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“Samantha.” Evie looked at her sternly. “You’ve never, in all your years on the marriage mart, hada slight infatuationwith any gentleman.”
“You didn’t either!”
Evie wrinkled her nose. “That’s irrelevant,” she said after a pause. “What I mean is, after all these years, you find a gentleman you fancy and you were going to let me marry him?”
“You know I had to!”
“No, you did not!”
“With what is going on with the Montbrooks, how was I to ruin your chances for a better marriage?”
“I wish everybody would stop making decisions for me.”
“But the Montbrooks—”
“We are friends and you should have been honest with me about this. How would I have felt if I found out about your feelings after I married him?”
Sam grimaced. “Isabel said the same thing.”
“Well, you should have listened to her.”
“I didn’t want to hurt your chances of an escape.”
“Yes, but not at the expense of hiding your feelings. If I were a lesser person, you would have lost me,” she said smugly and smoothed the wrinkles on her skirts in a prim manner.
Sam laughed. “I am lucky to have you as my friend.”
“I know you are.” Evie grinned. “In any case, this was the only reason why I seemed shocked last night. I thought you would’ve told me.”
“I wanted to, I really did. I just didn’t want to hurt you.” Evie raised her brow. “I am so sorry, Evie, dear. I promise, I shall tell you everything from now on.”
Evie looked down and chewed on her lip. “I don’t think I would have married him,” she said, still looking at her hands. “You know I was having second thoughts. In fact, I was about to call the wedding off when I came into the ballroom.”
“You were? Truly? You are not just saying that to make me feel better, are you?”
Evie shook her head. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in a loveless marriage. I shan’t.”
“But what about the Montbrooks?”
“Escaping one unwanted marriage into another is not a solution. I know that now.”
“But… What are you going to do now?”
“I am not helpless, you know. And I have a plan, do not worry,” Evie said and gave her a wink. At that moment, the maid came in with the tea tray and Evie proceeded to pour each of them a cup. “How about you tell me what you are going to do now, my dear friend? How does it feel to be a ruined woman?” Evie grinned and Sam swatted at her.
“I wouldn’t know. Not yet, anyway. This is the first outing I’ve been on since last night, and so far it has been wonderful.” She smiled and Evie laughed. “The only reminder of last night was the paper this morning. Have you read it?”
Evie nodded with a smile. “A Wakefield ball of immorality?Yes, I’ve read it. ” She giggled and took a sip of tea. “So our betrothed hasn’t come to ask for your hand yet?”
Sam shook her head. “I’d think he’d come to you first.”
Evie peered at the clock on the mantelpiece. “Well, it’s not calling hours yet, so he probably will.” She paused and sipped on her tea. “Sam, do you want to marry him? I mean, a kiss in the moonlight is one thing, but do you want to be married to him forever?”
Sam heaved a sigh. “My emotions are in quite a turmoil. I think I do, but how do you know for certain?”
Evie looked at Sam with a thoughtful expression on her face. “When you think about seeing him every day, waking up to see his face the first thing in the morning… Does it fill you with dread?”
Sam thought for a moment before answering. She hadn’t realized this before, but every morning she woke up with the urge to go for a ride and see John. She was excited to see him, and she was loath to leave him. “No, it doesn’t.”
