“Not really. If the sky were to fall to the earth, Cecil would be a bit too dead to enjoy my fortune.”

“So would you,” Ellie retorted.

“Hmmm. You're right. I might have to revise.” He smiled at her again, and his eyes grew warm, although not, Ellie thought, with passion. His gaze seemed to hold something that was more akin to friendship—or at least that was what she hoped. Taking a deep breath, she decided to take advantage of the lovely moment and said, “I didn't set that fire, you know. It wasn't me.”

He sighed. “Ellie, I know you would never do something like that purposefully.”

“I didn't do it at all,” she said sharply. “Someone tampered with the oven after I fixed it.”

Charles let out another long breath. He wished he could believe her, but why would anyone tamper with the oven? The only people who knew how to work it were the servants, and they certainly had no reason to try to make Ellie look bad. “Ellie,” he said placatingly, “perhaps you don't know quite as much about ovens as you think you do.”

Her posture grew suddenly very tense.

“Or perhaps our oven is fashioned differently than yours.”

Her jaw unclenched slightly, but she still looked extremely upset with him.

“Or perhaps,” he said softly, reaching out and taking her hand in his, “perhaps you do know every bit as much about ovens as you say you do, but you made a small mistake. A new marriage can be very distracting.”

She appeared to soften at that statement, and Charles added, “Lord knows I'm distracted.”

To change the subject, Ellie pointed to a bit of writing at the bottom of the sheet of paper in his hand. “What is that? Is it another list?”

Charles looked down, quickly folded the paper, and said, “Oh, that is nothing.”

“Now I must read it.” She snatched the paper away from him, and when he lunged after it, she hopped off the bed. “‘Five Most Important Qualities in a Wife’?” she read incredulously.

He shrugged. “It seemed a worthwhile endeavor to decide in advance just what it was I needed.”

“‘What?’ Now I'm a ‘what?’”

“Don't be obtuse, Ellie. You're far too bright to carry it off.”

There was a compliment in there somewhere, but Ellie wasn't about to give him credit for it. With a loud snort, she began to read. “‘Number One: Attractive enough to hold my interest.’That is your most important requirement?”

Charles had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. “If you're half as disgusted with me as you look, I'm in big trouble,” he muttered.

“I'll say.” She cleared her throat. “‘Number Two: Intelligence.’” She looked back up at him with a dubious eye. “You have redeemed yourself slightly. But only slightly.”

He chuckled and leaned back, letting his head rest against his interlocked hands. “What if I told you this list wasn't ranked?”

“I wouldn't believe you for a second.”

“I thought not.”