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“Did you have a pleasant journey from your manor, Lord Middleborough?” she forced herself to ask. She had promised herself that she would do this—try hard, make an effort, be charming so that her father would stay out of trouble.

He glanced at her as though surprised she was still in the room. “Fine,” he said stiffly.

Astrid blinked.That was kind of rude. She’d been trying to make conversation, and she would have expected him to respond in kind. But he seemed only to want to brush her off.

Astrid’s father removed the cover from the dish of pheasant on the table and carefully set about serving the others. “This is a fine bird,” he said. “Astrid’s favorite, as a matter of fact.”

“Hmm,” the Earl said.

Astrid’s father glanced at her uncertainly and said no more.

They ate in silence for several minutes. Astrid glanced up from time to time and noticed that the Earl was watching her. Actually, he was staring more than watching, conducting a study of her as if she were a fascinating subject.

She felt like a piece of artwork again.

But this time, it didn’t make her feel beautiful and magnificent, the way it had in the foyer. This time, it made her feel like an object.

What is wrong with him?she thought suddenly.I thought he was coming here to talk to me. I thought we were going to get to know each other. He’s hardly said two words to me since he arrived. Is he just going to stare at me all night?

Maybe he thought he was better than she was. Her stomach turned over at the thought. It was true that he was a lord and she was a commoner, but she was still a person. If she married him and went to his house, would she always be treated as though she didn’t matter?

She remembered, then, what her father had said about him. He had a bad reputation.Well, it’s not very hard to see why. He doesn’t seem to have any social skills. Or if he does, he’s clearly decided not to waste them on the likes of me.

She set down her fork and met his gaze. “What did you come here to talk about, Lord Middleborough?”

“Astrid!” her father said.

The Earl looked surprised. “I beg your pardon?” he asked, setting his own fork down on his plate.

Astrid ignored his response and looked over at her father instead. “He’s here to decide whether he finds my company favorable. That’s what you told me. You said he was here to decide whether or not he wanted to marry me.”

“Astrid, please, your manners,” her father hissed, as if hoping he could communicate the message to her without Lord Middleborough noticing somehow. The Earl himself was still watching her bemusedly.

But Astrid didn’t think she had done anything that reflected poor manners.The Earl came here wanting to talk. If he wants to discuss something, we should do it. If he wants to know what I am like as a conversationalist, he should make conversation with me. And if he isn’t going to start us off, I’ll have to do it. That’s just logic.

She turned from her father back to Lord Middleborough. “I was intrigued by the opportunity to get to know you as well, My Lord,” she told him. “I think that was a wise decision on your part, and one we should take advantage of.”

“Well.”

“Well, what?” she pressed him.

“Well, that’s why I’m here.”

“And yet you hardly speak to me?”

“Astrid!” her father moaned.

He raised his eyebrows. “You dare speak to me so?”

He didn’t sound offended, merely surprised, and Astrid allowed that to bolster her. “Should I fear speaking to you?” she asked. “If we marry, will I need to fear conversation with my husband?”

Her father made a choking noise. Astrid felt sorry—she knew she was upsetting him. But she felt somehow unable to stop now that she had started. And that strange, magnetic twinkle had returned to the Earl’s eye.I don’t think he’s offended by my words. I think he might actually find this amusing.

When he spoke again, his voice was quiet, measured. Thoughtful. “No,” he said. “If we marry, Miss Dawson, you will never have to fear me for any reason.”

“Then why are you surprised?” she asked. “Why do you question the way I spoke to you?”

“There are few people who would do so,” he said. “Few members of thetonwould confront me that way, and fewer commoners.”