It had finally happened.

Nikolai had known it would, but he had been hoping to delay the inevitable. He supposed he could have avoided it forever. The letter had come that morning, not long after Ustinya’s departure for Russia. Two great changes to his life in one day—that could not bode well for the rest of it.

Fortunately, “the rest of it” was fast coming to a close. Petra and the young Archie had retired for the evening, and Eva was at some function or another with Aunt Yuliya in tow for good measure. With only Rosaline for company, Nik could finally voice what had been troubling him all day.

“Lord Corcrest wrote to me today,” he broke the silence in the sitting room at last, his third glass of vodka resting half-empty in his hand. Nikolai would, of course, be happy to see his daughter happy, but would have been happier to see her happy with someone who made him happy. The wizard did not trust his tongue to Russian, doubting it would refrain from swearing if allowed to be properly comfortable. “It seems I can put him off no longer.”

Rose was more comfortable in Nikolai Sleptov's house than she had anticipated. Miss Eva Sleptova was as much of a delight as Petra, and though trying to socialize with the young Mrs. Sleptova had been awkward, (for reasons Rose tried not to think on too much,) the woman had left that morning. 

Rose took a sip of her wine and considered Mr. Sleptov's dilemma. "He'll want to see you, then," she said, with a faint frown. She was lucky, she supposed, to only have a son. It meant that she didn't have to worry about this for a while, at least.

Nik swore in Russian.

“Indeed,” the wizard sighed. “Though I fear I have not quite made up my mind as to how to answer him. Or about any of it.”

Rosaline was perhaps the only person who knew the extent of his feelings on the matter, and so he was relieved to have her here. He could not imagine his wife or aunt being particularly useful, as both would surely just counsel him to let the viscount do as he would. The nuances of the situation were not something he expected either would grasp.

“If she did marry him, in the end,” he switched to Russian lest they be overheard, though young Archie was perhaps the only one in the house who didn’t speak the language fluently (and even that, Nik frankly had never tested), “I worry she would do so for the wrong reasons. I have seen the darkness in too many a marriage to be content with her enduring it.”

Ivana had married for money, and to say it had gone badly was a gross understatement. She had married again for status, and the child she bore had killed her. Nikolai’s first match had been a companionate one, but there had not been enough to it to keep him satisfied. That he had strayed was something he hoped his girls would never learn, but it had seen them leave their homeland of necessity. His second match was little better. If he, a grown man and seasoned auror, could not be expected to choose well, how could his silly (in comparison) daughter?

Rose tapped her index finger against the side of her leg, considering. "Miss Sleptova is a very smart girl," she said, which was not praise that the Ravenclaw matron gave out lightly, "But I see why you're concerned - she is young, and matters of the heart require wisdom only time can give." 

This was not necessarily advice that Rose was qualified to give. But she liked to think that she was smart, and Nikolai was talking to her about it - not to the aunt who watched Eva, nor to his absentee wife. He was talking to Rose, and she owed it to him - and to Eva - to share her opinion.

"Courting does not necessarily mean that they would marry," Rose said, wrinkling her nose, "Especially if you let Lord Corcrest know some of your hesitations." She raised an eyebrow. Rosaline had no doubt that Nikolai could be terrifying if he wanted to be. 

She was right—of course she was. That Mrs. Bennett proved so sensible again and again was, in part, why the two had become friends (and why he had often, against his better judgement, wished their acquaintance did not need to stop there).

“Is there a polite way to call him a buffoon to his face?” Nikolai asked with a wolfish grin. “If there is, please, do tell me—it should make the conversation far easier to manage.” Especially as he couldn’t simply bring her along as a sort of ersatz security blanket.

"Lord Corcrest, I fear that you may intellectually be a few notches below my dear daughter," Rosaline tried, a wry smile on her face. She shook her head. "No, that still doesn't work. I think you may just have to heavily imply it."

She enjoyed the wolfish grin on her face - more than she should, considering their status. He was married. She was long-widowed. There was nothing to be done, and she very much wanted to kiss him.

