“Oh no.”He narrowed his eyes and spoke through gritted teeth.“You don’t get to come in here and say I compromised you.You wished to speak to me, do it here, or like your so-called civilized peers like to say, visit at a decent hour with a chaperone present.”
She sighed.Seeing the situation from his viewpoint, his lack of trust made sense, but it still hurt.She’d anticipated that he’d be calmer by now, but she’d caused him a mix of embarrassment and pain.Squaring her shoulders, she hoped he’d listen to her explanation and find some resonance with his own situation.“Please imagine a young, impressionable girl—”
He snorted and folded his arms across his chest.
“—of ten-and-seven in her first season.She has a decent dowry and thus is the belle of all the balls.Then a surprisingly young duke—a duke!—pays her attention.And he doesn’t need her dowry, so he must like her for herself.”
“Sounds like the normal shallow-minded self-centeredness of the Ton.”
Evie stamped her foot, and his brows rose.He unfolded his arms as though to close the door between them.
Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to remain calm but spoke faster in fear he’d stop listening and shut her out.“I believe I mentioned she was young and impressionable.And very sheltered.’Twas only after the papers were signed that she understood his nature.He was a bigot and a snob, and he expected her to be silent, acquiescing to his direction at all times.And, once there were children, likely out of sight in a country home like this one whilst he sowed his wild oats in London.”
Re-crossing his arms, he drew his mouth to the side, looking skeptical.
She threw out her hands and begged, “How could I have known?Navigating the politics of London for a young débutante was like—like you navigating the House of Lords decisions needing your input.If you hadn’t had help would you have known what questions to ask?”
He narrowed his eyes.
She hoped that meant he was thinking.“I came with the best of intentions—”
He snorted again, indicating she’d lost what little sympathy he might have felt.
“I did,” she insisted.“Please, if nothing else, believe that.I didn’t want to be miserable.Nor did I want you to be wed to someone who didn’t suit you.Let’s be honest, I’m not the quiet demure type.I was never going to sit quietly by whilst my husband made atrocious decisions that hurt our country and caroused with other women.”
His lips twitched as the corners of his lips betrayed him.He was clearly suppressing a smile.
“Before your predecessor died, I was already looking for a way out of the marriage.I was frantic.Then you inherited and no one knew a thing about you.Xander, you know me.”She was wringing her hands now in frustration and earnestness.“I am the last person to care about your background.I simply wanted to know if you were a good man.”
The still-silent duke continued staring at her.It was time to be brave.She stepped in, toe to toe with him, laying a hand on his forearms, just in front of his heart.“And Xander, youarea good man.The best of men.And somewhere along the way, I fell in love with you.”
“Ha!”
The bark of laughter made her blink and step back.His response to her confessing her love was laughter.A knife twisted in her chest.He wasn’t going to forgive her.
He continued at full voice, “Fine.You asked me to believe you had the best of intentions—if nothing else.That is all I’m willing to believe of all this nonsense.You are here because you decided you want the pub manager duke for some reason.Perhaps I am a trophy.Perhaps ’tis to save face.Perhaps—” he leaned in and lowered his voice a degree.“—’twas the bedroom lessons.Whatever, I’m not falling for the ruse.Dealing with being a nob after hating them all is bad enough.I don’t need to abide liars.”
With that, he stepped back and slammed the door, leaving Evie inches from it alone in the hall.She stared at it, motionless, wishing she could have told him earlier, or finished that note to Aunt Lou, or had one more chance to hold him.The clank of glass behind the door meant he’d moved on from their conversation, pouring himself a drink in all likelihood.She returned to her servant quarters with tears streaming down her face and her heart shattered.
* * * *
Evie sat with her mother and aunt in the sitting room off her parents’ bedroom, perched on the footstool between their chairs.A tea tray and cups sat abandoned on the table behind her.
She’d chosen this seat against her mother’s admonishments about ladylike behavior so she could be within touching distance of her favorite relatives.Lud, she’d missed these ladies.Despite her joy at seeing them again, her eyes stung and were swollen despite the cold compresses of tea she’d kept on them for a half hour this morning.
Her mother sat with lips pressed together and her hands gripping her knees.“Evie, whatever were you thinking?”
“I was about to tell him.I’d hoped for a few more days, but cousin Hollie arrived and caught me.”
“I’m talking about all these weeks, not the past day.You have everything a girl could want—pretty dresses, an account at the bookstore, friends.Yet you are up here scrubbing floors and whatever else.”
“You saw what happened.The previous duke was all smiles and courtly manners until he had Father’s signature on the marriage contract.Then he became dictatorial and standoffish if I stepped so much as a toe out of line.Plus, he was aTory.I told you and Father I wanted to break the contract, and you said to bide my time.As though I was being flighty.”
“You’ll excuse us if we worried you’d change your mind yet again.You’d already changed it once in a matter of a month.”
“Based onhisbehavior.”Aunt Lou stepped in to defend her, and Evie squeezed her knee in thanks.
Mama waved a hand.“I suppose that is all beside the point now, anyway.How could you believe this was the solution though?”
