“Oh, but he is not.” Joanna bit her lip. “I… I don’t know how much I want to say right now. All of it is very confusing, but I don’t want you to be cross with His Grace. Believe me, I am cross enough for both of us.” It was a strange feeling. She was angry with Evan, but still felt the need to defend him.
Something about the rain seemed to terrify him.
CHAPTER 28
The day after that horrible experience in Hyde Park, Evan took Joanna to the opera, with his grandmother acting as their chaperone. For once, she was staying close to them. He had a feeling she was feeling guilty after he got caught in the rain.
He expected Joanna to be outwardly cross with him when he picked her up. Instead, she was cordial, with a polite smile pasted on her face, and that felt worse.
On the way to the opera, he brought it up. “I must apologize for what happened in Hyde Park,” he said. “I can explain?—”
She shook her head. “There is no need to, Your Grace. I do not wish to remember that day. Let us never speak of it again.”
Frustration rose inside him at that answer. It was important to him that she understood why he reacted that way. However, itwas clear he wasn’t going to get an answer from her on that front. “You look beautiful,” he said instead.
She did look gorgeous, wearing a dark purple evening gown with diamond earrings and a necklace. Black embroidery decorated the front of her evening gown. The dark colors brought out the natural beauty in her dark hair and eyes.
She smiled at him, looking relieved that the conversation had taken a much safer turn. “Thank you, Your Grace. You look quite well yourself. I like the cravat. It’s refreshing to see you in something other than black.”
He looked down at the dark blue strip of fabric tied around his neck. “It was a gift from my brother last Christmas. He also thought I could do with some more color in my wardrobe.”
She smiled at him. Visions of her untying his cravat before unbuttoning his shirt flickered through his mind, but he pushed them away.
They arrived at the opera a moment later, where all opportunities for conversation ceased because they ran into Lady Penelope Atwood, her chaperone, and a man that the duke vaguely recognized as the Baron of Suffridge. They were inside the building, where a small crowd of theater-goers were chatting in small groups before they would be allowed into their respective seats. Penelope immediately embraced Joanna. “It’s so lovely to see you again,” she said.
“You as well,” Joanna said, laughing. “Are you here on a date?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes. The young man is as persistent as his taste in books is poor.” She made sure to raise her voice loud enough for the young man to hear. The baron merely smiled and looked completely unbothered by the insult.
The duke exchanged pleasantries with him, and Penelope seemed to remember that she wasn’t alone with her friend. She dropped a curtsy and gave a kind smile to the dowager duchess before her expression turned into a glower as she curtsied for him. “Your Grace,” she said flatly.
He nodded at her, careful to keep from reacting. “Lady Penelope. It’s nice to see you again.”
Penelope grabbed Joanna’s arm. “Let us go on a quick walk before we must take our seats for the performance.” She tucked her arm in Joanna’s and they walked away.
The baron smiled and shook his head before he made his excuses and went to mingle with some acquaintances. The dowager duchess turned to her grandson. “I am guessing the young lady is not very fond of you.”
“I should think not,” he said. He remembered Joanna mentioning that she had to defend him to Penelope after the ball, but he didn’t know where exactly he had lost Penelope’s good opinion of him. After all, she seemed happy enough to dance with him earlier in the night. “But it’s no matter.” He watched Joanna and Penelope talk to each other for a moment, but when he turned to look at his grandmother again, he realized she had disappeared.
His brow furrowing, he scanned the crowd, looking for any sign of her. He moved through the swarm of people, ignoring everyone who threw greetings his way as he looked for the dowager duchess.
Finally, he saw her on the edge of the crowd, talking to an older gentleman. Her back was to him, and he got a good look at the man she was with. He was dressed very finely, with thick, graying hair and dark eyes. The duke didn’t recognize him, but when the man saw him, he said a parting remark to his grandmother before disappearing into the crowd.
“Grandmother?” Evan said as he approached her. When she turned around, she was brushing tears away from her face. Alarm shot through him at the sight of her. “What happened?” he asked as he put his hands on her shoulders. “Who was that man?” He would destroy him for making her cry like that.
“It’s no one dear,” she said softly. “Just an old friend.” She hurried to dab away her tears with a handkerchief and gave him a strained smile. “I haven’t seen him in years and he just reminded me of your grandfather. That’s all.” She looked around at the crowd and the theater doors. “Do you think it will be time to take our seats soon?”
Even though she was trying to hide it, he could tell that she was still distraught. “Perhaps we should go home,” he said softly. “I can explain things to Miss Thorne. She might prefer to watch the show with Lady Penelope anyway.”
“Nonsense, my dear. We came all this way. And I dearly love the opera.” She smiled. “I just need a moment. Go find Miss Thorne. I don’t want to lose her in the crowd.”
He nodded. “Of course.”
He left to give his grandmother time to compose herself and instead went after Joanna. He found her talking heatedly with Penelope, who looked angry.
Penelope saw him first, and she immediately turned on him. “How dare you leave her alone in the middle of Hyde Park?” she said, outraged. “She could have been mugged! At the very least, she could have gotten a cold, being forced to walk in the rain like that.”
His worry for his grandmother morphed into anger. He gave the young lady a furious look. “I suggest you don’t make comments about my character without knowing the full story, my lady.” His voice was full of ice.
