“—are upstanding and not the sort who would take your funds. They’re the sort who would allow you the freedom you seek. But you’ve chased them all away.”
“I’m not chasing them off,” she said. “I’m narrowing the list.”
“By having your sister Charlotte tell a gentleman at the ball at Lady Harrogate’s last week that you wanted to stab the man with a hairpin?”
Despite herself, she chuckled. “I did not tell her to say that.”
He glared at her. “Or by just telling people that you’ll only dance with them if they can perform the perfect drill? Not a single misstep, or you’ll walk off the dance floor?”
“Oh, aren’t you dramatic?” She smiled. “I shall tell them to stop,” she said. “They were helping me narrow the list, that’s all. But I shall tell them that they’ve done quite enough.”
“I dare say they have. It has become increasingly difficult to find gentlemen willing to come for tea. To court you.”
“Is that so?” she said, although her tone gave away that she already knew it to be true.
“It is. The rumors…” he said, “they’re getting worse and worse. There’s a new one today. Saying that you poisoned my uncle.”
“I heard that one,” she said. “Although I’m uncertain how one would poison someone with a date pit.”
It wasn’t the only rumor that she knew of. She had heard a great many. Some said that she had poisoned Bertram. Others said that she had seduced Nathaniel long before any agreement had ever been made—that it had all been a ploy to trick him into marriage. None of it was true, and yet the rumors swirled.
“These rumors are spilling quicker than a cup of ink,” he said. “You must find somebody.”
She looked at him, and for a second, she wanted to ask him—why not him? Why couldn’t he marry her? They were already living together. People were gossiping about them, so why not?
But she couldn’t bring herself to say it. The mere fact that he was so very eager to marry her off told her that he felt nothing for her. Whatever that moment had been—when they almost kissed—it had been nothing but a fleeting illusion. Nothing of consequence. Nothing that mattered. She didn’t matter, not to him. Perhaps not to anybody.
“Evelyn—”
“No,” she replied, rising to her feet. “You need not worry. All will be well. Has Lady Appleton packed the rest of her belongings yet?”
“She has.”
In that regard, her plan had worked wonderfully. Lady Appleton had packed all her belongings and was moving out of the dower house to Ireland. Not permanently at first—just for a trial—but Evelyn knew once she was there, she would love it so much she would want to stay. And then the dower house, at least, would be hers.
Maybe her father could take everything that belonged to her financially, but she could have the house. Should she broach it with Nathaniel now? No—he did not seem in the mood. He never seemed to be in the mood, especially not today.
She smoothed down her silk skirt. “I’m leaving.”
“Leaving?” he asked, eyebrows raised. “Where are you going?”
“I’m meeting my sisters. We’re going to the Royal Menagerie and, after that, to get sweetmeats.”
“Very well,” he said. “Do you require funds?”
“My purse does not need assistance from yours, thank you,” she said, holding her head high. “As long as my father cannot get his hands on what is mine, I shall be well looked after.”
“He did not call me again,” Charlotte said as they entered the small café on the grounds of the Royal Menagerie.
In the distance, a lion—or perhaps a panther, or some other exotic creature—roared in protest at being locked in and then shut out again.
“Are you quite, quite certain he’s not simply busy?” Marianne asked.
“No,” Charlotte replied. “We had a grand time at the ball. He danced with me twice and said he wished he could dance with me a third time. He promised he would call on me and speak to Aunt Eugenia on my behalf, but he did not. I don’t understand.”
As they entered the café, Evelyn noticed how several people turned to look at them. Feathered fans opened. Whispers spread like perfume. A shiver slid down her spine as she remembered the ballroom and how gossip had swirled around them.
Were they talking about her?
