“Close is one thing. But I suspect it is more than that,” he remarked. “It is not every day that a sister agrees to marry someone due to a favor she owed for her sister.”
“If you are trying to turn this into some grand revelation, Your Grace, I assure you, it is not necessary.”
“I am just following in your footsteps,” he said casually.
She raised an eyebrow, demanding an explanation.
“Trying to understand my wife better,” he replied.
“Is this another teaching moment?” Isadora could hardly resist the urge to seize the opportunity. “I show you what it is like to open up. You follow suit.”
Evan considered her words for a moment. “If that is what you want it to be.”
“Very well.” After a pause, she murmured, “I suppose I have always been more than a sister to Penelope. Our mother died when we were still young. Penelope was barely eight, and I was… well, old enough to understand what it meant.”
“You took on the role of her mother,” Evan noted without judgement. There was no sympathy in his voice which she wouldhave hated. Instead, there was only a practical acknowledgment.It is what it is.
It encouraged her to continue.
“I did not think much of it at first,” she said. “It started with small things. Making sure Penelope was dressed properly. Ensuring she ate, that she did not wander too far when we went to town. I suppose you’re right. In some ways, I became her mother.”
When Evan spoke again, his tone was lacking its usual teasing edge.
“That is a great deal of responsibility to take on,” he murmured. “Especially for someone so young.”
She lifted a shoulder in a small shrug. “It was not a choice. It was simply what had to be done.”
“And did anyone ever take care of you, sweetheart?”
Ah.The question that she dreaded the most. Because the answer, truthfully, had always been no.
“I did not require looking after,” she said at last though the words did not sound quite as certain as she wished them to.
“No,” he murmured in response. “I suppose you didn’t.”
Isadora exhaled, shaking off the strange weight of the conversation.
“I am glad you understand,” she said, reaching for her tea again. “Now, if you are finished analyzing my relationship with my sister, I should like to enjoy my morning.”
Evan chuckled, standing from his chair. “By all means, sweetheart.”
“You’ve decided to accompany me?”
Isadora peered her head out the carriage at Evan, who had appeared at the last moment right before she was about to depart.
“Very attentive of you to notice,” Evan replied, simply climbing inside and taking his seat directly across from her. He had to admit, there was something satisfying about seeing the surprise on her face.
“Well, I was unsure of your intentions.” She folded her arms in her lap. “You did not indicate to me this morning if you were going to be joining. I would have waited inside for you.”
“My presence here now is indication enough,” he replied. “And besides, I am not sure why that matters.”
“It does to me,” Isadora insisted. “There is a proper way to do?—”
“Isadora,” Evan cut her off, “I’m wondering if these rules ofproperbehaviorare entirely of your creation. In what world does carriage etiquette exist?”
“You belittle it,” she groaned, rubbing the side of her face. “And besides, it’s not about carriage etiquette,as you so delightfully put it. It’s about?—”
He cut her off again, “Predictability?”
