He is just a boy, so why should he not be given the world?
As Aaron and Henry hurried about the marketplace, Evander walked back with Miss Finch. He glanced at her, his eyes falling on her pendant.
“That pendant,” he asked her as they strolled. “I have not seen it before.”
“Oh…” Her hand went to it, again clutching it as if for protection. “I do not wear it very often.”
“Why not?” he asked. “It is rather beautiful.”
She shrugged. “I hardly have anywhere to wear it to. Besides, I worry that if I do, I might lose it. Better to be safe.”
“Where is it from?” He looked closer at the pendant, noting the ruby encrusted in the center. Evander might have thought it to be fake, were it not for how dearly she clung to it.
“It was my mother’s,” she said, and he noticed how uncomfortable she suddenly became. “Before that, I believe it was her father’s. A family heirloom.”
“Truly…” He frowned. “It looks rather expensive. How did your family come by such a piece?”
“I…” She looked more nervous still. “I am not sure.”
Evander was about to push further when he felt something. As busy as the marketplace was, and with as many people, he became suddenly aware of the sensation of being watched.
He groaned, figuring it to be a member of the peerage, watching him in curiosity and judgment because as a duke, this was the last place one would expect to find him. However, as he followed that sensation, scanning through the crowds, he realized that he was not the one who was being followed.
Across the marketplace, standing by a stall that sold slabs of freshly cured meat, stood a man wearing a dark coat and a hat. It was a bright day, but he managed to stand in shadow so that his face was hard to make out, and his stare was trained on Miss Finch.
“Miss Finch…” Evander gently touched her arm to grab her attention. “Do not be too obvious, but there is a man to your right… Careful now. In the black coat. Do you see him?”
She frowned and looked casually to her right. “I… yes, I think so.”
“Does he appear familiar?”
She licked her lips. “No, I do not believe so.”
It was likely nothing. Perhaps someone recognized Miss Finch from another time she had been here. Maybe someone saw them both together and wondered what she was doing with a man who clearly did not belong. Or, maybe, it was something else entirely…
Evander did his best to appear nonchalant as he turned to find the man who watched Miss Finch. He found him again, and this time he was sure to keep his hand on Miss Finch’s arm as he stared directly at the dark stranger.
The dark stranger saw Evander watching. He dipped down his hat to further cover his face, and then he vanished through the crowd.
For a moment, Evander considered chasing after him, but that idea failed to take hold when Aaron burst from the crowd and grabbed Evander by the shirt.
“This way!” he said excitedly. “Come, Father. There is something else I want to buy.”
“Have you not bought enough?” Evander said.
Aaron looked at him as if he had made a terrible joke, which, to be fair, he had.
“Lead the way…” Evander looked back one last time to see if the dark stranger was still there, saw that he was gone, and shook his head as if to remove the moment from his memory.
It was likely nothing… even if Evander could not escape the sense that something was wrong. As to what that might be? He could not even begin to guess.
“Come on, Father!” Aaron took Evander’s hand and started to lead him. “Before someone else buys it.”
So it was that Evander spent the rest of the morning with Miss Finch, Henry, and Aaron. It was a simple morning. It was an effortless morning. And it was also the best morning that Evander could remember experiencing in years.
And he had Miss Finch to thank for it.
Chapter Twenty-Two