“I do agree that they are terribly poorly matched in that regard,” the Russian sighed in answer. “A woman ought always be her husband’s equal or lesser in that regard, I feel, for a foolish husband could be the ruin of a clever wife, whatever she might do to stop it. That the viscount’s ridiculous lion might maul his daughter was a new thought that accompanied that remark, and not a welcome one.

“Well-matched wits make for a well-matched marriage.” Well matched like he and Ros Mrs. Bennett, he added, though could hardly say aloud. Her smile, always lovely, was lit so nicely by the candlelight that he wondered that she hadn’t yet found another wit matched well to her own, with her husband passed so long before.

Rosaline smiled, almost playfully. "I agree utterly," she said. And then, with the raise of an eyebrow: "Though I find that men frequently want a wife at least slightly duller than themselves." Felix had been different.

She didn't know much of Mrs. Sleptova. Over the summer, Nik had implied that he regretted the marriage - did he still, without love potion?

She still wanted to kiss him.

“As you were a married woman, Mrs. Bennett, I feel I will not scandalize you if I say that men often do not think with their heads when choosing a bride,” Nikolai responded candidly.

With their wallets, to be sure, especially second sons. A handsome dowry could make an unhandsome woman particularly desirable. With their hearts, even, especially the fools. Love was intoxicating, regardless of how improper its demands could be. But for Nikolai, the culprit had always been his manhood, leading him to this and that pretty thing like a horse on a lead.

Rose raised an eyebrow. "I would never have guessed," she said, lightly sarcastic. It was not the sort of thing she would tell any of her students, but she was certainly aware of it - as were, she thought, most married women. 

"Though we often have less choice in the matter," Rose said, "I hope you won't be surprised to hear it can be a factor for women."

Though he was less than inclined to admit it to his companion, the notion did surprise Nikolai. While his present wife was an…enthusiastic nocturnal partner, his first had always seemed rather perfunctory in that particular duty. It was, he thought, one reason why he had sought more eager pastures. He was not so naïve as to believe a woman was sure to remain chaste until marriage—though he prayed his daughters would!—but he had always believed such lapses to be out of a desire to please a man, rather than the woman’s desire to see herself so pleased.

The notion of Mrs. Bennett seeking such pleasures hit him like a ton of bricks, and the wizard could not help but feel a minor, but familiar, stirring at the idea.

“Why Mrs. Bennett, to hear a matron speak in such a fashion is positively scandalous,” he chastised teasingly, his body leaning closer to hers of its own volition.

Rosaline smiled mischievously. "Now I don't go telling that to just anyone," she said. She leaned towards him. Their faces were close and her heart was beating too fast - they shouldn't be doing this, not with their children in the house, not with him married.

She hadn't forgotten their conversation from the summer. She still had feelings for him, besides.

"Sometimes I want to do something reckless," she said, softly.

He pulled back. Was she insinuating what he suspected? Their children were here—children they had produced with other partners, for they were not married. Matrimony was hardly the soul-sealing bond that young ladies were raised to believe of it, but to hear her suggest something so utterly tempting indecent when she was aware of his own status…

Nikolai knew her too well to think any less of her for it.

He knew himself too well to imagine that things might return to the way they were now. Would it be better to give in quickly, or to cling to his dignity and have it fester between them before the pair gave in to the inevitable?

“What stops you?” he asked stiffly.

She shouldn't have said that.

Rose studied her nails. The best that could happen, she supposed, was that he kicked her out of his house. And the worst - well, certainly she was going to lose his friendship.

She stretched out her fingers. "A lady never takes the first step," she said.

That last encouragement was enough to prompt the former auror to throw caution to the wind—a decision that even in the moment, he was certain he would later regret.

Nikolai closed the narrow gap between them, his lips quickly finding her own.

And there it was. He kissed her - he was kissing her! 

Rose leaned enthusiastically into the kiss, one hand reaching upwards to grasp onto the back of the Russian's neck.