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“I ate earlier,” I lied, but he thrust a plate into my hand before I could protest.

“It’s overwhelming!” Laura immediately set about filling her own plate while I lingered at her side with my empty one. “Oh, look! Szilvásgombóc!” She served herself a few of the dumplings that were filled with sliced plums and added two to my plate.

“Those are certainly one of my favorite dishes. ” Percy leaned over and placed some heavily spiced pork next to my serving of dumplings.

I quickly introduced Percy to Laura, hoping they would ignore my plate and concentrate on their own, but they immediately conspired against me. I soon had such a varied selection of food if I had still been mortal I would have been daunted. As a vampire I could not take even a bite without exposing my nature.

“The one thing I do enjoy immensely in this city is the food. It is so different from our English fare, don’t you think?” Percy guided us to another tent where tables and chairs awaited us. We seated ourselves at a table near the corner. The air was thick with the scent of food and wax candles.

“It is quite different,” I agreed. “Sadly, I have a delicate stomach. ”

“A pity,” Percy declared, then dug into his pork and potato dish.

Laura smiled sweetly as she tucked into a plate full of mostly desserts. I noted she avoided eating the spicy meat and settled on a potato dish, fruits and her sweets.

I pretended to eat, bringing small portions up to my mouth, but never taking a bite. As the conversation steered away from the buffet to Laura’s recent return from abroad, I found it easier to avoid the food.

“After my governess married, father sent me to a finishing school,” Laura said around small bites of her dumplings. “Mother attended the same school. She felt it would help me be much more sophisticated and worldly so I could attract a good husband. ”

Percy studied her delicate face before saying, “Perhaps I am just far too old now, but you seem a bit young to marry. ”

“I am seventeen,” Laura responded with a sigh.

“Ah, a prime age for many young girls to be married off. ” Percy nodded his head somberly. “My own wife, Abigail, was not that young when I married her. She was an old maid of twenty-six. ”

“How did she so deftly avoid marrying for so long?” Laura wondered.

Percy laughed with amusement. “I take it you dread the prospect of marriage?”

“I desire nothing more than to be a spinster,” Laura admitted.

“A noble calling, I dare say. ” I grinned at her affectionately.

Percy settled back in his chair and gestured at me with an accusing finger. “Shouldn’t you, a happily married woman, be encouraging her toward matrimony?”

“Most certainly I should be, but I will not. A woman should be able to choose her own lot in life, whether or not society, the church, or her family agrees. ”

Percy’s blue eyes gleamed with merriment and wine as he folded his arms over his chest. “I am in the presence of rebels. What are young women coming to these days?”

“You’re not so horrified as you pretend to be. ” Laura helped herself to one of my plum dumplings and nibbled on it as her large eyes regarded Percy with open defiance.

“True, true. Abigail refused to marry for comfort. Her family tried so very hard to marry her off to an assortment of suitable types only for her to turn them away. The family was gentry, but had lost most of its money. Abigail became a governess instead of marrying. ”

“But she married you. ” I drew my shawl around my shoulders as I regarded him thoughtfully. I instantly liked him and the more he spoke, the more I suspected we could be friends.

“That is because she married for love. Abigail was an idealist and did not believe that marriage, such a sacred union, should be for anything other than love. She was perfectly content with her post when we met by chance while she was on a walk. ”

“And why hadn’t you married yet?” Laura was clearly enraptured by his tale, her face so very pretty and flushed.

“Well, a man does have a bit more leeway as to when it is a proper time for him to marry, but I shall be honest. I also had no desire to marry if it was not a union based upon love. ”

“So you’re a romantic at heart,” I teased

“Completely. ” A shadow of sadness flitted over his features, but he quickly sipped his wine to hide it away.

“Well, I have no desire to marry at all. Not even for love. For I shall never love any man. ” Laura shrugged her delicate shoulders.

“You should not speak rashly,” Percy warned her. “Some dashing fellow may make you a liar one day. ”