” Marta asked, her grin widening.
