Evelyn leaned forward and took her friend’s hand. “And how many others have fallen for the same trick, Selina? Yes, I may not have experienced much, but I am versed enough in the scandals of society men.” She gave Selina’s hand a squeeze. “You need stability. You need a man who will love you deeply and for the rest of your lives. You need a man who will provide you with wealth and security.”
“And be bored for eternity? Goodness, where is your sense of excitement? Where is your sense of romance? You forget, Evie, that I have spent two years out in society and I have been inundated by the same dull gentlemen. They might have different names and faces, but they are all the same, with the same earnest charm, the same ideas of what I should be, the same offers and promises, which have left me feeling so very hollow. Theonlygentleman who has sparked anything within me is Anthony.”
A strange pang caught Evelyn underneath the ribs. She had not forgotten how inundated with interest her friend had been, for she had, more often than not, been standing besideSelina during those floods of attention. Indeed, even without experiencing it herself, Evelyn could understand how something different might feel very exciting, might even feel like love.
Perhaps I am wrong.
“But… his reputation!” was all Evelyn could say.
“I do not care,” Selina shot back.
“Well, you should. He has no prospects, he has little fortune, and what he does have has been garnered in… less than respectable ways,” Evelyn urged. “You could be a duchess, Selina. Why would you settle for so little?”
Selina looked stung, recoiling slightly from her friend. “My father has made adequate provision for me.Thatis my security. As such, I may fall in love with whomever I please. He is respected among society, he is well connected, and I do not deem loving him as settling for less.”
“He is not respected, he is feared,” Evelyn pointed out. “Gentlemen tolerate him because he organizes the best boxing bouts, nothing more.”
“Boxing? What on earth are you talking about?”
“Ask him when you respond to his letter,” Evelyn said. “Ask him where he makes his fortune.”
“Well, I sh?—”
The parlor door opened and Luke entered, his eyebrows rising in faint surprise at the sight of the two women on the settee.
“Apologies,” he said with a polite dip of the head. “I did not realize we had company. It is a pleasure to see you again, Miss Parsons.”
Selina smiled. “Your brother let me in.”
“Ah, I see.” Luke glanced at his sister. “You might have informed me that we had company, Evelyn. I would have greeted Miss Parsons properly, and I certainly would not have entered this room without knocking.”
There was a cold tone to his voice, likely imperceptible to Selina, but one that Evelyn had heard over and over throughout the two decades of her life: the note that said,You have done something terribly wrong again, Evelyn. Goodness, can you never do anything right?It was disappointment and frustration, blended together, sometimes with a hint of outright derision.
“Did you think I was talking to myself?” Evelyn said, even if it got her into more trouble. She was already in a fiery mood, and it seemed she could not douse it quick enough.
Luke’s eyes flickered with annoyance. “I did not hear any talking at all, though I daresay I do not know what it is you do with yourdays. Perhaps you do speak to yourself, for it certainly is a rarity to see you speaking to anyone else.”
It was, Evelyn suspected, the primary source of her family’s general impatience with her. To the men of this household, a woman’s sole purpose in life was marriage, and the longer it took Evelyn to find a husband, the harsher they would treat her, as if that broad punishment of making her feel like a burden and a nuisance would somehow make her hurry up. They did not seem to realize, however, that her lack of success was not caused by a lack of trying.
For the first two years, she had tried very hard indeed… and that had only seemed to make her circumstances worse. She had gone from at least one gentleman asking her to dance at a ball to no one asking her at all, or even deigning to notice her.
“I apologize,” Evelyn said stiffly.
Luke sniffed. “Yes, well, I was just looking for my book.” He surveyed the room. “Ah, there it is.”
He went to the writing desk on the far side of the parlor to collect the book, and bowed his head politely to Selina once more before he made to leave. Of course, he could not leave without making Evelyn feel just a little bit smaller.
“I need you to vacate this room by noon,” he said curtly. “I have gentlemen coming to discuss very important business.”
Evelyn sighed. “Of course, brother.”
“Actually, I should also be going,” Selina said, adding insult to injury. “I have an appointment at the modiste in half an hour. I just wanted to come by to tell you my news, and now that I have done so, I shall be out of your way.”
Luke hesitated. “Allow me to lead you to the door, Miss Parsons.”
Without another word, Selina rose from the settee and went directly to Luke, allowing him to offer her his arm. Their footsteps echoed down the hallway, soon followed by the sound of a courteous farewell, and theclickof the door closing.
Another strange punishment, from Selina this time, for Evelyn’s lack of support in the face of what could only be a disastrous match. Not said in words but in action, to the feeling of,If you cannot be accommodating, then you can be alone.
