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No, not seemed. ItwasEvie.
Holding the softness of her in his arms, breathing in the light floral perfume of her hair, Hunter knew that for the first time in his life, he was exactly where he was supposed to be, holding the person he was supposed to be with.
Was this love?
Was heinlove with Evie?
His cautious and skeptical nature said he could not have fallen in love in so short a time.
The rightness he felt inside him told him he was a fool if he tried to convince himself of that.
He loved Evie.
Was in love with her.
Wished to be with her in every way and manner possible for the rest of his life.
Except…
He was also her guardian, a role which—despite their intimacies yesterday—prevented him from declaring his feelings for her.
Yet.
He pulled back slightly. “Change your mind and come to London with me,” he urged forcefully.
She blinked back the tears. “If that is what you truly wish me to do?”
Hunter wished for Evie to do much more than that, for her to be much more than that, but for the moment, having her accompany him to London would have to suffice.
CHAPTERELEVEN
“I beg your pardon?” Lady Margaret prompted uncertainly as she looked up from where she was once again sitting in her favorite chair beside the window in Evie’s bedchamber. This time, it was to supervise the maids in the packing of Evie’s trunk and bags in preparation for their journey to London.
“I asked if the Duchess of Lincoln was a nice woman.” Evie winced as she repeated the question which had caused Lady Margaret’s brows to rise in surprise.
The older woman dismissed the two maids before answering. “Charlotte was my friend.”
“That is not what I asked. Although I am sure, as your friend, she must have been a lovely woman,” Evie added hastily.
Lady Margaret gave her an affectionate smile, then sobered. “Being lovely and the best of friends does not mean Charlotte was without faults or blame in other areas of her life.”
Evie was well aware that she, at least, had many faults. The worst of them, it seemed, being to constantly jump to unfair conclusions about Hunter’s behavior.
To be fair, he had not reminded her of those assumptions during this past week as they all prepared for their journey to London tomorrow. In fact, Evie had seen little of Hunter.
He had spent most days either in his study or out and about on the estate with his new estate manager. Which was part of the reason for the delay in their journey: Ben Watkins and his family had left for Gloucestershire several days earlier.
Hunter did sit down to dinner with the two ladies in the evenings, his manners always impeccably polite, but he always left immediately after he had eaten and was not seen again until the following day.
It was…frustrating behavior, to say the least.
By tacit agreement, Evie and Lady Margaret had continued to avoid the subject of that evening a week ago. Evie because it still mortified her to even think about it. Lady Margaret, probably because, having recovered from her initial shock, didn’t know how, a week later, to so much as broach the subject.
“But I am surmising that your question has a more…personal purpose?” Lady Margaret probed gently, revealing she had far from forgotten that evening.
“I am merely…” Evie avoided the other woman’s gaze. “My mother was, I believe, also a nice person. I am also sure that her affection for the duke was genuine. As his appeared to be for her.” She had witnessed the two together many times, and to all intents and purposes, they had seemed like a happily married couple. Not one that went out and about socially or in company, of course. But at home together, in her mother’s cottage, they were always very loving toward each other. “I am simply trying to understand that situation.”
“That seems reasonable,” Lady Margaret acknowledged. “For the moment, I think it best if I merely state the facts as I know them, without bias or prejudice.”
