“She had the luckiest escape, I shall say that.”
“That she did. And I will ensure that this time around, she ends up with somebody who can value her. Maybe somebody who can soften her brisk edges. Put her mind at ease. Pray, can you find out what Lowey’s present location is and what he is doing?I should not want him to interfere. There was a woman at my home. Older, with a walking stick. I assume she is a relative of the Langley girls. Can you?—”
“Lady Eugenia Harcourt. Wife of Sir Frederick Harcourt. Quite respectable. She is their aunt. They are from Bournemouth, but she has stayed in London at their home for a while. I think it is to look after the family while the father is wherever he is.”
“I see.” He leaned back and swirled his drink around the glass as he glanced at the names again. He would see Lord Franklin that evening. He knew he was a keen card player, and if he in any way resisted Nathaniel’s suggestion to court Evelyn, he knew how he could persuade him. Nathaniel had always had a lucky hand at cards. He would trick him if he had to. Indeed, he feared that he might have to take quite a few of these gentlemen to agree to court the duchess, not just because of her manner and wrestling personality, but also because the mourning could pose a challenge. He liked to attempt to dismiss it, but the reality was the reality. Some gentlemen might be less than willing to court somebody who had not even yet buried her husband.
On second thought, he realized, perhaps it was best to leave the venture until after the funeral. But as soon as the old dragon was under the ground, he was going to see to his widow and make sure she got out of his house, posthaste.
“Marriage?” Charlotte said when Evelyn had finished telling them the latest ridiculous turn her life had taken. “He wants you to marry?”
“Yesterday, if possible,” Evelyn said, and nodded. “He was quite determined.”
“But how?” Marianne asked. “You cannot get remarried. If you wish to marry now, you would have to get an annulment.”
“There will be no annulment,” Evelyn said and got up. “If I got an annulment, I would have to revert to being a single woman of marriageable age. And I do not want that. And you should not want that for me. It is horrid. No, I shall remain a widow. But what I shall not do is?—”
Her sisters looked at each other and then at her as though she had spoken in some foreign tongue. They did not understand.
“But I thought you said you had to marry if you wish to?—”
Evelyn grinned. “Indeed. That is the term he set. I must court to find a husband. During that process, I am allowed to stay at Sinclair Estate. But he did not set a timetable. You see, I shall do as he pleases. I shall court everybody he presents before me, but I shall make sure that not one of them wishes to marry me.”
“But how?” Charlotte asked.
“And why?” Marianne added.
“Because that is my way to freedom.”
“But do you not want to marry?” Marianne asked. She had always been the most naïve among them all, so it didn’t surprise Evelyn that she saw some sort of romance in all of this. “You might find a wonderful gentleman who is kind and loving and will let you have all the freedom you so desire.”
Evelyn scoffed. “All I want is my freedom. I hope and pray that you one day find a gentleman such as you have just described—for yourself, and for you too, Charlotte—but as for me, no. It is not what I want. Ever since Mother died, I have done everything Father demanded of me. I have represented this family. I have behaved myself. I have done what he wished. I have married the most unfortunate man, and I shall not let it happen again. Now, do you still have your collection of scandal sheets?”
“Of course I do,” Charlotte replied. It had long been her preferred hobby to read and collect the scandal sheets. She had stacks of them in her chamber. Evelyn had never quite understood her sister’s fascination with them, but now they would come in handy.
“May I borrow them?” Evelyn asked, as if asking to steal the crown jewel.
“Yes,” Charlotte said.
“You shall have them all back once my quest is over. I shall need the scandal sheets from the last two years.”
“I haven’t got two years’ worth of scandal sheets,” Charlotte said, indignant.
“Of course you do,” Marianne said with a light laugh. “We all know that you keep them sorted by year. You have sheets at least from five years ago.”
Charlotte grew red. “And what if I do? It is good to be able to reference the past. Besides, sometimes a rumor starts, and it’s not picked up again until months later, so I must be able to refer back.”
Evelyn bit her lip at the ridiculousness of it all. “Well, for once, I have to agree,” she said, a ring in her words. “I do need to refer back to the past. I must find out everything I can about the gentleman Nathaniel wishes to set me up with—old rumors, things they like and dislike.”
Marianne’s forehead creased. “But I thought you just said you do not wish to marry. So why would you want to know their preferences?”
“Silly you,” Evelyn said, “so that I can be the very opposite of what it is they’re seeking.” She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “I must say, this venture might be far more amusing than I first gave it credit for.”
CHAPTER 5
“But Lord Stafford,” Nathaniel said, as he followed the man down the hall, “You were meant to dine with us.”
The man stopped, tugging down his blue waistcoat and shaking his head.
