He sighed, approaching the front door. The lights were lit brightly, and when he knocked, it wasn’t the butler who greeted him, but Evelyn’s sister Charlotte.
“Your Grace,” she said. “Good, good. Come in. She has finally risen.”
“Finally risen?” he asked, confused.
“She was curled up in her bed like a bear going into hibernation. But Aunt Eugenia finally roused her again. She’s even dressed.”
“Good,” he said, though Charlotte’s words made it clear just how miserable Evelyn had been.
“May I see her, then?”
“I think she is preparing for battle with Father, but he hasn’t returned yet. She’s in the study.”
“I see,” he said, unsure if that meant he could go to her or not. The answer came in the form of Lady Eugenia, who stepped out of a room in the back.
“Your Grace,” she said, waving him forward. When he reached her, she placed one hand on his arm and dropped her voice. “You were quite right. It was a dreadful misunderstanding, but I believe there were other forces at play.”
“Your brother,” he said, and the woman nodded, a pained expression flashing across her face. He could understand why. If he ever heard that Julian had done something dreadful, he might feel the same, and they weren’t even really brothers.
He stood in the doorframe and knocked. Evelyn was sitting with her back to him in an armchair. At first, she didn’t move, but he saw the way her fingers gripped tighter around the edge of the seat. Then she turned to him.
“Nathaniel,” she said.
“Let me explain,” he replied. She got up and looked at him as Nathaniel steadied himself. “I think you heard things that you weren’t meant to hear.”
“I wasn’t meant to hear? Is that because they were about me?” she fired at him immediately.
He raised his hands. “No, no, that’s not what I meant. They were unkind things that I probably should not have said, but I was angry at the time, not at you.”
“At whom, then? Who else, other than me, trapped you into marriage?” she asked, tilting her head in challenge.
“Lady Charmaine. You saw her corner me,” he said.
Her stance softened somewhat, and she nodded. “I did.”
“Evidently, she and I knew each other back in Scotland,” he said, and Evelyn grimaced.
He immediately shook his head. “Not in that way. I assure you, I do not know her in that way—though she would’ve liked me to… well, know her.” He felt sweat break out on his brow. “She reminded me of a time we supposedly spent together, which is but a vague memory to me. She spoke of how wonderful it could’ve been, made apologies, and tried to defend herself for the things she did. She… she made it quite clear she thought herself the superior bride. I made it clear to her that I was not interested and that I would not tolerate her saying such things to me again. I was telling Julian about it, about how I would’ve been trapped in a marriage with her, as though I could never get out.”
“Any other parts?”
He ran a hand through his hair again. At this rate, he was going to be bald soon from how often he did that when nervous.
“Your father and I quarreled. Just before that, I was telling Julian about that as well. My anger about him and about Lady Charmaine mingled, and I said all manner of things—in not a very eloquent way.” He scoffed. “Which is quite ironic, given how we were meant to celebrate the eloquence of my speech at the House of Lords.” He smiled and shook his head. To his relief, he saw a small smile lift her lips as well.
“What did he say—my father?”
He pursed his lips. “He asked for money. A large loan for a venture he wanted to invest in. I said no. There was a quarrel. I may have told him once more what I truly think of him and how he treated you, and how he might treat your younger sister, if not for me. It was… uncomfortable, to say the least.”
She closed her eyes and let out a breath. “Oh no. What a fool I’ve been…”
“What do you mean?” he asked. “He told you things about me, didn’t he? Lies?”
She shook her head and walked to the window. “Halston showed up. And he must’ve seen I was distressed and used the opportunity to once again imply that you had a carte blanche—or ‘assorted ladies’ or whatever he was trying to imply. In any case, it was clear he meant for me to believe you were still engaging in debauchery. That you hadn’t changed.”
“I haven’t changed,” he said. “I am the same man I was in Scotland. I will never apologize for having been a rake. I will never apologize for having enjoyed myself. I had a life before I met you. I am still the same man I always was—with the exception that now I have one wife whom I love, and whom I wish to share my bed with, and none other. Besides, I have not visited the back rooms of any such clubs since we met.”
“He said he saw you go into the back rooms at Westcott’s,” she said. “Well, Lord Halston said that. And when I asked my father, he confirmed that he had seen you there.”
