“I knew it!” I crow, picturing the broad-shouldered, dark-eyed man in question. “It was so obvious he had a crush onyouthat time when you sprained your ankle.” Evie had been coming back from dance class when she realized she’d hurt herself and needed help getting home. It’s just a short walk really, but the butcher’s apprentice was passing and had been all too happy to lend a hand. “He was so flustered when you thanked him. I wasn’t sure if you were just being nice. But you’ve been seeing more of him, haven’t you? Is that why you’ve been having extra lessons, so you can keep running into each other on your way home?”
Her expression is so distraught I immediately drop the teasing tone.
“Shit, Eves, you really like him, don’t you? That’s why Ada’s marriage talk has been terrifying you, because you want to be withhim, right?” She and I both know Ada would rather cut off her own arm—strike that, cut offEvie’sarm—than let her daughter marry a butcher.
“Ilove him, Leah,” Evie whispers, her eyes shining with tears.
“Oh sweetie,” I rub her arms, my heart cracking at seeing her so upset. “It’s okay. Once we have a license, we’ll get out of here, and it won’t matter anymore what your mother thinks. You’ll be able to see whoever you want. You won’t need her or father’s permission to marry anymore.” I tilt my head to one side, offering a wry smile. “Although youarestill pretty young; I’d maybe wait a bit before you make any quick decisions. You’ll have all the time in the world to get to know him then.”
But Evie looks far from reassured. In fact, she’s chewing her lip to a pulp and refusing to meet my gaze. My gut twists in agitation.
“Is there something else?” I ask.
“What if I didn’t have a lot of time?” she says quietly, her fingers smoothing down the front of her skirts.
“Eves, what do you mean?” I ask. My voice comes out harsh, strained by the fear coiling inside me. When she doesn’t answer, I smooth back her hair from her face. “Talk to me.”
She lifts her eyes at last, and I see the tears have started to fall. Her words come out in a whisper.
“I’m pregnant, Leah.”
Chapter 3
Leah
Arift has opened beneath my feet, and I’m suddenly falling through the air.
“What?” I gape. “No, Evie. Please be joking.” My voice drops to a frantic whisper as I check the kitchen door, making sure we’re really alone. “I taught you about the herbs. I explained to that you had to take themevery timeif you were going to be with a man…how could you let this happen?”
She winces. “It’s my fault. Jeremy said he didn’t mind waiting, butIwanted to. And I thought it would be safe. I remembered your instructions, I swear. There was just one day I was sick, and I guess they didn’t take…”
She straightens, releasing a deep breath, and wipes the tears from her face with a delicate gesture. When she speaks again, her voice is steadier. “I know the situation isn’t ideal, but I do love him, Leah, and we’re going to make this work.” She grabs my arms, gripping me tight. “Jer is already making preparations. He’ll have his license soon—a real one—and then we can get married. The only thing is?—”
“No,” I shake my head, hoping to somehow wipe the last few minutes away from existence. Still, my mind is already whirring, trying to find a way out of this. “You can’t rely on him. You barely know the man. I have enough saved for a single counterfeit license—they don’t cost as much as the family ones. You can take that, and that’ll keep you out of the workhouseuntil I can get together enough money to join you. I’ll find a room for you. Maybe Hodges…”
It’s Evie’s turn to shake her head now. “It’s not your job to fix everything. Jer and I have talked this over, and this is what we want. Jer can take care of me. I don’t want you to keep giving everything up for me.” Her voice softens. “I see what it costs you, Leah. The bruises and scratched arms you think I don’t notice, the way you’ve started scanning a room whenever you walk into it, looking for danger. Your room is right above mine—do you think I don’t hear you waking up shouting from your nightmares?”
I stare at her. “I thought I was being a bit more discreet than that.”
She sighs. “I never asked you to be discreet—or to risk your life to look after me. I don’t need to be protected, Leah. Not from your work, not from the truth, and not from the consequences of my own choices. Frankly, I never asked you to do any of that for me, even though I know you felt you had to.”
Something inside me bucks aggressively at her words. Of course I had to. She doesn’t understand. She’s too young and too sheltered to realize how much danger she’s in.
“She’ll be so furious, Eves,” I say, my voice low.
Evie pulls a face. “She’ll survive.”
“Yes, but will you?” I ask. “Will the baby? When Ada finds out you’ve jeopardized her precious reputation like this, she’ll do something terrible, I know it.”
Not murder, not directly—Ada’s too self-interested to risk landing herself in jail. But we both know how cruel she can be. Evie might be her daughter, but her standing in society will always be more important. I have visions of Evie being locked away in the attic room until her due date, then the baby being whisked away. Or worse, Ada making sure Evie never has the baby at all. Ada wouldn’t hesitate to break Evie’s heart, ruin her health, destroy her spirit. And she’d do it all with a smile on her face if she thought she was saving her family from a worse fate.
“That’s why I need your help,” Evie says, clasping my hand. At least she seems to have taken my words of warning seriously.
“Anything,” I say. Even if I’m blindsided by all of this, I don’t hesitate. I willalwaysshow up for Evie.
“I just need you to buy us some time. A few weeks. You know I’m terrible at standing up to Mother, but I can feel she’s brewing something. She keeps saying things that frighten me. Help me find ways to put her off making any plans with suitors until Jeremy has his license. Then, like you said, we won’t need her or father’s permission to marry, and Leah, we can both be free.”
“Both of us?” I frown.
