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Chapter Eleven
In the three days since the conclusion of the Almack's ball, Evelina had not been able to get Thomas out of her head.
This had been true for the most part since the fireworks show, of course, but it was different now. She knew what it was like to be held by him, touched by him…
She could not go back to the way she’d been before.
Nor could she stomach spending any more time with Jerome, not when Thomas had so clearly stated his intentions to court her instead.
So why, then, had Thomas not come calling since the ball, to make a formal request for courtship?
Evelina had been sitting in the drawing room, contemplating all of this in lieu of reading from the book of verse she’d brought along, when she caught sight of her father’s carriage arrive just outside the window.
That’s odd. I thought Father wasn’t due back for another week.
Evelina rose from her seat and went to the foyer to receive her father, curious as to what might have cut his trip short. Hopefully it wasn’t anything of a drastically negative nature—she had been looking forward to not only telling him about Thomas, but seeing the look on his face when he learned she truly had taken his advice about the Season to heart.
“Good day to you, Father,” Evelina said when the Duke of Alderleaf entered, accompanied by various members of his personal staff.
Father looked more exhausted than Evelina usually saw him. He stood slightly hunched—clearly, his joints had taken a beating at the hands of the bumpy carriage ride. “Evelina. My Darling. You are a sight for sore eyes, indeed.”
“What has happened to put you in such poor spirits?”
Father waved the comment away. “Inconsequential. What’s past is past. Why don’t you accompany me to my study, where we can properly regale one another with tales from the past week?”
Evelina did as she was told, swapping places with her father’s attendant so that she might be the one he leaned on as they walked up the stairs.
Inside the study, Evelina took the chair opposite her father’s desk and crossed her legs at the ankles. She waited as he settled into his own chair, jaw tight as he fought to hold back a groan. Her excitement at his early return wavered upon seeing the pain he was in.
Even so, Evelina could not contain her news any longer. “Father, I am glad to see you returned to us. Even more so than I would typically be—I have some exciting information to share.”
At this, Father’s face brightened visibly. There was still tension in the way he was gritting his teeth, but his eyes had taken on the familiar, tell-tale spark that Evelina had always adored. “Oh? Pray tell, what is it, Child?”
“I took your advice regarding the Season to heart.”
“I’m pleased to hear it! You’re giving the Marquess of Newhey a true chance, then?”
“Well…not exactly.” Evelina fought the urge to fidget, suddenly nervous. Why, she could not have said. From her father’s perspective, the courtship of a duke was certainly preferable to that of a marquess. “I did as you said in that I opened my heart to the potential of courtship in a general sense. By doing so, I’ve become acquainted with a…well…differentpotential suitor that I believe you and Mother will be quite fond of.”
Father had looked a little disappointed when Evelina had implied that she still had not taken an interest in Jerome, but that disappointment shifted to outright eagerness by the time she’d finished her statement. “Who is this gentleman who has caught your eye?”
“The Duke of Elvington, Lord Thomas Russell.”
Evelina was not the sort of person who went into conversations with rigid expectations as to the way they would unfold. Life was far more chaotic and unpredictable than that, even within the folds of theton, where most important decisions were made years before the critical choice point.
Even so, Evelina had been relatively confident in her father’s reaction. She had assumed he would be thrilled at the prospect of her potential marriage to a Duke. Or at the very least intrigued.
She had not expected him to shoot upright out of his chair, aching joints forgotten, his face scarlet with rage. “Absolutely not.”
“Father…?”
“The Russells are a scheming, slimy, no-good family all around. Never in a million years would I let one of those snakes steal away my eldest, my greatest pride and joy!”
Evelina felt as though the room was spinning around her. “What have they done to warrant such a reaction?”
“Whathaven’tthey done?”
“Father, you’re not making sense.” Evelina rose from her chair and approached the desk. Tears pricked at her eyes. “Lord Elvington has done nothing but treat me with the utmost kindness and respect, I don’t understand where all this is coming from.”
