I'd Give Up The World For You

That feeling continued throughout the meal. Silas knew that May and his wife had started out as best friends but it hadn't been nearly this obvious the couple of other times he had seen them together.

They were comfortable with each other in the extreme, teasing each other and predicting what the other would say. They worked together as a perfect team cleaning up after the meal the same way they had setting it up as well.

He had never seen a couple so in tune with each other. The contrast between their relationship and the one he had with Elaine was staggering.

She seemed to be enjoying her chat with Veronica when Silas and May split off to have their own mini side conversation for a while. He caught bits and pieces of it. It seemed that she wanted the recipe for Veronica's bread, which lead to a conversation about baking in general.

Elaine was more animated than usual as they talked. He had noticed she tended to be like that about certain subjects before becoming more subdued and ladylike again. It seemed she was genuinely interested in baking, though she probably didn't have a chance to do it working in the palace with no access to the kitchens.

Silas also noticed as the evening progressed that she was more excitable talking about domestic things like the way the Mays' house was decorated and the quilt Veronica was working on making. She had never talked about things like this with him.

If he was reading her correctly???and he was fairly certain he was after observing her for the past month???she really wanted to be the mistress of her own home. It made sense considering how much she hated working in the laundry room???but it raised some rather unpleasant questions.

Would Elaine latch onto anyone to get what she wanted? Did she even like him at all? Was the stark difference between her behavior at times because she was being calculating trying to land herself a husband no matter who he may be?

Silas didn't have entirely pure motives either considering he had originally approached her trying to get information but he did genuinely enjoy her company. He had considered marrying her once he figured her out but now that he had he wasn't sure he wanted to anymore.

If he got married he didn't want it to be with simply anyone because he was lonely. It was a lifelong commitment!

At the very least he wanted to come home to someone at the end of the day that was actually happy to see him and vice versa. Someone he could laugh with. He didn't want to end up sharing a home and family with a stranger.

This was all speculation???but Elaine had never specifically said she liked him. And his theory did fit given his observations. Even if she did like him she definitely didn't love him. That much was obvious after watching how a real couple in love interacted.

Silas was no noble; he wouldn't marry unless it was for love. Marriages of convenience never ended well as far as he had seen???aside from May's but there had been some feelings involved there.

They were a unique case. He had already been in love with her and she had loved him deeply even if it wasn't in a romantic capacity until recently.

Once they all moved into the sitting room the two of them sat closely together on the sofa and May had an arm slung over her shoulders looking perfectly at peace with the world as the conversation continued. Veronica didn't seem embarrassed by the display of affection in front of others, which indicated this was something they did a lot.

Would Elaine enjoy such simple gestures of affection? All this time the only contact they had was when she sidled up to him to let him escort her as they walked around. He couldn't tell if it was perfunctory or not.

Oh, why was tonight making him second guess everything? He didn't want to let her go but he would have to if she didn't care about him properly.

"We should have cake now!" Veronica declared, clapping her hands together.

Silas jolted slightly as her words snapped him out of his thoughts. "Cake would be wonderful. Thank you, Mrs. May."

They moved back to the table and once again she and May worked in perfect tandem setting things up to serve the cake, which was absolutely delicious. Elaine asked Veronica for this recipe too and she was happy to write it out for her.

After they were done with the cake May seemed to be eager to get rid of them, though only people who knew him well would have noticed. Silas did and so did Veronica, who tactfully said that it was getting late and that she was concerned about Elaine's curfew. She may not know about her husband's master plan but she definitely understood him on a fundamental level.

"Thank you so much for coming!" Veronica said as she cheerfully waved them off. "We should do this again soon. And Elaine, if you ever want to learn how to bake I'd be happy to teach you."

Elaine clasped her hands together in front of her happily. "I would love that; thank you!"

May grimaced but Silas didn't think either of the women noticed. He almost laughed. Someone clearly didn't want to share!

"See you tomorrow, Conrad," he said neutrally.

"Later, May!"

They left the house and Silas looked to Elaine. She had a more satisfied smile than usual on her face. "Your friends are nice, especially Veronica. I can see why Major May is so smitten with her."

"That is a very mild descriptor," he said with a small snort before growing more serious. He needed to see if he could prod some answers out of her. "I didn't realize you were so interested in baking."

"Oh, well, I didn't have much of a chance to learn before coming to the capital and not having kitchen access. My mother taught me a few things but I didn't really get to put them into practice since she was very particular about preparing food and didn't want people taking over the kitchen."

A rather diplomatic answer that didn't fully explain why she was interested now considering she still didn't have kitchen access. Another piece of evidence pointing toward his theory.

What else could he ask that would make her reveal her true intentions? He wasn't anywhere near as crafty as May.

"I see. And quilting?" Silas asked.

Elaine shrugged. "My mother was horrible at things like that. She used to exchange favors with the neighbors to avoid sewing at all costs. Mostly she would do their canning for them in exchange for having them make or mend our clothes and similar items. Her true skills lay in the kitchen. She used to work in a restaurant before she married my father.

"I'm not completely inept though! I know how to mend things and darn socks at the very least. I've learned since coming here from some of the other laundry girls. I'm also learning how to knit from Juliet though all I can do is socks. I hope to work my way up to mittens and sweaters before long."

The second half of what she said was almost defensive. As if she was concerned about him thinking she had no value as a wife if she couldn't perform those tasks.

While it would be nice to be able to enjoy good cooking every night Silas was more concerned about companionship than traditional domestic skills. How could he get that point across to gauge her reaction without being too abrupt?

"Almost all of Major May's sweaters are red. Apparently, Mrs. May makes them that way because it's his favorite color. He mentioned something about that once when I asked," Silas said since it was semi on topic.

Elaine glanced up at him demurely. "So if I were to make you a sweater you would want it to be blue?"

She had paid attention to his preferences; he would give her that. But that was the smart thing to do if you were trying to win someone over.

"That would be nice."

"I'll remember that. In the meantime I could always make you some blue socks," she mused.

That implied she planned on this relationship being long-term. Which meant she probably did want to marry him. The real question was what her motives were and he wasn't sure he would figure that out without asking her point blank.

What was Silas supposed to do here? He didn't want to take the easy way out and accept the first woman who came onto him knowing it wouldn't make him happy long-term but he also didn't know if anyone else would ever be interested and didn't want to spend his life alone.

Was there anything he could do aside from ask her point blank what her intentions were? It wasn't as if he could reveal his original ones because that would get him arrested and hanged for treason.