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“You are just in time,” Hunter drawled as he stood. “I was about to become very preoccupied.”
Evie looked at him with uncertainty. “You were?”
“Very,” he reiterated as he leaned back against the front of his desk. He had intended kissing Evie into submission if he could not attain it in any other way.
“I will not stay long,” Lady Margaret assured him dryly. “The younger of the two gentlemen who left looked extremely disgruntled. I trust you have not been talking out of turn again, my darling?”
Evie frowned her at the gentle admonishment. “Why does everyone always assume it has to be me who has been outspoken?”
“Possibly because it is,” Hunter mused. “She told the Duke of Plymouth that both he and his clothes look ridiculous,” he confided to the older lady.
“Because he did. Does,” Evie maintained. “Someone needed to tell him. Maybe then, he will stop making a fool of himself by strutting about London dressed in that garish way.”
From the way in which Lady Margaret was pressing her lips together, it was obvious that she wanted to laugh out loud and was desperately trying not to.
“But you cannot go around saying as much,” she eventually managed to chastise Evie. “Remember how upset Mrs. Alnott was when you laughed at her Easter bonnet?”
Evie turned to Hunter. “It had a nest in it,” she explained. “A real one. I half expected that at any moment, little chicks would pop up their heads and start cheeping.”
Now Hunter was the one having difficulty holding back his laughter. Evie really was the most singular of young ladies. Unique.Loved.“What is it you wish to say to me, Lady Margaret?”
“Ah. Yes. I have already discussed this matter with Evie, and she made me promise that when I thought the time was right, I should tell you what I confided to her.”
His brows rose. “And you think now is the right time?”
“I do,” she said firmly.
“In that case, you must have your say.” He indicated for her to sit beside Evie on the chaise.
* * *
Evie held on to Lady Margaret’s hand in encouragement as the older lady told Hunter of the estrangement that had always existed between his mother and father.
Hunter’s expression remained stalwart throughout, making it impossible to know what his feelings were on the matter.
“Your mother was not a bad person, any more than your father was,” Lady Margaret concluded. “They were just ill-suited to be married, and once you were born, and despite Charlotte being the one to banish your father from her bedchamber, I do not believe either of them had any interest in resuming the intimate side of their marriage.”
“But you are saying my father remained faithful to her for the next twenty years?” Hunter sounded incredulous.
“Until he met Mrs. Gardener,” Lady Margaret confirmed. “That was most certainly a love match.” She glanced at Evie. “I believe they would have married each other if they had been able to do so.”
Evie could see the workings of Hunter’s mind, he being a man of logic rather than emotion, as he absorbed the information Lady Margaret had revealed.
“Thank you for telling me.” He bowed. “I admit that at one time, I had wondered if blackmail might have been utilized to persuade my father into providing in his will for Mrs. Gardener and her daughter.”
Evie’s back straightened. “How dare you?” She glared at him. “My mother truly loved the duke—”
“I also understand why you felt now was the right time to tell me, Lady Margaret,” Hunter added softly. “If I can prevent Evie from jumping to conclusions for two minutes together, then we might succeed in resolving our own situation.”
“You just accused my mother of blackmail—”
“I did not,” he answered patiently. “I said I had oncewonderedabout that situation. Since coming to know you these past few weeks, I have realized how ridiculous the very idea of it is. No woman capable of the machinations of blackmail could have produced such an outspoken young lady as you as her daughter,” he added wryly.
Evie was unsure whether or not she had just been insulted. Or if her mother had. Or if either of them had. Or if neither of them had.
“I believe I will leave the two of you to continue your conversation now.” Lady Margaret stood to cross the room and place an affectionate kiss on Evie’s cheek. “Please allow the duke to have his say without interruption, my love,” she encouraged before curtseying to Hunter and closing the door softly behind her as she left.
Evie turned to look expectantly at Hunter.
