‘But there is an understanding.’
‘Yes, but—’
‘And this man, Drake, your father tells me he is a gardener.’
‘He is a landscape gardener. His skills are much sought after.’
‘But nevertheless, not of your social standing.’
‘I care nothing for social standing.’
Doctor Birch raised an eyebrow. ‘Evelyn, my dear, if a woman of your standing was to elope, it would mean her utter ruin. No one of worth would entertain her again. She would be turned away, her calling cards rejected. Husbands would not allow their wives to befriend her in the fear she would influence them to behave equally badly.’ He leaned forward, so she could no longer avoid looking at him. ‘She would be a pariah.Youwould be a pariah.’
‘I would not care, if it meant I could be with the man I love.’
‘And you love this man, Drake?’
She might as well confess if he was to take her seriously. ‘With all my heart.’
‘How well do you know him?’
‘Better than I know myself.’
‘Have you been meeting him?’
‘Yes.’
‘It must have been alone as your father does not think him suitable.’
‘Yes . . . occasionally.’
‘More than one or two, I suspect.’
‘Perhaps.’
‘While you have had an understanding with your cousin?’ Evelyn dropped her gaze. She could not deny it. ‘You have been seeing two men at once. Have there been others?’
‘No! You make it sound sordid. It was never like—’
‘But you have to confess, it is unnatural for a woman to behave so wantonly.’
‘I don’t consider—’
‘Have you fornicated?’
The question caught Evelyn off guard and robbed her of a suitable reply. Her blushing hesitation was enough to signal her guilt. Doctor Birch got up from his chair and looked down upon her.
‘A woman fornicating outside of wedlock is deviant behaviour. Do you not agree, Evelyn?’
‘I loved Drake. I still do.’
‘You do not care that this kind of immoral behaviour, this promiscuity, will lead to your ruin?’
‘My only shame is not telling Mawgan, but I did not know what was going to happen. The urge to see him—’
‘This urge, you speak of, sounds unbridled. Can you control it?’
‘I did not want to control it, Doctor Birch, and if I had my time over, I would . . .’ she searched for the right word and purposely chose Doctor Birch’s ‘. . .fornicatewith him again.’
