Forestalling anything she might say, he asked, “Is one of my latest guests a relation of yours, perhaps?You share a surname.”
“Yes, actually.”Evie answered honestly, although she knew he likely referred to Louisa Mullen, whose name she’d borrowed, rather than her mother.
“Oh?She’s the sister of the Countess of Craven.Do they have another sister, and does she live near here?Should I invite her to visit?”
Her heart melted.He wanted her family to have a chance to visit with each other and her—a servant as far as he knew.Her Xander was truly a good man.Hands twisting and heart breaking, she slid her chin side to side, forming a negative response.“No other sister.”
He frowned.“Then how can she be your aunt?”
“Xander.”His brows shot up at her use of his given name, something she’d only done a handful of times and only in bed when she forgot herself.“Please.I did all this with the best of intentions.For both of us—well, mostly for me, but anyway.I lied to you about my last name.”
He was frowning now.“Why?”
Evie opened her mouth to respond, but her mother’s voice echoed in the hall.“Evie?You, there.My sister told me that Evie was staying here, but no one knows of a guest named Evelyn.”
Rogers murmured something Evie couldn’t hear.Her breaking heart threatened to beat out of her chest, yet she was frozen, unable to form the words she needed to warn Xander.
“Well, then, where is the duke, please?I need to understand what is going on here.”
Evie heaved a sigh, resigned.She’d done this to herself, waiting too long before confessing.She stood and faced the doorway, waiting for the inevitable.
Rogers appeared, likely to tell the duke that the countess wished for an audience, but Evie’s mother pushed past him.“Evie!There you—whatever are you wearing?”
Flashing a side glance at Xander, Evie stepped forward to hug her mother.“Mama.I’ve missed you.And I have a lot to tell you and the duke.Might we get tea please, Rogers?”
He nodded as though she’d been a visiting lady all along and reversed his direction to inform the kitchen.
Xander stood behind his desk, eyes flicking between her and her mother.
“My lord, would you join us by the fireplace?”She gestured to the seating area.
He raised his brows already having learned that even an earl’s daughter shouldn’t be directing a duke, much less in his own home.
But he acquiesced, coming around the desk and choosing a chair.His expression was unreadable, as though he had erected a wall between them.Her heart ached at the idea.
The ladies perched on the settee.Evie’s backbone snapped extra-straight, not touching the back of the sofa, just as a lady would in any drawing room she visited.It was as though she’d always been here as herself in an alternate reality.Or else this was a dream.
A footman brought in the tea tray.As if it was the most natural thing in the world, Evie said, “Thank you.I’ll pour.”
Her mother snatched the annoying cap off Evie’s head and breathed a sigh of relief.“Lud, your hair is too tight, you’ll give yourself a headache.But I was afraid you’d cut it all off or something.Now,please, someone tell me what is going on here.”
“Yes, I’d like to know as well.”Xander spoke for the first time since her mother’s appearance, his voice a rumble through tight lips.
Evie handed them their cups and saucers and left hers down.Fisting her hands in her servant’s garb, she took a deep breath and started.“My lord, as you may have guessed by now, my name is Evelyn Allen.This is my mother, and Louisa, who lives in the village, is my aunt.”
Her mother narrowed her eyes and muttered, “I’d wager LouLou had something to do with this, too.”
Evie hastened to add, “Mother, this was my idea.Please don’t blame Aunt Louisa or the duke.He hired me as a servant and has treated me—and all his staff—very well.”
“You’re here without a chaperone!That is not treating you with the respect you deserve.”
“He didn’t know.”
Xander opened his mouth to say something, but she sent him a pleading glance.Glaring at her, he subsided.
“He had no idea.I did this because I was young and stupid when I asked for the betrothal to the previous duke but regretted it when I discovered his Tory leanings.And yes, I know Papa has a few, but he listens to you and is fair, at least most of the time.That is what I want in a marriage, and Xand—his lordship was a complete unknown.I needed to see where his politics lay.”
“So you came here as amaid?”Her mother screeched the question at a near-shout.
