‘Antoine, I’m pregnant,’ she whispered.
Evelina held her smile as his face fell, his eyes half closing for a second as he downed the rest of his drink. She’d expected him to set his glass down and turn to embrace her, to shower her with kisses even if the news had been unexpected, but instead he sat silently for a moment, before reaching for her hand.
‘I thought we’d taken precautions?’ he said at last. ‘How did this happen?’
She knew what he meant; that he thoughtshe’dtaken all the necessary precautions. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him if he needed a lesson in how babies were made after his childish comment, but she didn’t.
‘We did, but perhaps this was just meant to be,’ she said, shrugging him off as if he hadn’t hurt her deeply with his words, and deciding she needed a drink of her own. ‘I know this isn’t what we planned, but I thought you’d be happy. Is it the very worst thing that could happen, to make a child with the person you love?’
‘Happy?’ he shook his head. ‘You expect a man to behappythat his mistress is pregnant? What a naive thing to say, Evelina. I love you, but a baby is not part of our future.’
Her hand shook as she poured a little brandy into her glass, heat rising through her body and no doubt staining her cheeks a deep pink. ‘I know it wasn’t planned, but I thought we could make the most of the unexpected event.’
‘Evelina, I don’t know how to say this,’ Henri said, rising and coming to stand beside her, his hand on her arm, ‘but Corina is pregnant.’
At the mention of his wife’s name, Evelina paled. She tried to still the shaking of her right hand by holding it with her left, but it didn’t help. He never talked about his wife, and certainly never mentioned her by name, and she never asked. That was another part of his life; a part that she was completely separate from. It was an unwritten rule of their relationship that it wasn’t to be mentioned. Most of the time, she forgot entirely that he was even married, content to pretend that he was hers. But hearing that Corina was pregnant, too…Evelina blinked away tears, taking a sip of her drink to be certain Antoine didn’t see them. He wasn’t used to her playing the simpering woman, and she wasn’t about to let her guard down now.
‘Well, I suppose congratulations are in order then,’ Evelina said, careful to hide the bitterness in her voice. ‘I’m certain she received a vastly different reaction when she told you her exciting news?’ The few times Antoine had mentioned Corina, it had been to tell her that he wasn’t in love with his wife, that it was a marriage in name only. He’d insinuated that they hadn’t been intimate in a very, very long time. How foolish she’d been to believe him that she was the most important woman in his life, that he wasn’t still sharing a bed with his wife.
She was his mistress, and nothing more.
‘She’s my wife, Evelina,’ Antoine said. ‘I know we pretend that part of my life doesn’t exist, but having a family is what’s expected of me.’
He may as well have slapped her across the face, the sting was so sharp. As if sensing how much he’d hurt her, Antoine wrapped his arms around her.
‘I’m sorry, that was insensitive. But my love, what I’m trying to say is that the domestic life is one that is reserved for marriage. With you, I have passion and fun, we have spontaneity.’ He kissed her wrists and she let him, even though she wanted to pull away. ‘A baby would ruin what we have, you must see that? I just want this to be me and you.’
‘What, then, am I supposed to do?’ she asked. ‘I cannot just click my fingers and change what has happened. I didn’t ask to be pregnant, Antoine. It certainly wasn’t part of my plan for the future.’I thought you were my future. I thought your wife was nothing more than a formality in your life, that we were going to be together in public one day.
He shrugged, as if she’d told him that she needed to recover from a cold, not a pregnancy. ‘Darling, there are doctors who deal with this sort of thing. I’ll pay whatever I need to, so we can put this behind us. Surely that’s what you want, too?’
Evelina’s stomach turned and this time she did pull her hands from his grasp. ‘I’m suddenly not feeling so well,’ she said, as a wave of nausea passed through her. It had everything to do with what he’d just said, and nothing to do with her pregnancy, but she wouldn’t let him know that. She couldn’t believe that his first thought was to do whatever it took to rid her of the baby growing inside her. For a man who claimed to love her, he certainly had a strange way of showing it. ‘I think I need to lie down.’
‘But we have dinner reservations,’ he said, sounding more disappointed child than successful businessman. ‘Let me pour you a drink—it’s bound to make you feel better, and perhaps we can…’
‘No, Antoine, you go ahead without me,’ she said, feigning a smile and cutting him off. There was no chance she was taking him to her bed, not tonight, and perhaps not ever again if he maintained his current callousness towards her. ‘I doubt I’d be very good company.’
‘Without you? Evelina, you have to be joking. It’s a table for two!’
‘Well, perhaps you might like to invite yourwifeto join you,’ Evelina said, her words now tainted with anger. ‘You could celebrate yourwonderfulnews and discuss baby names. I’m sure she’d be delighted.’
‘Evelina,’ he said, reaching for her, but she stepped away to avoid his touch. ‘Corina was very sensitive in the early stages of her pregnancy, too, but now?—’
Evelina froze, clenching her fists at her sides as her hands began to tremble again. Just hearing him talk so casually about the other woman in his life made her stomach turn. ‘How far along is she?’
As if sensing he’d said too much, Antoine just shook his head, not answering her. At least he had the decency to look embarrassed.
‘I asked you a question, Antoine!’ Evelina shouted, before lowering her voice. ‘How far along is she?’
‘Eight months.’
Evelina’s temples began to pulse as she glared at him, as she realised what little stake in his heart, in his life, she truly held. His wife was pregnant,had been pregnant for months, the baby’s arrival something to celebrate, yetherpregnancy was nothing more than a hindrance to a man who wanted her simply as his bought and paid for mistress. He’d kept it secret from her all this time, telling her that she was the one he loved, telling her he’d leave his wife in a heartbeat if he could, making her believe that she was the most important woman in his life. When at the same time, he’d been making love to his wife and preparing a nursery.
‘Do you love her?’ Evelina asked, her voice barely a whisper now. ‘Are you in love with your wife?’
He shook his head, slowly, but his eyes betrayed him. He was lying. ‘I loveyou, Evelina,’ he said. ‘You know my heart is yours, but this is not us. A baby isn’t in our future, you know that.’
This time she couldn’t disguise her tears as they began to slip rapidly down her cheeks. She very much doubted that his heart was hers; it was a lie she’d chosen to believe for too long, but it wasn’t one she was going to believe this time. Evelina placed a hand to her stomach, still flat, still hiding what lay hidden beneath. He spoke as if she could simply click her fingers and miraculously put an end to her pregnancy.
