However, when he was finished, there were no cheers and applause—or rather, not intimate applause, as most people seemed to be simply knocking their closed fists on the wooden benches instead. But there were a few cheers as well. Someone called him out on something he had said, and quickly, all turned to where the voice had come from, firing back. A debate erupted, and she watched, both shocked that there would indeed be people who would stand against a bill to help children, but more impressed by Nathaniel, who fired back with facts.
“Well, he can speak,” a voice beside her said, and she turned. Instantly, her shoulders stiffened. Standing beside her was Halston. What was he doing here? He wasn’t even a peer, but merely the heir to one. “He always had a way with words.”
“And how would you know that? You were hardly friends,” she fired back, making sure her voice remained quiet and dignified.
“I suppose it’s in his family. His uncle was always one to talk a great deal. I do hope for your sake that he is more a man of action than his uncle ever was.”
“He is,” she said. “And I would remind you that he outranks you, and speaking of him in such a manner does not become you. It makes you look envious and small.”
“You did not speak so highly of him when we first met. It is well known what your opinion of him was.”
She felt shame now for having thought ill of him at all. “I did not know him well then. I know him now.”
“Do you? Well, I have heard rumors that the two of you have set aside your differences now that you are married. And looking at you, looking at the way you admired him as he spoke, it seems those rumors were true. Although I must wonder, do you smile at the man or the title?”
“I beg your pardon?” she asked.
“It has been said that your agreement goes beyond mere affection. That your arrangement is mutually beneficial. He needed to silence those wretched rumors, and you have benefited greatly from being?—”
“I know that you have not had the good fortune of finding a woman whom you truly admire,” she interrupted. She wanted to say, ‘a woman who would put up with you,’ but knew that it wasn’t very graceful. “But once you do, you will see that there are many layers to any marriage. Nathaniel and I—that is, His Grace and I—have discovered what we can accomplish together. That is all.”
“I see. That is good. I am glad to know that you have an agreement. I would not want to think that a woman as bright as you would have allowed herself to be blinded by a man like him.”
What was he talking about? Evelyn knew that this man would say anything to vex her, anything to make her doubt Nathaniel. But he couldn’t. He wouldn’t.
“I assure you, there’s nothing left in the shadows between Nathaniel and me.”
“I’m glad to hear it. So you know everything, then?”
“If everything you are referring to is his past in Scotland and his dalliances, yes, I do.” She did know everything about it because she had had an honest conversation with him. He had admitted to being an awful rake back in Scotland. He had never ruined anybody, but he had enjoyed the company of many ladies. This had made her a little insecure, given how she had experienced exactly zero gentlemen, but as it turned out, it had not mattered in the least.
“Well, you are a very lenient woman, then, to allow your husband to carry on in such debauched ways.”
“He does not carry on,” she said, aware now that a few people were looking at them.
“Oh,” he said. “That was my mistake. I thought you said you were clear about everything. Well, perhaps you are not.”
She didn’t want to ask what he meant. She knew he only meant to rile her up, and that these were likely simply lies. And yet, a part of her could not stop thinking about the way Nathaniel had stumbled into the house with his hair disheveled. He said it was a fight. Was it? And he still went to the club. He told her that he went to the club to talk to the other Lords and that it was the best place to do so because everyone was in a merry mood. And she knew that her father had done the same. All gentlemen went to clubs, after all. It was where the real work was done. Wasn’t that what people said?
“I will not have you speak badly about my husband to me.”
Halston sighed. “Oh, my dear Duchess, I had thought more highly of you than that. Surely you cannot believe that you are anything other than an inconvenience to him—an inconvenience he had to deal with. I wish you had not cast me aside as you had. I could’ve given you something true, something real, something that was not based on lies and deception.”
“He does not lie to me,” she said.
“Are you that certain? Have you not heard the rumors?”
“I hear a great many rumors, Lord Halston. What sets me apart from others is that I know how to discern truth from fiction. Now, if you will excuse me.”
She turned and was about to make her way out when he took her by the wrist, stopping her.
“I admit, I am still displeased by the way you ended our brief courtship.”
“It was hardly a courtship.”
“It would have been, had you given me a chance. But you must believe me—no matter what he told you about me, I am a good man. And I do not like to see a lady deceived and lied to. If you do not believe me, have tea this afternoon. Ask some of the ladies about what happens at the clubs—about what your husbanddoes there still. If you do not want to hear it from me, perhaps hearing it from another woman will make you wake up.”
She yanked her arm free and burst out of the door. She wasn’t going to listen to him. It was foolish. She knew Nathaniel now. He would never betray her.
