“What you said in the dining room,” he began.

“I know I ought to be sorry I yelled at a young girl, but I am not,” Ellie said defiantly. “Claire has been doing everything in her power to make me feel unwelcome here, and I wouldn't be surprised if—” She cut herself off, realizing that she'd been about to say she wouldn't have been surprised if Claire had been the one to dump so much salt in the stew.

“You wouldn't have been surprised if what?”

“Nothing.” He wouldn't make her say it. Ellie refused to make childish and petty accusations.

He waited for a moment for her to continue, and when it became apparent that she would not, he said, “What you said in the dining room…about marriage being permanent. I wanted you to know that I agree with you.”

Ellie only stared at him, not sure what he meant.

“I am sorry if I have bruised your feelings,” he said quietly.

Her mouth fell open. He was apologizing?

“But I do want you to know that despite these very minor, er, setbacks—”

Ellie's mouth settled into a grim and angry line.

He must not have noticed because he kept talking. “—I think you are becoming a superb countess. Your behavior with the tenants the other day was magnificent.”

“Are you telling me I am more suited to life outside Wycombe Abbey than inside?” she asked.

“No, of course not.” He exhaled and raked his hand through his thick, brown hair. “I am simply trying to say…Hell,” he muttered. “What am I trying to say?”

Ellie resisted the urge to make some sort of sarcastic remark and just waited, arms crossed. Finally he thrust a piece of paper in her direction and said, “Here.”

“What is this?” she asked, taking it into her hand.

“A list.”

“Of course,” she murmured. “A list. Just what I wanted. I have been so lucky with lists thus far.”

“It is a different sort of list,” he said, clearly trying to be patient with her.

Ellie unfolded the sheet and looked down.

ACTIVITIES TO PURSUE WITH WIFE

1. A ride and picnic in the countryside.
2. Revisit the tenants as a unified couple.
3. A trip into London. Ellie needs new dresses.
4. Teach her to write her own lists. They can be devilishly entertaining.

She looked up. “Devilishly entertaining, eh?”

“Mmm, yes. I thought you might like to try something like ‘Seven Ways to Silence Mrs. Foxglove.’”

“The suggestion has merit,” she murmured, before looking back down at the list.

5. Take her to the seashore.

6. Kiss her until she's senseless.

7. Kiss her until I'm senseless.

Charles could tell the moment when she reached the final two items, for her cheeks turned delightfully pink. “What does this mean?” she finally asked.

“It means, my dear wife, that I have also realized that marriage is permanent.”

“I don't understand.”

“It is high time we had a normal marriage.”

She colored even further at the word “normal.”