The Marriage Machine by Patricia Simpson Page B

at him. His lime-scented cologne billowed out, enveloping her in an intoxicating cloud. Her prepared speech vanished, replaced by an ache deep inside that fanned out in an unbearable wave. “What changed your mind?”
    “I never changed my mind about going to the Outer Islands.”
    “Oh, that. I see.” A shadow passed through his eyes, making Elspeth suddenly suspect that they were speaking of separate things. He slammed the door. “It’s damnable icy today. We’ll have to watch our speed.”
    “Mark, I just want to say something. I need to say something.”
    He clenched his jaw and waited, studying her face.
    “Mark,” she began and then broke off, suddenly overcome by tears. They ran down her cheeks. “Why didn’t you tell me you were getting married?” Angry with herself for just blurting out her feelings, she brushed away the tears with the sleeve of her jacket, scratching her cheek in the process. “Why did you make me find out like that?”
    “I had no choice. At that time I didn’t know if you were going to be my bride or not.”
    “What do you mean, at that time ?”
    He shook his head and turned the key to engage the motor. As the car rumbled from merely heating the air to full throttle, he paused and glanced over at her. “Shutterhouse, why didn’t you trust me? I asked you to trust me. Why couldn’t you do that one simple thing?”
    “What good would have come from trusting you?”
    “It could have made the ceremony a lot more enjoyable. I would have liked that.”
    “Oh, well.” Elspeth swallowed the hard lump that had lodged in her throat. “I’m sorry I ruined your big day.” She swallowed back a sob.
    “Both our days, Elspeth.”
    “Sorry, I guess I’m not into the marriage thing as much as you.” She clenched her teeth. “And as for that, why in the hell am I so unhappy? Wasn’t that stupid machine supposed to make me happy ?”
    Mark’s hard expression softened into a smile. But his smile only made her more upset. She crossed her arms and shut her eyes, struggling to control herself and doing a poor job of it.
    “Shutterhouse, have you ever heard the expression, there are two ways to skin a cat?”
    “Yes,” she retorted, feeling cross and heartbroken at the same time. “And it sounds positively barbaric.”
    He pulled into the street, following the two cars ahead of him. Elspeth sat up straight, suddenly at attention.
    “Where are we going?” she sputtered.
    “To the Outer Islands.”
    “Your mother is driving?” Elspeth gasped. “She drives?”
    “Of course. You can learn, too. Thomas is a great teacher. He’s a lot more patient than I am.”
    Elspeth’s thoughts raced. Thomas . She’d forgotten all about him. She glanced at her left hand, and the golden band winked at her, as if mocking her. So she had married Thomas after all. That was why no one in the Ramsay clan had been all that surprised to see her.
    “But shouldn’t you be in that car?” she pointed at the brown vehicle ahead of them, where Madame Lipstick languished. He’d probably kept her up most of the night.
    “With Mariam?”
    “Yes.”
    Mark shrugged. “I’ll get to know Mariam soon enough. We’ve got years to get acquainted. And I wanted an extra car.” He turned the corner, heading toward the boundary of the city. “But back to what I was saying.”
    “You mean about cats?”
    “Yes. There are two ways to go about things. The hard way and the sensible way.”
    He glanced at her. She stared at the side of his handsome face, confounded at where the conversation was headed.
    “You aren’t following me.”
    “Not really.”
    “Okay, then,” he said, obviously enjoying himself. “Do you know the official components of scientific inquiry?”
    “Like hypothesis, method and results?”
    “Exactly. And part of the scientific method is using something called a control.”
    Elspeth brightened. Mark didn’t seem all that changed by the Marriage Machine, and she didn’t feel any