Page 50 of Evie and Louis: The Story so Far

“I suspect so, though presently running scared from his wife and desperately trying to think of a good explanation for the loss of her jewels,” Louis added.

“Well, the excitement appears to be over, so I had better escort you home, Miss Anson,” Mr Lane-Fox said, holding out his arm for Vivien.

“Oh, and I must collect my bag of presents,” Aggie said, dashing off.

Louis waited until they had walked off, smiling at Evie as she held out his coat for him.

“Thank you, ma petite,” he said as she helped him on with the snugly fitting garment.

Louis stared down at her as her small hands smoothed his lapels.

“There,” she said, once she was satisfied.

“As efficient as my valet,” he teased gently, wondering if he dare flirt with her. “Should you like the job?”

“And have poor Elton cut my throat whilst I sleep before casting himself into the Thames? I think not. That man guards you as jealously as the crown jewels,” she retorted, laughing as she took his arm.

Evie looked up expectantly when he did not immediately escort her out.

“Would you have cared if I’d fallen, Evie?”

Her expression was one of horror. “Oh, Louis! How can you ask such a ridiculous question? We have been friends for too long. You are my confidant and the keeper of my secrets, no matter how foolish they are. You are irreplaceable and you know it, therefore I conclude you are fishing for compliments.”

Not compliments, only a glimmer of hope, he begged silently. Only the merest hint that I might one day be more than I am to you, mon coeur.

“Ah, you see through me with such ease,” he said sadly, though such an emotion was too easy to summon.

“No,” Evie said thoughtfully. She stared up at him, her green eyes so piercing he wondered what it was she did see when she looked at him. “I do not believe that is true, Louis. Perhaps it was once, but no longer. I confide in you, but you no longer return the favour. Do you no longer trust me?”

Louis hesitated, uncertain of what to say in reply, for if he trusted her with his heart, would he not give it to her now, without question? But she was not ready for such a declaration, she was too young, too innocent for a man with so many secrets and so very dark a past, and he was too afraid she could hurt him like no one else had ever done before. The kind of hurt that he would not survive.

“I give you more than anyone else on this planet, Evie,” he said, his voice grave, choosing his words with care. “And I trust you above anyone else, save my own brother. One day I hope you may be the keeper of all my secrets, but I would not burden you with them now, for they are not pretty things to be shared lightly. I am not so shabby a fellow that I would ease my own mind in return for causing you distress.”

“Are your secrets so very grave, Louis?” she asked, and he cursed himself for the concern already clouding her beautiful eyes.

Louis lifted her fingers to his lips and kissed them. “My past is complicated, but it is in the past. The future is so much more agreeable, n'est-ce pas? Let us consider that for now.”

“For now,” Evie agreed, perhaps sensing she would get no more from him on the subject, but her expression remained wary as he escorted her out.

Louis prayed he had not done more harm than good.

Chapter 23

Just a Little Daring

Louis,

What in the name of everything holy have you been up to?

―Excerpt of a letter from Monsieur Nicolas Alexandre Demarteau to his brother, Louis César de Montluc, Comte de Villen. Translated from French.

Nic,

I know, I know. I am a thousand times a fool and I beg you will forgive me. My judgement is not what it once was and the reason for my desperate bid for attention was to be found in the audience. What could I do but act like an infatuated boy showing off for his sweetheart?

Perhaps you should do me a kindness and shoot me, for I fear what I might be reduced to next. Perhaps I will call out Mr Hadley-Smythe, or pick a fight with any one of her growing legion of admirers. Mon Dieu, I am making myself crazy.

―Excerpt of a letter from Louis César de Montluc, Comte de Villen to his brother, Monsieur Nicolas Alexandre Demarteau. Translated from French.