“Please, and I can, because you will help me.”
“I am not hungry,” she lied. In fact, she was and had planned to eat something on her walk home until he’d appeared.
He studied her again. “You are an exceedingly stubborn woman, aren’t you, Evie?”
“Miss Spencer,” she snapped. “It is not right for you to call me Evie.”
“Very well, let us get down to business,” he said looking like a lion with the appearance of being relaxed, but ready to swipe you with a paw if necessary.
What she wanted to do was walk out the door, but she was also no coward. He knew things about her that could ruin her family. She had to stay and listen to what he said.
“I need a fiancée for the remainder of the season, and you need someone to help remove you from the clutches of the perfidious Cavendish. Shall we make a deal?”
“I’m not sure I should,” Evie said.
“Because?” He raised a dark brow.
“Because then I am not available to marry anyone, should they ask,” Evie said battling the rush of heat she felt filling her cheeks. “I’m sure my sister will attract an offer, but what if she does not? I need to be…” Her words fell away as she grappled to find the right ones.
“The standby, should your sister fail?”
Evie nodded.
“Just so I’m clear,” he said. “Your family’s financial situation is dire?”
The shame of those words had Evie looking to the left, and away from his piercing gaze.
“Yes or no, Evangeline?”
“Miss Spencer, and damn you, yes,” she whispered, still not looking at him. “We have the funds that I have won, but they will not last long. It is extremely expensive to live in London and have a season.”
“The shame is not yours.” The soft-spoken words had her looking at him again. “As I am sure it is because of you that your family have kept up appearances,” he added.
“Is there a point you wish to make, my lord?”
His smile was small.
“That you need money, and I can help you with that if you will help me.”
Their tea arrived then, so she said nothing further. Mrs. Humphrey looked more than happy with her situation when Evie glanced at her.
Once they were alone again, she said, “Why do you want to help me, Lord Hamilton?”
“Because, like you, I have no wish to marry until I must. My aunts are determined to change that.”
“You are an earl. Surely you can just say no?” Evie asked before giving in and picking up a fruit bun.
“I have no wish to discuss my reasons with you or anyone.” The words came out clipped.
“And yet I must tell you everything?” Evie said. “A man I barely know or trust.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Not everything,” Anthonyconceded. “The things that matter with regards to our engagement.”
Anthony wasn’t sure what had possessed him to bring her here to this tea shop. It wasn’t a place nobility frequented, and he had stumbled upon it one day and eaten the best wedge of cinnamon cake, so he’d returned often. It had been his secret, until now.
He’d tracked her down at the market, haggling with a vendor over potatoes and turnips. Anthony had wondered when, since he’d left Blackwood Hall, he’d ever been hungry and came up with no memory of that happening.
