She moved away, speaking briefly to Mr. Mattigan, with the shopkeeper’s laughter booming from whatever she’d said to him on the way out. In her wake, she left a fragrant cloud of jasmine and vanilla and a little confusion. Based on the nature of their relationship, Vaughn hadn’t thought he’d even be formally introduced by Evie to the other infamous Comerford sisters. He certainly hadn’t thought he’d be included in one of their family gatherings. He found himself excited by the idea, though. To see Evie in an environment that wasn’t about courtesans and secrets? He very much looked forward to discovering if there were layers to her that he hadn’t seen.
Even though getting closer to her wasn’t part of their arrangement. But things changed. They already had once. What harm could there be in it?
* * *
“And so you invited him?” Evie burst out as she paced Arabella’s parlor, drink in her shaking hand and heart throbbing with unexpected excitement and anxiety.
Arabella watched her from a position on the settee, tucked into Silas’s side. She didn’t even have the decency to look chagrined. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because weneverinclude protectors in family supper,” Evelina snapped. She looked toward Julia and her aunt in the hopes they would support her reaction. Neither seemed to do so.
“I’minvited to family supper,” Silas said.
“Oh, you’re not a protector! You’re Arabella’s husband. You know it’s not the same.”
Silas glanced at Arabella. “It’s not the same,” he said.
Arabella shrugged. “It felt the same when you and I were running all around London, doing very naughty things and upsetting all the apple carts.”
“Oh, do shut up, both of you,” Evelina gasped, and glared at them when they laughed together. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier, at least?”
“Because I didn’t think it would cause so much upset,” Arabella responded, and got up to cross to her. “Gracious, you’d think I’d invited the queen to supper and you were in your nightclothes.”
Julia nodded. “You really are very pink, dearest. It cannot just be the late notice.”
Evelina took a few long breaths. Vaughn would be there soon, she had to pull herself together before then. And also because it was obvious she was revealing far too much not only to her family, but to herself. Whywasshe so worked up over Vaughn being there? Harry had visited with her sisters many times. Not with her aunt, but in the last few months Caroline had been far more involved in their lives, even the ones they’d once kept separate from her.
“I don’t know why,” she said softly, all the pepper going out of her. “I just—I just wasn’t prepared to see him.”
Arabella took her hands gently. “He isn’t cruel to you, is he, Evie?”
“No!” she burst out. “No, he’s infinitely kind.”
“Good.” Arabella let out her breath. “I didn’t get that sense, but I never did before, either.”
Evelina winced. Arabella was referring to a past protector who had been abusive to Evelina. One she tried to never think about. To put away where she wouldn’t be troubled by the memories.
Julia got up and joined them. “If it’s not cruelty, what is it?”
“It’s just…it’s not the same, is it?” she said. “He’snotmy protector, not truly. No matter what is happening between us in bed, it’s not—it’s not real. And to bring him into this part of my life, it only confuses things.”
“Only if they have the potential to truly be confused,” Arabella said. “Do they?”
Evelina didn’t get the chance to respond, for Barnaby appeared in the parlor doorway. “The Earl of Blackburn, Mr. and Mrs. Windham.”
Evelina’s heart leapt and she feared that answered Arabella’s question even before she’d seen Vaughn. When he walked through the door, ridiculously handsome in his evening attire, every crisp line of him in place, she almost stopped breathing. He found her across the room and his expression lit up.
Silas was already crossing to him, hand extended. “Blackburn,” he said as the two men shook. “Fine to see you.”
She watched them interact, hardly listening to the words exchanged. She watched him wish Arabella a good evening. Her sister gave her a hard look, like she was expecting her to join in, but she couldn’t. It was physically impossible somehow.
So, frozen, she watched Arabella introduce him to their aunt and then Julia. He was friendly to both, treating them as equals even though men of their station would normally see Caroline as proper and Julia as something lesser. Not this man.
At last, he broke from her family and came to her. The rest stepped aside so they could have a private moment. “Evie,” he said, taking her hand.
She swallowed, forcing her mouth to formulate words. “My lord.”
His brows lifted. “So very formal,” he said softly.
