own—a mix of caution and longing and resignation. Not that either of them had ever admitted such a thing. Nor would they.
“Indeed, Henry, some things are more than obvious.”
His gaze snapped back to Mrs. Blodgett and at once he realized his mistake. A truly innocent man would not have taken her casual comment as an indictment. But Mrs. Blodgett simply smiled in an innocuous manner and promptly changed the subject. “Your brother says you are quite interested in antiquities and all things ancient.”
“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “Indeed I am.”
“My husband and some of his associates have been discussing an expedition to find the lost city of Troy.”
“Really?” Henry stared. “What an extraordinary adventure that would be.”
“Charles is a most adventurous sort and the more extraordinary the better.” She smiled in an affectionate manner.
“You must miss him when he’s away on his extraordinary adventures.”
“Indeed I do but someday I shall wear down his resistance and he shall take me with him.”
“But you’re a woman.”
“How clever of you to notice, Henry.”
“My apologies, I didn’t mean—”
“No apology needed.” She waved off his comment. “Even in these modern times, the idea of a woman traveling anywhere not considered completely civilized is unthinkable. I do hope that will change one day but I am not overly optimistic. It is universally accepted that a woman’s place is to be safely left behind to tend to house and home.”
“And you disagree with that?” Caution edged his voice.
“Not entirely but even the most content among us can occasionally long for something a little more exciting. For now, I suppose we need to console ourselves with adventures of a less extraordinary nature.” She smiled. “Walking down the path of life hand in hand with the right person is something of an adventure in and of itself. When one’s heart is engaged—” she glanced down the table at Katherine “—it can be the most extraordinary adventure of all.”
“No doubt,” Henry said faintly.
It was bad enough to realize one wasn’t in love with the woman one was committed to marry, but to accept the awful growing conviction that one didn’t especially like her was much worse. But even that paled in the face of the horrible truth of the matter.
Henry Saunders had indeed found the love of his life and there was nothing he could do about it.
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