She swallowed the burn in her throat, her eyes bright with betrayal.
“This was about a dead man and your endless war with him,” she hissed. “And you are so consumed by it that you are willing to ruin your own life in the process.Ourlives.”
“Why do you think that not having a child will ruin our life?” he shot back. “Have you ever considered that we might we be better off for it?”
Isadora let out a slow breath, blinking rapidly as she felt herself start to shake. “You are denying me happiness.”
“Does it not make you happy to remain with me alone?” His tone turned defensive. “Why must we add another into the equation?”
Isadora felt herself recoil as Evan tried to reach out for her.
“You are correct that we see thingsverydifferently.” Her tone was clipped. “I do not have anything else to add, seeing as you have made up your mind and refuse to see things any differently.”
“Isadora, you are being childish again?—”
“Then so be it.” She turned on her heel. “I wish to be alone again.”
And with that, for the second time that week, she left him standing there.
CHAPTER 23
“You cannot avoid it forever, Penelope.”
Daphne’s gentle voice instructed the youngest Morton sibling, who only sighed dramatically in response.
“I am not avoiding anything,” she said finally, plucking at the lace on her sleeve. “I am simply… delaying.”
“Delaying?” Violet’s chuckle lightened the mood. “Is that what we are calling it now?”
“Oh, hush,” Penelope muttered. “You need not put me on the spot like this. While I appreciate the concern greatly, I do not think this is doing me any good.”
“You know as well as we do that your father will insist upon it,” Daphne continued. “It has been weeks since you last attended a ball, and still, there is no match in sight. He will not be pleased.”
Penelope grimaced but said nothing.
Isadora, who had been silent for much of the conversation, barely paid attention to what was happening around her. Her mind was elsewhere entirely. She had not intended to stay away from Evan for so long, but after their argument, she needed time to gather her thoughts and to understand exactly what she wanted.
So, she had decided to go home and stay there for a few days. Upon her arrival, her friends had decided to visit as well—and they found themselves in a park near the manor now.
“You are reluctant to enter society once again because you fear an unwanted match,” Daphne continued. “But in delaying it, you are only giving your father more time to fix you up with an even worse option. Is that not right, Isadora?”
Daphne tried to include her in the conversation—bless her—but Isadora only nodded absent-mindedly. Looking at her sister’s predicament, she could not help but be reminded of her own.
She had been the same way of course. Dreading a match and avoiding marriage altogether. It was not until she fell in love with Evan that she decided towantall that was traditionally expected from a young woman. Though now, it felt like dream she had dared to hold in her hands for a fleeting moment before Evan had crushed it beneath the weight of his own past.
She swallowed.
“You must at least make an effort,” Violet pressed, drawing Isadora from her thoughts. “Your father is hardly the patient sort.”
“That,” Penelope muttered, “is putting it lightly. I would not be surprised if he is not fixing up a match for me already.”
Isadora exhaled quietly, finally deciding to join in on the conversation.
“Perhaps Daphne and Violet make a fair point. You cannot avoid the balls forever,” she said. “Perhaps, if you go, you may find it is not so dreadful after all.”
“You—of all people—are saying this?” Penelope turned to stare at her in disbelief.
“Even I am surprised,” Daphne smirked. “Consider your disdain for such events in the past.”
