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“Of course. Evan told me about your ordeal over lunch, but I need to hear your version. It must have been horrid, Ally. I don’t know how you got through it.”
Ally shook her head. “Really, Sophie, we’ve been through so much worse. This was merely an inconvenience.”
“I’m so very glad Evan was with you. I know you are angry that he wouldn’t let you travel alone, but thank goodness he was there. What would you have done if he hadn’t been?”
Probably not made a huge mistake. But of course she couldn’t bring voice to those words. Even though her intimate moments with Evan were the most precious moments she’d ever experienced, they had been a mistake. Still, Sophie was right. If Evan hadn’t been there, Ally might not have survived. But she was not going to appear weak. “I would have been just fine, Sophie. Goodness, if there was one thing life with Mother and Father taught us, it was how to take care of ourselves.”
“During life with Mother and Father, we were never without shelter.”
“Yes, that is true. However, there were certainly times when I went to bed hungry.”
“Well perhaps our bellies weren’t always filled to the brim as they are now,” Sophie said, “but you went nearly two days with no food at all.”
“We had water. Fresh water at that, from the rain.”
“I?
??m just so thankful that neither of you were seriously injured. And also that you were able to find the small shack for shelter. What did you do while you were there?”
Ally couldn’t help a small smile. If her sister only knew! She’d lost her virginity to the man least likely to have taken it. But Sophie could never know that. Mother and the earl could never know that. She needn’t fear anything from Evan. He would want to keep this as quiet as she did.
“We talked a bit. He wanted to know about our childhood, but I was quite vague.” Ally hated lying to her sister, but she didn’t want Sophie to be embarrassed around Evan. “He told me a little bit about his mother, and about how he wished she had been loved by his father, the way he loves Mama.”
“I’m glad you kept it vague about our childhood,” Sophie said. “It’s not that I’m ashamed of it, but it was just so horrible I would rather pretend it never happened. The more people who know, the more I can’t erase it.”
“It’s a part of who we are, Sophie. Believe me, I wish it had never happened either. But it did, and like it or not, it has shaped who we are. We just can’t let it color our futures.”
Sophie sighed. “You are correct, of course. What else did you do in the shack? If you were vague about our childhood, I can’t imagine that you spent forty-eight hours talking about Evan’s mother.”
No, they certainly hadn’t. Her cheeks warmed as visions of making love with Evan twirled in her mind. “We were lucky enough to find a deck of cards in one of the cupboards. We played a little whist.”
“With only two of you?”
Oh, she had put her foot in it now. Why hadn’t she said some other game? Of course, she was ignorant as to card games. “We had to change the rules a bit. But at least it was something to do.” Now please, Sophie, don’t ask me any more questions.
“I’m just happy you’re all right.” Sophie smiled. “Do you feel you should see a physician?”
“Oh, heavens, no. I’m absolutely fine. A little banged and bruised is all. Millicent brought me a headache powder, and it’s already starting to help. The warm bath did wonders also.”
Ally filled her plate from the tray. The food did look good. She took a bite of chicken sandwich. Her mouth was dry, but she chewed and swallowed with a loud gulp. It didn’t taste like sawdust after all.
* * *
“My lord, we were just getting ready to close.” Mr. Jenkins, the clerk at the printing office walked toward Evan.
“I’m afraid I’m going to need some information.”
“Of course, my lord. What may I help you with?”
“You can tell me, Jenkins, why I was summoned near the end of the workday, when I have just returned from being stranded from a carriage accident, to be informed that my company has been printing obscene material.”
Confessions of Lady Prudence
by Madame O
“Oh, my lady.” She sighed. “Your breath on my neck, it’s so…so…”
I pressed my nearly nude body against her still fully clothed back, my nipples poking into the soft cotton of her garment. I blew against her neck, the wisps of hairs drifting slowly.
