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Evelina felt a shiver of foreboding shimmy down her spine as she walked into the drawing room, seeing the three gentlemen awaiting her there. She had just been summoned by her father, which was unusual. And she should have known that something was brewing by the way Papa and Richard had been constantly together, riding off all over the district, as if on some mission.
Evelina stiffened. Now she was fairly certain what that mission was. The third gentleman in the room, besides her father and brother, was Sir Henry Beaumont. He was an old friend of her father’s who also happened to be the father of one of the most eligible gentlemen in the district, Mr Edward Beaumont.
He was the gentleman that Caroline was always going into raptures about. It was unusual, to say the least, that she had been called to have an audience with this gentleman, and she could tell by the look on the faces of her father and brother that something was up.
Quickly, she glanced around the room, half expecting Sir Henry to spring out from behind a chair or a potted plant. Mercifully, he didn’t.
“Evelina,” said Sir Henry, smiling at her warmly and holding out his hands to her. “How lovely you look, my dear. The very image of your dear departed mother.”
Evelina took his hands, allowing him to kiss her on both cheeks. She wasn’t particularly close to the gentleman, but she knew him well. Sir Henry was a baronet who had lived on a neighbouring property ever since she could remember. His wife, Lady Beaumont, was a nice lady, if a trifle silly and superficial. Mama had always been a bit irritated by her.
They had two sons, the heir to the baronet, Mr Beaumont, and a much younger child, Mr Thomas Beaumont, who had just turned fifteen. Mr Beaumont was only a couple of years older than Evelina, and unfortunately, took after his mother in temperament as far as she was concerned.
Edward had always struck her as vain, superficial, and self-absorbed whenever they met over the years. Thankfully, he had never given her much attention, being too intent upon himself.
However, Mr Beaumont had grown into a most eligible bachelor that all the local ladies coveted and fought over. Evelina supposed he was handsome, in a bland, very ordinary kind of way. But more to the point, Edward could turn on the charm when required.
But he had always left her cold. She didn’t much like him at all, and she couldn’t imagine that would change if he actually spoke more than two words to her, rather than sneak peeks at any looking glass he happened to pass by.
“Sir Henry,” she said, taking a deep breath. “How kind of you. And how is your wife?”
“Tolerable,” said Sir Henry, nodding quickly, so his jowls wobbled. “She has a touch of the vapours at the moment. But she is very much looking forward to Christmas, as are we all.”
“Shall we sit down, Evelina?” asked Richard, indicating a sofa. “I have sent for tea.”
Evelina stifled a surge of irritation. How typical of her brother that he was acting like he was the host when he didn’t even live here full time any longer. Quickly, she glanced at her father, who refused to meet her eye. It was this uncharacteristic gesture, more than anything else, which caused another shiver to fall down her spine. He had been refusing to meet her eye a lot more since Richard had arrived home for Christmas.
She suddenly felt like she was being rounded up, just like an unruly sheep into a pen.
They all sat down. There was an awkward silence for a moment. Sir Henry smiled at her again, before leaning forward, gazing at her intently.
“My son, Mr Beaumont, sends his warmest regards to you, my lady,” he said. “He has been thinking about you quite a lot. In fact, he is calling here this afternoon to see you and hopes to take you on a walk through your gardens.”
Stunned, Evelina simply gaped at him. So, her suspicions were correct. Theywereconspiring together to round her up. This was all a calculated endeavour, for she didn’t believe at all that Sir Henry’s son and heir had been thinking about her at all.
The Beaumonts only lived five miles away and Mr Beaumont had never just called upon her out of the blue. His father was pushing him to do this, and her father and brother had set it up, bringing Sir Henry into the scheme to exert pressure upon his son to start courting her.
Her heart twisted in anger. She could see why Sir Henry had agreed to the scheme. He was an ambitious, clever man. Marrying his son and heir to the daughter of a duke would greatly increase his position in life. Both parties would gain something they wanted.
They had set the wheels in motion quickly, for it had only been two days since they had visited the Beaumont house together. Sir Henry must have got on board from the very start.
Evelina stared at her father, unable to believe he was actually doing this to her. They had laughed together privately at what a vain peacock Mr Beaumont was. He knew she held no admiration for him. And now, he was calculatingly trying to marry her off to the gentleman.
It hurt very much. She had believed they were of one mind and so close. But it seemed she had been wrong. As soon as Richard had crooked his little finger, her father had come running. She knew he was especially susceptible to manipulation because he was still grieving so much, but that didn’t make the hurt any easier to bear.
“Evelina?” Richard’s voice was hard.
She glared at him. He had rounded her up so well that she had no choice but to comply. It would be rude in the extreme to refuse a house call from Mr Beaumont, and even if she made a quick excuse, saying she was busy or felt under the weather or something, it would only delay the inevitable.
She took a deep, ragged breath. It was only a house call. It wasn’t a betrothal. Not yet anyway. She would comply with it, but she would make it a priority to talk to her father alone, away from Richard, and get him to stop this madness before it went any further.
“Of course,” she said, turning back to Sir Henry. “That would be delightful.” She paused. “And how is Mr Beaumont? Has he been busy?”
Sir Henry nodded. “He is well, my lady, and extremely busy.” He shifted on the sofa. “My son is very popular in the district. He is constantly attending social events in the area. But, of course, his priority is to call upon you at the moment.” He gave her a patronising smile.
Evelina’s face tightened. She didn’t believe it at all. Edward’s strings were being pulled as much as hers were. He would know the advantage of courting her as keenly as his father did. The gentleman wasn’t besotted with her. If he was, he would have pursued her off his own bat long before now.
Abruptly, she was beset by a vision of Jude, kissing her passionately in the garden beneath the moonlight. Her heart twisted. She had believed at the time that it was genuine passion between them.
