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“It is definitely not nothing,” she insisted stubbornly.

“Then you might have to force the truth out of me,” he quipped.

“Force?” she repeated as she squinted her eyes, regarding him with curiosity. “I can certainly think of a way or two I can force you to tell me the truth,” she teased, holding his gaze.

She licked her cutlery clean of the apple pie before licking her lips.

That little motion stirred something inside him.

“Oh, you are teasing me now?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I am doing no such thing,” she responded, her eyes twinkling wickedly. “I am simply having my dinner.”

William laughed.

“Now, do not think you can flirt your way out of telling me about your day,” she said.

“Ahh, I had a rather tiring day at Parliament,” he relented. “It was boring and uneventful.”

“Tell me everything!” she pressed. “It must be so fancy to be at Parliament.”

“If being around a little too many egoistical men is your definition of fancy, then yes,” he snorted.

“You do not seem to like the other lords, do you?” Eveline asked.

“Oh, many of them are decent, but the others are rather annoying and infuriating,” he said. Despite his efforts, he could feel himself getting fired up.

“How so?”

“Would you believe that some of the lords are trying to reduce the military’s budget?” he scoffed, now incensed as he remembered, yet again, the ridiculousness of some of his peers.

“Why?” Eveline asked. “Would that not be a foolish mistake, since our military is keeping us safe and also expanding our influence?”

William’s heart melted at his wife’s intellect and smart commentary.

“Precisely,” he agreed.

“If anything, I would argue that the military should have more resources,” she continued.

“They seem to forget what happened in the past when the military was not properly equipped,” William continued, less incensed now.

“I cannot help but wonder what would drive such men—who have also served in the Army, mind you—to make such suggestions.” Eveline shook her head.

“That indeed is the problem,” William said. “The lords who suggested it are the ones who have never served in the military. They have no idea what it was like to fight for our beloved country.”

“Now I see why they would make such a foolish suggestion. They certainly believe that the military is but a minor institution.”

“You are right,” William murmured as he recalled the events of the day again. How foolishly those lords had spoken and how brazen they had been in their foolishness.

“If they had just a fraction of the experience Theo, Emerton, Magnus and myself have, they would never make such foolish proclamations.”

“That must have been difficult for you to sit through,” Eveline sympathized, placing her hand on his.

William’s heart warmed at the comfort her hand provided, and yet he could not help but feel ashamed that she pitied him.

However, when he looked at her, he did not see pity in her eyes. Instead, he saw understanding and compassion.

“It certainly was difficult, and I nearly left mid-session,” William admitted. “It was Magnus who implored me not to.”