“In all honesty, I do not. He was incredibly frosty towards me, and even I could tell that there was no coming back from the contempt he clearly felt towards me. I was simply doing as I was told because what more can a lady want than a wealthy marquess?”

  “To attend university, perhaps?” Evie joked, and Imogen smiled.

  “One can only dream. I wish I had not listened to my mother. She told me that you were envious of me and therefore wanted to attack my chances in society. I believed her, too, because if that was your intention then it was certainly working. Hardly anyone likes me at all.”

  “If it is any comfort, I know why that is, and it has little to do with you. It is the fact that you are the daughter of a disliked earl and countess.”

  “Well, we cannot help where we came from.” Imogen laughed gently before her face grew confused, her brow furrowed.

  “What is it?”

  “How much of what they told me was a lie?”

  “That depends entirely on how much they have told you.”

  “Well, for one, they told me that you had been cruel and vindictive all your life, and not just towards me. That was why your father gambled his fortunes away because he refused to leave anything for you.”

  “That is utterly untrue. My father was the greatest person in my life, and we adored each other. Actually, I can show you myself.”

  The two ladies went to Evie’s room, and she pulled a bundle of letters out of a drawer and handed them to Imogen.

  “A short while before he became unwell, he went traveling around England. I stayed behind, as I had my schooling to complete, but we wrote to one another every day. You can read them if you wish.”

  Evie read them, too, once Imogen was done with them. The memory of them brought tears to her eyes; they were loving and kind just as her father had been, and it reminded her of a sketch she had made of him.

  “It is not a painting, but it is the last piece of art that was made of him,” she explained, pulling it from its hiding place and showing Imogen, whose lips were parted even though no sound was leaving them.

  “It was all a lie,” she whispered at last.

  “It would appear so,” Evie replied gently, “because I have never hated you. I might have envied you for everything that you had, but I never hated you.”

  “I hated you,” Imogen confessed. “I hated that you had been so awful and still were allowed to stay with us, though, of course I now see how wrong that was of me.”

  “It is all right. You did not know. You couldn’t have known.”

  “No, but now I do, and it will all be different now, I promise.”

  “Imogen, it is all right. You couldn’t have known that she was lying to you. I do not blame you.”

  “You do not need to, because I do. I have never had friends, and you could have been my first, but now…I could never expect such kindness from you.”

  “You need not expect it. I have it. We can be friends, if that is what you want.”

  Imogen nodded, looking around.

  “Your room must have been nicer before,” she said gently.

  “It was, but I am grateful for all that I have. It is a better way to be than wanting more, at least.”

  When Imogen left, Evie felt lighter for the first time since she met her. If nothing else, there was at least an understanding between them. It was simply a shame that she had had to reveal so many secrets and lies from her cousin’s mother. It was not the sort of thing she wished to disclose to her, but it was what was needed.

  The following morning, at breakfast, Evie was serving the food and listening in on the conversation between Imogen and her parents. Somehow, Imogen was keeping her countenance under control in spite of what had been revealed to her. If anything, her charms were even stronger than usual.

  “Mama,” she said brightly, “it is a large ask, but I was wondering if you could do something for me?”

  “I can do anything you ask of me, dearest. What is it?”

  “I would like for the ball tonight to be another masked ball.”

  “Imogen,” the earl said firmly, “it is rather short notice for that. We cannot expect everyone to find masks at such short notice.”

  “I know, but I was thinking that we could give them to our guests. We have plenty after the last ball, as everyone in attendance brought their own and so we did not have to provide them in the end.”

  “Why have you left it this late to make such a request?”

  “Because it is a thought that I had last night. I was thinking about how my last ball had certain…events happen, and I was hoping to start over with it and try again, with some stricter measures in place this time.”

  Evie felt eyes on her, but she did not allow it to distract her.

  “Very well,” the earl replied. “If that is what you want, then we can make it happen. In future, however, do try to give us a little more notice than this.”

  “Of course. My apologies, Father.”

  “There is no need to apologize, dearest.” The countess smiled. “We only want to make you happy, and if this will make you happy, then we are more than happy to do it for you.”

  Evie thought that was the end of her brief alliance with her cousin, given what she had inferred about her, but she did not mind too much. She had not expected much from her cousin after all that had happened between them, and she knew that Imogen’s main goal was, first and foremost, to find a husband.

  ***

  Then, Imogen found her after breakfast.

  “I must ask you something,” she said quickly, surprising her.

