He'd been hoping that he'd be able to guess from her response whether she liked the estate or not, but her response was fairly opaque on that point. Nevermind — he'd figure it out later. He'd have plenty of time. If she didn't like it, they could live somewhere else while he wore her down on the subject — anywhere but Hogsmeade. Hopefully she wasn't sentimental about living close to her work. Assuming, of course, that she would still want to work — he hadn't considered, but since he had gotten bored of being a gentleman of leisure before he'd even run out of women to seduce, he couldn't imagine she'd be any more content to sit at home doing nothing.

"I'm aware of more than you give me credit for," he said, without elaborating. "My mother is particularly proud of these lilies," he continued, nodding towards a colorful display of them. "Most lilies are gone by this time of year, but these ones always linger longer. She says it's not a spell, but I have my doubts."

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