“Poor you!” He looked at her quizzically. “Why are you still wearing your hat?”
She laughed at him. “Because someone stopped me on my way to my room!”
He grinned. “Well, best hurry and change. You’ve seen Gisele?”
“Not yet.”
“Oh Lord,” he exclaimed, grabbing her arm and steering her back down the hallway towards Gisele’s door. “Forget changing. She’s been in a tizzy ever since…well, I’ll let her tell you.”
Without waiting for an answer, he reached his sister’s door and knocked once before turning the handle and going in unceremoniously.
“Look who’s finally returned, Zel,” he said cheerfully, pulling Evelyn in with him. “I caught her trying to sneak into her bedroom.”
Gisele was seated at large dressing table, brushing her thick black hair. At their abrupt entrance, she spun around on her stool, brush in hand.
“Evie!” she exclaimed. “Where have you been?”
“Strasbourg, the poor thing,” Nicolas answered, closing the door.
Gisele wrinkled her nose. “Did you mention that this morning?”
“It was last night, dear,” Evelyn said with a laugh, “but it was late.”
“I knew you’d asked to use the car, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember why,” she said with a grin, turning to resume brushing out her hair. She looked at Evelyn in the mirror and raised an eyebrow. “Why are you still wearing your hat?”
“Because no one has let me go take it off!” Evelyn reached up to pull out the hat pin and lift the hat off her head. “What’s so urgent that I had to come straight in here?”
Nicolas dropped onto the chaise lounge near the window and stretched out one leg, careful not to crease his trousers.
“I didn’t tell her anything, Zel,” he announced. “I didn’t want to steal your thunder.”
“You’ll never guess who came to visit today, Evie!” Gisele said, ignoring her brother. “Go ahead! Try!”
Evelyn sank down onto the end of her cousin’s bed and laid her hat beside her.
“If I won’t be able to guess, why don’t you just tell me?”
“Lord Gilhurst!” The tremor of excitement was clear in Gisele’s voice and Evelyn let out a soft gasp. Gisele met her startled gaze in the mirror and grinned in triumph. “There! I told you that would get a reaction out of her, Nicki!”
“Tony?” Evelyn exclaimed. “I didn’t know he was in Paris!”
“Oh ho! She’s on a first name basis with him!” Nicolas chortled from his seat near the window. “See that? I told you she wouldn’t be impressed. You’re the only one in this house impressed by English titles.”
“It’s not the title that impresses me, brother dearest,” she retorted cheerfully. “Did you see him? He’s magnificent!”
Evelyn felt a laugh bubbling up inside her. After her stressful day, the cheerful banter common between her cousins was exactly what she needed.
“He is very handsome,” she agreed with a twinkle. “And completely delightful besides. I didn’t know you knew the Gilhursts.”
“We don’t. Maman does,” Nicolas told her. “He had another gentleman with him who seemed disappointed that you were out. What was his name, Zel? Stephen something, wasn’t it?”
“Mansbridge?” Evelyn raised her eyebrows. “Stephen Mansbridge?”
“That’s the one!”
“Good Lord, what’s he doing in Paris?” she wondered. “Who else is here, I wonder?”
“You can find out tonight if you hurry and change,” Gisele said, setting down her brush and turning on her stool. “We’re going to dinner at Maxim’s, then dancing. Lord Gilhurst will be there, as will your Stephen Mansbridge.”
“And a few others, I suppose,” Nicolas joined in.
“He’s not my Stephen Mansbridge,” Evelyn said, watching as Gisele stood up and walked over to the large wardrobe in the corner. “He’s a friend of the family. We practically grew up together.”
“All the more reason for you to come.” Gisele pulled open the doors and reached for a shimmering blue evening gown. “But you have to hurry and dress.”
Evelyn laughed and stood up, scooping her hat into her hand as she turned towards the door.
“Very well!” She looked over her shoulder at Nicolas. “Come on, Nicki. Let your sister finish dressing in peace.”
Nicolas yawned and got up, following her to the door.
“Are you all right, Evie?” he asked as they stepped into the hallway and he closed the door behind them. “You seem unsettled somehow.”
Evelyn raised her eyebrows. “Do I?” she asked. “I can’t imagine why.”
His brown eyes seemed to study her thoughtfully for a moment, then his careless smile emerged.
“Perhaps it’s just my imagination,” he said easily, turning towards the stairs. “Go make yourself beautiful for Paris, my dear. You don’t want to disappoint your ardent admirers.”
Evelyn made a face at his back. “Sometimes, Nicolas, you’re just as bad as your sister.”
Chapter Ten
Evelyn crossed the large hallway, following the Buckley’s butler once again. It was just past ten in the morning before she pulled into the driveway leading to the château. She’d had a devil of a time getting out of the house that morning. Between Tante Adele wanting to reminisce over breakfast about her own visit to Strasbourg when France reclaimed it, and Gisele plying her for any and all information on Lord Antony Gilhurst, Evelyn had begun to think she would never make her appointment with William, or Bill as Josephine so casually called him.
This time, instead of leading her through the morning room to the garden, the majordome went down a wide corridor to a door halfway between the front hall and the back of the house. He opened it and announced her, stepping aside so that she could enter the large room. It was a man’s study, and William rose from behind a large, dark mahogany desk.
“Evelyn!” he exclaimed, moving around the desk and advancing towards her. “I was getting worried.”
“I apologize,” she said with
