To remove the tension still left in the dining room, Eloise reached for bread and placed it on Damien’s plate as a peace offering.

"Are you trying to fatten me up?" Damien asked, waiting patiently for Eloise to continue with her good treatment.

"It is a peace offering," Eloise explained.

"You weren’t the one who upset me. Next time, you should take my suggestion to have dinner alone in our bedchamber," said Damien.

"Dinner and breakfast haven’t gone well so far, but the dining room exists for a reason. I like having dinner here and sitting with you," Eloise said, hoping dinner would stay as it was. "It reminds me of when I would sit with my parents. When the others are ready, they will join us."

Eloise continued to place more food on Damien’s plate as it appeared to calm him. "You must eat as well. It is a shame your cooks prepared a good dinner, but it is only the two of us to enjoy it."

"We are having guests, but they are late," Damien shared, only now remembering his plans.

"Guests? Is it another relative or one of your friends?" Eloise asked, surprised to hear this news so late.

"I wouldn’t think of them as friends. Perhaps acquaintances. Enjoy your dinner as they are surely going to spoil it," Damien said, picking up his fork and knife.

Damien cut into the tender beef on his plate and offered the first bite to Eloise.

"I can feed myself. You are the one who needs to eat after the work you did today," Eloise said, but she was unsuccessful.

"Work? I used my servants to do most of the work. I will not be satisfied until I have seen you eat," Damien said, his hand still midair.

Eloise leaned to her left, her lips parting slightly to consume the meat on the fork.

Damien noticed the very second Eloise enjoyed the beef. Her eyes twinkled, and she stared at the fork, silently asking for more. "Is it good?"

"It is good. It is the best beef I have ever eaten. You should taste it," Eloise said, picking up her fork to have another bite.

"You will not offer me a taste? How cruel of you," Damien said, awaiting his turn.

Eloise shook her head.

What was the point of having separate plates if they would feed each other?

Eloise decided to indulge Damien just this once, but she was interrupted.

"Lord Hawthorne. Lady Hawthorne," Gage greeted the pair as he entered the dining room. "Your guests have arrived."

Damien gripped his fork. "Timing, Gage. You must get better at it. Escort them inside."

Eloise sat up, eager to see who was joining for dinner. To her horror, she was met with the face of the woman who had troubled her earlier in the day.

Eloise looked to Damien for an explanation. This couldn’t be a coincidence, but how did he know who?

’Did I give him a name?’ Eloise wondered.

"Lord Hawthorne," Albert Robinson, Lucinda’s husband, greeted Damien with open arms.

Eloise noticed how nervous Lucinda appeared. Beads of sweat tickled down the sides of her face, and she avoided eye contact with Eloise.

Lucinda didn’t want to be here, but she didn’t have a choice.

Eloise assumed it was Lucinda’s husband’s idea to visit the estate.

’He must be unaware of what occurred,’ Eloise realised.

Damien didn’t bother to stand to greet Albert. "Have a seat," he said, pointing to the chairs once used by Jane and Quinn.

Albert lowered his hands and cleared his throat. His attention soon went to the young beauty sitting beside Damien. "Lord Hawthorne, I heard the rumours you had gotten married, but I didn’t think they were true. You have found yourself a beautiful wife."

"There is more to my wife than her beauty. It has come to my attention that there are people who take one look at her and judge her," Damien said, his gaze fixed on Lucinda.

Lucinda sat down beside her husband. She ran her tongue across her bottom lip, adding moisture.

Albert sat down to the left of Damien. "Who could be the fool to speak about your wife? I have been telling my peers that we must do better with our judgment. You are not a simple man; therefore, your wife should be respected. Who judged her?"

Albert longed for his wife to get close to Damien’s wife to help with business.

"Your wife," Damien answered, staring at the culprit. "I’m told she was the one to judge my wife, but I could be wrong."

Albert looked at Lucinda for an answer.

Lucinda’s lips parted, ready to respond, but no sound was heard as she was overwhelmed by fear. The weight of what remained unsaid weighed down on her body.

Albert laughed, taking Damien’s words as a joke. "You are funny, Lord Hawthorne. That was a good joke."

"If I told a joke, we would all be laughing," Damien said, missing where he told the joke. "You are the only one who found humour in my words. You two must take me for a fool to beg me for business, yet attempt to spoil my wife’s day with your opinions."

"Do you take me for a bad husband? Is that why you thought you could address her in the manner you did and get away with it?" Damien asked, his question directed at Lucinda.

"No, Lord Hawthorne. There is a misunderstanding," Luncinda said, finding her voice. "Lady Hawthorne, our conversation was not awful. We didn’t see eye to eye at the moment, but we are well, right?"

"No. You were the one to enter my conversation with another lady. There was no need for you to interject, and while I have not lingered on what you said, we are not well," Eloise said, refusing to be Luncinda’s escape from the hot seat.

Lucinda laughed, her nervousness evident. "I was not well this morning. You will have to forgive me."

"Does your kindness or ability to avoid others’ personal affairs depend on whether you are well or not?"

"Well, no. I didn’t mean to upset you earlier. I was not familiar with you, and in the end, it led me to say things I did not mean. I hope you can accept my apologies so we can move forward. Our husbands are close, so it wouldn’t be wise to be at odds with each other," Lucinda said, forcing a smile.

"Are we close, Albert?" Damien inquired, missing the message about his friendship with Albert. "We were just becoming well acquainted with each other after you approached me about business."

"I thought of us as friends," Albert replied.

"I did not. I hope you didn’t go around the town claiming to be my friend. I never invited you to my home before now, and you were always the one to approach me. You were more like a pest," Damien corrected Albert. "Now you’re the bastard whose wife ruined his chances of doing business with me."

"Mrs Robinson, it appears you were misinformed. I care for my wife, and I don’t take too kindly to her being disrespected," said Damien.