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“As am I.”
“I wonder how much my mother has told your father about all this.”
Evan cleared his throat. “I know she’s told him some because my father said she’d been through a lot during her time with your father. I can’t tell you how much I wish he were still alive, Alexandra, because if he were, I’d go and kill him with my bare hands.”
Her heart leaped. “He’s not worth the effort, Evan. Believe me, I’m glad he’s gone, though I wouldn’t mind seeing him taking a pummeling from you.”
“Yes, of course. You’ve been free of him for two years, and for that I’m thankful. And I’m beginning to see what my father sees in your mother.”
“Oh? You didn’t before?”
“No, I don’t mean it that way. She’s a lovely woman. Very pretty and smart and she clearly cares deeply for him. I’m talking about her strength—the strength she passed onto you.”
“If I’d been stronger, I’d have gotten all three of us out of there.”
“For God’s sake, you were only a child. And your mother was bound to him by law. There truly was nothing you could do.”
“Still…” Her hands itched, the same feeling she used to get when her mind was nearly exploding with all the thinking she did about how to get them out of his house. Again the invisible worms climbed upon her arms and legs. She’d learned long ago that brushing them away was futile.
She’d learned long ago that a lot of things were futile.
Evan held her against his strong body, and she found comfort there.
“Nothing like that will ever happen to you again. I promise you.”
“You’re right about that,” she said. “I made myself that same promise the day the bastard died.” And she had. No one would ever beat her down again. And never again would she worry about not having enough money. She’d see to that. “Goodness, enough about me. Tell me a bit about yourself.”
“I’ve had a very good life,” he said. “Even as a second son. My father wasn’t like Lybrook’s. He included me in the affairs of the estate. But I knew it all would go to Jacob someday, and I’d be left with nothing.”
All the more reason to continue her pursuit of Mr. Landon, Ally thought, despite the fact that Evan had turned out to be quite something after all—not the stuffy peer she’d thought he was. They’d shared a beautiful intimacy, but he didn’t have anything to his name. Once his father died, his lot in life would be up to his older brother, and why would Jacob want to share his fortune with Evan?
“Do you resent your brother?” she asked.
“Not really. Not anymore, at least. It’s not his fault he was born first. Neither of us had any say in the matter. And at least my father educated me. That’s more than Lybrook can say.”
Ally nodded. Lily’s new husband, Daniel Farnsworth, the Duke of Lybrook, had had his title thrust upon him when his father and older brother unexpectedly passed on. His father hadn’t taught him anything about estate affairs. He was learning as he went, and doing a fine job, thank goodness.
“What will you do when your father passes on?” Ally asked.
“I’ve got plans in the works. Business deals.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll be fine, I can assure you.”
She nodded.
He sighed against her. “We need to figure something out.”
“What?” she asked.
“Where we go next.”
Next? There was no “next” for them. They would go home, and she would continue with her plans to marry Mr. Landon. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” he said, “we must marry.”
Confessions of Lady Prudence
by Madame O
Dearest Amelia,
