“There was a proposed bill a few years ago that would fund more orphanages and apprenticeships in the Seven Dials district, but it was dismissed before it even reached the floor for debate.”
“Why is that?”
Nathan shrugged and ate some ham, wiping his mouth with his napkin. “Influential people did not want to see funding for such a project. They preferred the money be directed toward their chosen causes. Try one of the strawberries.” He took one off her plate and held it up to her lips. Sara obediently opened her mouth and he slid it inside, his fingers brushing her lips. She met his gaze, recognized the smolder in them and a responding desire for his kiss grew in her. While he had held her all through the night, he had made no move to press any further intimacies on her.
She had been disappointed at that and now wished there was not a breakfast tray between them.
Nathan leaned back, suppressing the urge to kiss her breathless. He did not wish to add to her confusion, much to Primordial Nathan’s disappointment. He had to remember that this week was about her, not him, no matter how much he wanted to lay claim to her body.
“But surely you fought for the bill,” she said.
He looked at her, gazing at him so earnest in her naivety. She had no inkling of what politics was like. Neither had he, when he first pursued his career. By the time he had woken up to the reality, he had been too steeped in the corruption to do anything about it.
“Don’t do that,” he warned her.
“Do what?”
“Make me into some sort of a noble hero, championing the cause of the underdogs. That is not what it is like.”
“Then what was it like?”
Nathan sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “You do not want to know.”
“But I do. And I trust you to tell me. You speak to me as no other does; you do not shield me from the truth.”
“That is putting a rather rosy shade on it.”
Sara shook her head, her loose curls bobbing around her face. “I don’t believe so.”
He sighed again. “Truly, it is best that you don’t know.”
Her mouth flattened into a thin line, an expression he had never seen on her face before. Usually she was too meek to put up any resistance to a refusal. “I have come to realize that I dislike being told that,” she informed him. “All my life I have been living based on what others have told is me best for me, or what I should do, or how a proper, chaste lady behaves. It is why I have never had anything remotely adventurous happen to me, for it is not something a proper lady welcomes. I find that I am weary of being shielded from reality.”
Nathan looked at her for a long moment. This new determination fit nicely on her face. “As you wish. Tell me, what do you know of politics?”
“Nothing beyond the basic function. A gentleman becomes a candidate and the people elect him. Then the House debates and votes on legislation that become laws.”
His smile was tight. “Ideally, yes, that is the most basic definition of how democracy works. However, it is not reality. That bill for the orphanages and apprenticeships was bought out of all its support. Loyalty can be traded within the halls of Parliament and the wealthy opponents to the bill paid for the right sort. All it took was a few well placed, influential members in the party to veto the bill and encourage the members who championed it to reconsider their position. Those who refused lost in their next by-election. You see, politics is not about the people, not about the welfare of the country or helping her people, but about power, money and greed. There are men who will do anything to gain what they want and then to hold onto it.”
“Oh my.” Her eyes were wide.
“Indeed.”
Sara leaned back against the head board, her breakfast finished, her hand resting over her sated stomach. She could not remember her hunger ever feeling so satisfied. Nathan finished off the last bite of his meal and moved the tray back to the table. He went to the window and looked out over the expanse of the lawn.
She asked the question, even though she suspected the answer. “Were you one of the champions?”
“No.”
Oh. Not the answer she was expecting. If he did not lose his seat because of a refusal to toe the party line, then why did he leave politics? She dreaded the next answer. “Were you one of the well placed members?”