Arthur had been looking forward to exceptional, but what Phillip Villard had accomplished with Eunice was beyond exceptional and more along the lines of extraordinary.
Gone were the widow’s weeds, replaced with a gown of ivory that showed off Eunice’s lithe frame to perfection, while also accentuating curves he’d never realized she possessed. He hadn’t allowed himself to linger on those curves, though, as she’d strode into the library because, well, it was Eunice, and she wouldn’t take kindly to any lingering on his part.
She’d made it perfectly clear she wasn’t interested in him in a romantic fashion, that point proven when Phillip had said she’d described him as the scourge of the earth. But even with her thinking of him as a scourge, he couldn’t help but admire her new look, nor could he help that the sight of her walking into the library had left him feeling all sorts of discombobulated.
He’d been expecting some self-consciousness on her part, since he was relatively certain she’d never been dressed in the first state of fashion, but she hadn’t seemed self-conscious at all, though her cheeks had turned just the slightest shade of pink when he’d taken her gloved hand and pressed a kiss on it.
In all honesty, the moment his lips had touched her hand, he’dfelt heat settle on his face, but she hadn’t seemed to notice, although Daphne’s gaze had sharpened on him after he’d released Eunice’s hand and told her she looked nice.
“I still cannot believe you insulted Phillip by proclaiming I look nice.”
Arthur blinked out of his thoughts and discovered Eunice frowning at him from the opposite side of the carriage, Judith sitting beside her.
That she looked more than nice was not in question. She looked beautiful, it was as simple as that, with her hair fashioned in a most becoming style underneath an enormous wide-brimmed hat, a simple band of ivory satin wrapped around its base.
But even though she was now dressed in the first state of fashion, Arthur was beginning to realize that her allure wasn’t because of her current style.
It was simply because of her.
“Do you have nothing to say about insulting Phillip because you know that’s exactly what you did?”
“I thought saying you looked nice was a compliment.”
She waved that aside. “It took Phillip an hour and a half to ‘pull me together’ as he called it. That type of effort deserves words more descriptive than nice.” She shook her head. “Poor Phillip is probably even now trying to figure out how he could have improved my appearance.”
“He couldn’t have done a single thing more to do that.”
Eunice opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, and then, to his surprise, she grinned. “On my word, Arthur, that might have been the first compliment you’ve ever extended me.”
“That’s not true. I distinctly remember telling you once in Montana that you had a very good seat on Wyatt.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Considering Wyatt threw me shortly after, I then distinctly remember you saying that perhaps you’d been hasty in stating I had a good seat.”
“I only said that because I was annoyed with you for insisting on owning such a beast in the first place.”
“I didn’t insist on Wyatt. Grandfather did. I loathed that horse, although I have felt guilty over the years because I left him behind when I fled Montana.”
“Wyatt’s fine, so there’s no need for any guilt. I bought him from your uncle not long after your grandfather’s funeral.”
“Why would you buy a horse with such a questionable temperament?”
He shrugged. “It was either that or your uncle was going to send him to the slaughterhouse. Since I didn’t think you’d want Wyatt dead, no matter that he seemed to have the habit of unseating you often, I decided to step in and rescue him for you.”
Eunice smiled. “That was very kind, Arthur. Thank you.”
The sight of her smile left him feeling somewhat befuddled, until Ivan cleared his throat in a rather telling way. Shaking his head in the hopes of removing all befuddlement, Arthur returned her smile. “Would you find it kinder still if I gave Wyatt back to you?”
She shuddered. “No. He’s yours now, and good riddance. May I dare hope he’s better behaved for you than he was for me?”
“We’ve come to terms, although he can turn ornery when one least expects it. He threw my grandfather six months back, which resulted in Grandfather breaking his leg. That’s why I didn’t bring Wyatt to New York.”
“Wyatt’s questionable temperment is exactly why I told my grandfather I didn’t want anything to do with the beast. However, my grandfather was rather ornery as well and insisted the sight of me riding such a horse would have the miners respecting me more.”
Arthur stilled. “I wasn’t aware James made a habit of taking you into the mines.”
“It was a habit I wish he’d never taken up, but considering he was, at one point, going to turn Mason Mines over to me, my going into the mines was never up for debate. I started going with him when I was about seventeen.” She shook her head. “My mother was fit to be tied about that, and she and Grandfather had a heated argument over the matter.”
She smoothed a hand over a wrinkle in her skirt. “I didn’t heartheir entire conversation, but Mother was livid about Grandfather placing me in a dangerous situation—not simply danger from the mine, but the miners themselves. Before I could hear Grandfather’s response, though, my great-aunt Hazel caught me eavesdropping at the door. She hustled me out of the house, lecturing me for a good hour about how unladylike eavesdropping was. She then apparently felt guilty for lecturing me, as was often the case with Aunt Hazel, and took me into town to buy me a new dress and have an ice at the General Store.” Eunice fiddled with a button on her glove. “When we returned home, Grandfather informed me that Mother had left in a huff. I wasn’t too concerned about that because she often went off for a day or two after she and Grandfather fought, but this time she never returned. I’ve not heard from her since.”
