“I don’t—”
“Don’t fight it,” Anthony whispered in her ear. “Besides, it will have Prudence and Mr. Landon spending time together daily; I will ensure he is invited. There will also be other eligible men there. Plus, it gets you out of London and away from Cavendish.”
She looked like she wanted to argue.
“Wouldn’t you enjoy that, dear?” Aunt Petunia said to Prudence.
“Oh yes, very much so,” she said, which sealed Evie’s fate.
“Excellent,” Aunt Aggie said. “We shall be off then, as we have much to do.”
They always had “much to do.”
“I shall find my way home,” Anthony said.
They left as they had arrived, chattering like a nest of chicks, and Anthony started walking with Evie’s hand on his arm again. He liked the feel of her close, which should worry him a lot more than it did right then.
“My mother was like your Aunt Petunia,” she said as the silence stretched between them.
“What was she like?”
“Strong, determined, and beautiful. We always knew she loved us even when she was cross.”
“You take after her, then?”
She looked at him, brow raised. “Perhaps in the strong and determined part.”
“I’m sure your family know you still love them when you are cross with them, like now,” he added, looking at Prudence, who stood a few feet away with Landon, shooting her sister looks. Neither of them mentioned he thought her beautiful, which she was. Not a classic beauty, but all her own.
“Go and talk to your sister. You are blood. It is important that you always make up after an argument. One never knows what will occur to ensure you don’t.”
“What does that mean?”
“Aunt Aggie lost her husband the day he left the house in a rage. They were arguing over something that she doesn’t even remember, and he fell off his horse and broke his neck.”
“Oh no, that must have been devastating.”
“I don’t think she’s ever recovered,” Anthony said and wondered why he was sharing something so personal with this woman. It was odd how she didn’t ask him questions, and yet he wanted to tell her things. Especially him, a man who never shared anything about himself.
“Then I’m glad she has her sisters and you in her life,” Evie said.
“For better or worse,” he added. Anthony wasn’t sure why he was suddenly doubting the way he’d chosen to live, but it had to stop, and likely would at the end of the season.
“I’m not sure we should attend that house party, Anthony.”
“Why? You will enjoy it, and I’m sure some people attending will be nice. Not all of society are sharks, like me.”
She didn’t laugh at his poor attempt at humor. Instead, she was frowning.
He felt like there was more to her words, but he couldn’t work out what.
“Why don’t you want to go?”
“I don’t like society,” she said, and it sounded lame to both their ears as she was currently entering it most evenings.
Silence was a powerful tool, so he used it then to his benefit as they strolled on.
“As you know, we are here for only a single season, my lord,” she said.
