She rolled her eyes. “I do not see why it matters. We have been eating separately for the past three nights. You were not thrilled the last time we ate dinner together.”
“No, I was not. But I was willing to try it again. Lilly was going to join us for dinner tonight. She is quite concerned about your headache.”
Marina paused. “I did not know Lilly was joining us for dinner tonight. The maid just asked me if I was going to eat dinner with you or in my room.”
He nodded. “Of course. And the severity of your headache certainly matters on whether Lilly will be at the dinner table or not.” He said it so dryly, she almost thought he was being sincere.
She scoffed. “I believe we both know that is not true. I simply did not want to see you.”
He raised his eyebrows, as if surprised that she had been so forthright. But a small smile tugged at his lips anyway. “Iappreciate your honesty,” he said. “It saves time. Why are you avoiding me?”
“Why are you avoidingme? You have not been showing up for the scheduled time with Lilly like you said you would be.”
“I asked the question first,” he said. His voice was calm, which only irritated her more.
She crossed her arms protectively over herself. “You started punishing me because Lilly acted out. She is a child, and she acted like a child, but you blamed me.”
“She acted out because you insisted on changing her schedule,” he said defensively.
“I feel?—”
“You feel?” He scoffed. “All these feelings, and you still let Lilly down tonight. She waited for you at dinner after I made her promise to behave.”
“I do not need her promise! She is a child with pent-up emotions. Of course, they come spilling out now and then.” She shook her head in disbelief.
He stood up and started to pace around the room in agitation. “Then you should teach her how to control those emotions. Such things are just counterproductive, and they will only hinder her in life.”
“Emotions will hinder her? I daresay they will only help her.”
“Not when they make her sad and angry.”
Marina smiled. Despite Evan’s insistence that emotions were a waste of time, it was clear that his own emotions were ruling him right now—specifically, his love for his daughter.Now we are getting somewhere.“Of course, she is sad and angry. Her mother died. I cannot replace her in her heart or yours.”
“Myheart?” He looked at her as if she decided to speak fluent Latin to him. “I have been informed that I do not have one of those.”
“We both know that you do, as much as you try not to show it. Tell me, Evan, do you still love the late duchess? Perhaps you are grieving for her, and that is why you cannot let yourself care for anyone properly.”
Anger crossed his face. “I suggest you tread carefully about what you say next.” His voice was low and quiet.
“Why? What will happen, Your Grace?”
“Donot—” he broke off and took a deep breath, but he still looked tense, as if his anger was simmering just below the surface.
Marina could not help but watch him in mild fascination. It was rare for her to see someone struggle so much to control his or hertemper. Her mother certainly never bothered to try. If she were angry, then she would scream and shout. If she were sad, then she would sob pathetically so the whole house would hear. As for her father … well, he never cared enough about her, so it was impossible to get any sort of reaction out of him.
“Why should I not call you that? It is your title, after all. We are not husband and wife, not really. We are just strangers raising a child together because you are still in love with the ghost of your former wife.”
“I never loved her!” he shouted. He gritted his teeth as he glared at her. “I never loved her,” he said, his voice quieter now. “And she certainly did not love me. I needed an heir, so I entered a marriage of convenience, but I could never make her happy. I tried at first—I really did. But there was no point because she could not stand to be with me. Almost from the beginning, she had an affair with another man, and towards the end of her life, she moved out of my life completely.”
Marina looked at him, stunned. “She had an affair? I thought … Bethany had told me all of the gossip about you and the late duchess. She never mentioned such a thing.”
“Good,” he said, his voice grim. “I paid her lover handsomely to leave the country and to never breathe a word of it after he informed me of her death.”
“How long had she been living with him?” She could hardly believe her ears.
“A little over a year,” he said quietly.
“She left Lilly behind?”
