“Did something fall in the study?” asked Mrs. Petersham.
“No.”
Meredith’s head tilted. “Oh? I swore I heard a loud?—”
“Shall we get this over with?” he asked with a growl as he escorted them to the door.
He was once again in a foul mood. He couldn’t have Meredith and he would spend the next couple of hours watching Mr. Evers court her. The Inquisition could not devise a more devious torture.
Mrs. Petersham gave him a sphinxlike look that he could not read as she passed him out the door. Darius gritted his teeth. What was it his father used to say?
He must grin and bear it even if it bloody well killed him.
“How are you finding London, Miss Montague?” Jordan Evers asked Meredith. The gentleman accompanying her on a ride was one of her first suitors and one she liked quite well. He was a second son to a baron and quite wealthy from successful investments, but what Meredith cared about was his kindness and his genuine interest in her. It also didn’t hurt that he was quite handsome.
Their horses walked side-by-side in Hyde Park. Meredith didn’t have to strain too much to look up at the gentleman beside her because she sat atop a tall, impressive mare rather than one of the smaller mounts most ladies rode. Darius didn’t possess any dainty geldings or mares. When she’d seen his groom bring around this roan-colored mare, it had dwarfed its handler. She had needed a bit of help to mount the horse, but at the moment she was glad for its height.
Meredith turned her focus back to Mr. Evers’s question. “London? Oh yes, I like it very much. It is busier than I’m used to, but I feel as though I’m settling in.” That wasn’t entirely a lie. She was enjoying the bustling pace a bit more now that she didn’t feel so lost and hopeless.
“That’s good to hear.” Mr. Evers offered her a warm smile and briefly glanced behind them. Darius and Mrs. Petersham were a short distance away riding their own horses, providing a discreet escort for her and Mr. Evers.
“Pardon me for saying so, but Tiverton looks ready to murder me,” Mr. Evers mused.
Meredith’s face heated. Darius was being overprotective. Her first instinct was to blame herself, but for the first time in her life she stopped herself. Why should she feel responsible for what Darius did and how he acted? No…if there was guilt at play here, it fell upon his shoulders alone.
“He is overprotective. I think perhaps because he’s never had a sister or other female relation to usher into society. I believe he is a bit…baffled as to how to act.” This was true enough. He would have had more practice if he’d had a sister or even a cousin to chaperone before now.
“I could understand that, but I swear, the way he looks at you at times…” Mr. Evers seemed to realize what he was implying and cleared his throat. “Forgive me, I mean no offense, but is there an understanding between you and Tiverton?” Evers kept his voice low so as not to be overheard.
“An understanding? No…” Meredith wished with all her heart there was but there wasn’t. There never could be.
She had heard part of the discussion between Frances and Darius about her unsuitability to be his duchess. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but she had come down the stairs, ready to ride and couldn’t find either of them. She’d gone to his study, assuming they might be there. As she’d been about to open the door to see if Darius was inside, she’d overhead his conversation with Mrs. Petersham.
“She is not suitable… As much as she would make a perfectly suitable wife…a titled lady…a duchess, is another matter entirely…” Darius’s words had embedded in her chest like knives. But she understood his concerns. That was the worst part of all. What hurt her the most though…was that he hadn’t even given her a chance to prove his fears unfounded. He had assumed she couldn’t survive his world. He hadn’t even asked her what she thought about it. He had instantly dismissed her as a marriage option.
“I’m sorry. I should not have asked,” Mr. Evers apologized. “I can tell it has upset you.”
“Please, do not apologize.” She looked around at the beautiful park spread out before them. It was such a lovely place to feel so crushed and without hope. “You are not the only one who believes he is interested in me. The situation is… complicated.”
“It wouldn’t be complicated for me. A man either loves you or he does not. If he loves you, he should claim you without hesitation.” Mr. Evers spoke as if that was the easiest thing to do.
Meredith turned to Mr. Evers. He was the epitome of a gentleman. Well-dressed, well-behaved, sincere in his intentions and honest. He was handsome, easily everything she should want in a husband. Yet she did not feel that inescapable pull toward him the way she had to Darius from the moment she met him.
“Mr. Evers, do you believe in lightning?”
He chuckled. “I suspect you are not asking me about the weather phenomenon but something else entirely?”
She smiled a little sadly. “You’re right. I speak of another type of lightning.”
Mr. Evers’s eyes softened. “Ah, that elusive type of lightning that blinds you to all others. I take it you have been struck, but not by me?” When she didn’t answer right away, he seemed to accept that as his answer. “Ah, well. I had suspected as much. But I cannot understand what keeps him from claiming you. The way he’s been looking at me all afternoon, I feel confident in saying he wants you.”
“It has to do with the matter of my birth, Mr. Evers. I have not yet been honest with you about that part of my life.” She swallowed hard and hoped that in confessing her truths to him, he would not turn away. She desperately needed a friend.
“Then tell me, my dear lady. You seem to be on the verge of tears, and such a thing would be my undoing.”
His kindness, not her history, were what brought tears to her eyes then.
“I come from no great family and have no money to my name. I’m illegitimate, and my parents have no special lineage to offset that stain. I am not the bastard child of a duke or an earl, just a gentleman who convinced my mother he was worth ruining her life over. He was not.”
