Eve barely had enough time to change out of her soaked gown before being summoned downstairs for tea. It seemed, apparently, that Noelle’s drunken gentleman, who’d very nearly ended up an actual snowman, would be gracing them with his presence once again.
“I thought you were wearing your sage muslin?” Noelle frowned as she examined Eve’s gown. She was already pacing back and forth in the drawing room awaiting the man, which ought to have given Eve cause for concern.
If she didn’t have troubles of her own, that was. “I… It had a tear.”
“Sit here.” Noelle grasped her by the arm and led her to a rather ancient, if not somewhat comfortable, settee.
Eve had brought her embroidery downstairs and immediately set to finishing a cluster of marigolds she’d been stitching onto one of her summer gowns.
But as she began making her stitches, she had to fight to keep her hands from shaking. He’d kissed her, and she’d not stopped him. Dear Lord, she’d melted at his touch, the same as she’d done before. It had been Nick who put a halt to the kiss. She touched her mouth in wonder and then ran her tongue along the inside of her bottom lip.
His teeth had ground into hers. She’d tasted blood in her mouth afterward. Her heart fluttered. She’d kissed him back as though he could help her find herself again. The very thought was a dangerous one.
Because he was part of the reason she’d lost herself in the first place.
Holly entered the drawing room, along with Aunt Winifred, and Noelle nervously chattered on and on about this Blitzencreek fellow.
“Why is he coming for tea, exactly?” Holly asked.
“Because it is the gentlemanly thing to do,” Eve answered in the manner she imagined her mother would have, almost out of habit.
Eve never cried and yet she’d burst into tears when she’d delivered the pie. And having turned into a watering pot, she had wanted to be alone.
Why else would she go sprinting through the trees like that? Eve brushed impatiently at her hair and released a trembling breath.
She’d felt an unlikely sense of relief when she realized he’d followed her.
He’d tried to make a joke of it. He’d never taken anything too seriously before, while courting her, and she’d adored the trait in him. But he’d never once been cruel like that. His joke about her mother had been unforgivable. Eve jabbed the needle through the cotton fabric and hissed when it poked her finger.
He did realize her mother had died, didn’t he? She’d told him as much in her letters.
“You’re ruining it.” Noelle pointed out a cluster of unruly knots on the back of the cloth.
“You’d ruin it too if everyone expected you to be perfect all the time,” Eve snapped and immediately felt sorry for it.
“No one expects you to be perfect.” Eve felt Noelle’s curious gaze but couldn’t bring herself to apologize. Why had Nicholas said those things?
As the weeks turned to months, and the months to a year, she’d assumed he’d simply not cared enough to wait for her—or to write back, even—and yet he’d accused her of leaving him without letting him know. “If you didn’t want to marry, why didn’t you just tell me? I’d have been more than happy to take care of your needs without the shackle.”
It was almost as though he hadn’t read even one of her letters. But she’d sent them to both his London lodgings and then to his parents’ estate.
Her musings were interrupted when Lord Blitzencreek was ushered inside. As the only place for him to sit was the empty space on the settee beside her, Eve didn’t have much choice but to make a valiant attempt at observing the niceties. She only required a few seconds to notice, however, that the man only had eyes for Noelle. She remembered that look all too well on another gentleman’s face.
Eve stared down at her needle and thread.
She had even written to his mother, for goodness sake, asking after his health. His mother’s response had left her feeling humiliated. The duchess had written back expressing her most sincere condolences upon the news of Eve’s mother’s death. She’d added that they had enjoyed meeting her entire family and…
Nothing more.
His mother had not specified who, exactly, she’d been speaking for, but Eve could only assume herself and her husband and their son. Eve remembered how she’d prepared herself for the possibility that something had happened to Nicholas. Why else would he stay away? Why else would he not even respond?
A familiar sickening sensation returned whenever she recalled how low the letter had made her feel. She’d chosen to disregard the rumors she’d heard about him when they’d first met, to ignore his roguish reputation.
She’d stubbornly believed that he’d loved her. His betrayal was almost worse than if he had sickened and died.
Whereby she immediately rebuked herself. She did not mean it! She was glad he was alive. The world would not be the same place if something had happened to him.
“Lady Eve would be delighted to show you some of her drawings. She is also a most excellent musician.”
What on earth was Noelle up to? Eve flicked her gaze around the room, wondering what she had missed.
“I haven’t played in ages.” She grimaced.
The baron remained focused on Noelle despite her sister’s ungainly attempts to turn his attention in Eve’s direction. Although the conversation grew somewhat livelier, Eve couldn’t stop thinking about Nicholas and his odd comments earlier. She mindlessly served tea and then sipped at her own cup.
She had been tempted to sit down for tea with him instead of return to her aunt’s house right away. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ll send a missive of your whereabouts around to your mother.”
What if he hadn’t been making a joke? It hadn’t even been close to funny.
Of course, he had