  “What is it?”

  “The marquess,” she continued. “You truly like him, don’t you?”

  “We are friends.”

  “Yes, I know that, but I am not a fool. There is something more between you, isn’t there?”

  “Imogen, isn’t it time for your pianoforte lesson right now?”

  “Yes, but I asked for a break because my fingers are sore. I do not have the time to think about the pianoforte when I have a ball tonight. It is not enough time to plan everything, and I certainly have a lot to achieve even if I do not think about my lesson this morning and my voice lesson this afternoon.”

  “Do they want you to perform tonight?”

  “They expect it of me, even though I loathe it. They told me that it would be good to show my talents if I am to find another man who I would like to be my husband.”

  “They no longer want you to marry Leo, then,” Evie mumbled.

  “Leo? Is that his name?”

  Evie panicked. She was unsure of what the Marquess of Shrewsbury’s name was, but she was quite sure that it was not Leo.

  “I had not realized you were using one another’s first names,” Imogen continued, not forcing her question upon her.

  “It was not the most proper thing, I am aware.” Evie sighed. “But it is as I told you. We were friends and referred to one another as such.”

  “But it was not only friendship, was it?” Imogen asked. “There was more to it.”

  There was, but Evie could not tell her cousin that. Even if they were closer than they were, and they had seen eye to eye for longer than a single day, it was something too shameful for her to admit.

  “Evie,” Imogen pressed, “if you felt something more for him, and you still do, then you must be honest with yourself. There is no shame in being in love.”

  Evie looked at her.

  “And that is how you feel, isn’t it?” Imogen asked, and at last, the tears fell.

  She didn’t know when it had happened, but it had. She was truly, utterly, in love with the duke, and there was nothing that she could do about it. He had stolen her heart somewhere along the way, and she did not want him to give it back. Whether they saw each other again or not, she was his, and she could not have been more grateful for what he had done for her.

  “It is true.” Evie nodded. “I love him, but there is nothing that can be done. He is from another world to me, and one day, he will find a lovely lady to make his wife, and they will be in love, and I will be here. It is what I deserve, and I am at peace with it. I made my peace with it long ago.”

  “But that is not fair! You cannot be punished forever.”

  “But I will be, and there is no use being upset about it. It is not all bad, after all. I have Francesca to work with, and now that you and I have found some common ground, it shall all be easier before you leave to be a wife yourself.”

  “But it isn’t fair,” Imogen mumbled as she left. “It isn’t fair at all.”

  Chapter 22

  Leo had not wanted to leave Evie behind.

  He knew that no good would come of it, but when it became clear that she was staying, he knew he had to do what was necessary to make her life easier, and if that meant leaving, then that was simply what had to be done.

  Now, he had to rescue her once and for all, and that began with Mister Eldridge. They had already found him, and now they had to hope that he still had proof of the late earl’s innocence.

  Mister Eldridge was, to their surprise, unwell. It was understandable to Leo; from how Dylan had described him, he had enjoyed his fair share of indulgences well into his older age. Even so, he seemed rather jovial.

  “Good morning, sir,” Dylan said to the man. “I apologize for the intrusion.”

  “There is no need to apologize, none at all. When I heard it was a matter regarding Lady Evie, I simply had to see the both of you. How is she?”

  The two brothers grimaced. There was no nice way of explaining her situation, and they had been hoping that he would at least be vaguely aware of what had happened so that they would not need to reveal it to her.

  “She is a maid,” Leo confessed. “That is why we had to visit you.”

  “A maid?” he echoed. “No, no. That cannot be right. Lady Evie should be—what happened to her?”

  Leo and Dylan exchanged glances. They had expected answers as to where Evie should have been eventually, but it did not lessen the shock of it. It also did not help to receive more questions from the gentleman that was supposed to be answering theirs.

  “That is what we are trying to help with,” Dylan explained gently. “We do not know what happened, but we know it is wrong. We were hoping that you might be able to help us better understand it all.”

  “I can tell you everything that I know,” he replied, but he did not seem too certain of them.

  “Did you know, when you were witness to the signing of the late earl’s will, of any debts that he had accrued?”

  “What has that to do with little Evie?”

  “It is why she is a maid,” Leo explained. “According to the new earl and countess, her father had racked up incredible debts, and now it is left to Evie to fix it all because she was his only child.”

  “It was a shame indeed that they were only blessed with one child. They were wonderful parents.”

  “But they were not terrible with money?” Dylan asked.

  “Certainly not. David was always excellent with his money. In fact, he had huge savings and great investments. He certainly did not have any debts.”

  It was precisely what everyone else had told him, and Leo was happy about that, although it did not prove anything that would give Evie her freedom. He scolded himself, as a part of him almost wished that they would discover the late earl’s debts were real.

  That way, he could have paid them off and had the matter be done with. Now, however, it meant that there was something far more insidious about Evie’s situation, and he was intent on learning what that was, but he did not know just how far it would go.

  “If I tell the both of you something,” he continued, “will you promise to tell Lady Evie? She deserves to know, and I am in no fit state to find her myself. I had not known that I would need to tell her, but it appears to be the case. She must know, and she must know now.”

  The brothers looked at one another, knowing that they would have to find a way into the ball to do so, but it was not a question in their minds. They would do whatever was necessary to reach her, no matter what the earl and countess had in place to keep them away.

  “We can do that,” Dylan promised.

  * * *

  “Remind me of your rules for this evening,” Aunt Josephine instructed Evie that morning as she served them breakfast.

  “I am to stay in my room and not say a word,” Evie replied. “Under no circumstances am I to speak to the marquess, even if he comes to see me.”

  “Well, the second part shall be easy. He is no longer invited.”

  Evie pitied the real Marquess of Shrewsbury, for he had done nothing to warrant the rescinding of an invitation, but it was likely for the best that he did not attend. Even if he was invited, Evie wondered whether or not he would attend, as he clearly had not attended the last one.

  “There was no need to rescind it,” she explained. “I will keep my distance, I assure you.”

  “Surely you understand that we do not believe you?”

  “To be sure, but I truly will not speak to him. I was a fool, and it is over now.”

  “It is certainly over with now, but that does not mean that I am going to give you any possibility of disobeying me once again.”

  “Very well.” Evie sighed, continuing with her serving.

  Her tasks that morning were not difficult, but it felt as though they were taking hours. She did not want to do them; she wanted to be with Leo, having run away with him, but she had made her choice, and so she had to keep to it, no matter the cost.

  On her way back to her room, she was ambushed by Imogen and Francesca, who followed her to her room and closed the door firmly behind them.

  “You aren’t going to listen to her, are you?” Imogen asked. “You will be going to the ball, surely? You cannot take her at her word.”

  “I have no choice but to, Imogen. She is in charge of everything that I do. It has always been this way, and I can hardly change that now.”

  “That did not stop you from disobeying before.”

  “And look at how that ended. It is for the best that I do as I am told, as I should have done in the first place. It is easier this way.”

  “I have never advocated for that, let it be known,” Francesca said firmly. “I want you to go. You can see the duke and even run away with him! It is the perfect way to do things, and even if they have you sent away, you can go with the duke. There is no way that you can lose.”

  “He is not going to be there. They rescinded his invitation.”

  “No, they no longer have the marquess coming,” Francesca smirked. “The Duke of Alnwick, however…”

  Evie brightened at that.

  “I do not think that he would dare return however,” she replied. “And even if he did, he would not be allowed through the door. It is telling enough that he did not send me a note this morning. It is time for me to grow up and realize that love is not real, and it is certainly not something that I shall have. Not as a lady in my position, at least.”

  “Evie,” Imogen said gently, sitting beside her, “in spite of my parents’ aspirations, I dream of marrying for love. I dream of falling in love at all, and that is what you have. If that is the position I were to find myself in, I certainly would not give in. If you want this, then you have to do it. We will help you.”

  Evie wanted to protest, but she knew it would be futile. It was more than that, however. She wanted to see him, even if it was the last time that she would because she wanted to at least say goodbye. If he was there, she could not let him arrive and then leave without seeing him at all, especially if she was correct and he had to find a way in without using the front door like the other guests.

  “Very well.” She nodded with a smile. “I shall take all of the help that I can get.”

  The girls set to work immediately. It was easier to hide their activity when everyone was so busy darting around the house to take care of the preparations for that evening. It gave them plenty of time to pull out another of Evie’s mother’s gowns, a golden one that was surprisingly fashionable. Evie was grateful that her father had kept them for so long and that they had been hidden from the countess’ view.

  “Can you handle fixing this, Imogen?” Francesca asked. “It should not be too difficult.”

  “I am a lady, Francesca. Sewing is something I am expected to know how to do.”

  The two ladies seemed to glare at one another before setting to their tasks.

 

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