Page 37 of Her Devil of a Duke
“I shouldn’t speak ill of them. I should be grateful that they took me into their house at all. They didn’t need to take me in,” she muttered, lost in her own reflection.
Rafe’s hand settled on her waist. At once, her fidgeting ceased. He captured her attention in the reflection with a soft smile.
“You can tell me anything, Evie. I will not repeat it to a soul.”
“You will not?” Her eyes glistened with a touch of hope.
“You have my word,” he assured her. “Now, what is it that bothers you?”
“It’s just the way they are,” she sighed heavily. “I know my aunt and uncle often resent my presence in the house, but sometimes, they go out of their way to make it plain that I am not one of them. I’ve seen other families,” she whispered, as if it was a great secret, “ones where they have wards, and from what I’ve seen, the wards are often treated as if they are a part of the family. They are cared for and loved.”
“And are you not part of the family?” Rafe asked, his hand tightening involuntarily around Evie’s waist.
Something tugged in his chest, a feeling that there was another kindred lonely spirit beside him.
She does not deserve to be lonely.
“Sometimes I am. Hester makes more effort than anyone else. My aunt seems to go out of her way to repeatedly make the opposite point, however. For instance, this is childish, so forgive me for what I am about to say.”
She hesitated for a moment but seemed to relax when he ran his fingers up and down her arm.
“Recently, my aunt discussed buying matching necklaces for a masquerade ball. She had spoken of it while I was in the room, and I naively and foolishly thought she intended to include me.”
“That’s not selfish. If you were in the room and she didn’t dismiss you from the conversation, surely that is a natural assumption?”
“It was a foolish assumption,” Evelyn corrected him, shaking her head. “I was not purchased a necklace as my cousins were, and it was made quite plain to me by Bridget that they just didn’t think I’d desire one.” She shrugged, clearly angry at herself. “I should not care. Why do I care? I shouldn’t.” She fidgeted with the gown another time.
“You do not need to fidget. You look beautiful.” He pressed a gentle kiss to the delicate curve of her shoulder, which was bared by the shoulder cap sleeves. She inhaled sharply, shivering under his touch. “I know why you cared, and it was a natural reaction. You wished to be a part of the family. There is nothing wrong in that.”
“Then why do I feel awful? Guilty? As if I am wrong to want such a thing!”
“Perhaps because they have cast you aside for so long. Put it like this, Evie.” He adjusted himself, his hand sliding across her waist and her stomach, pulling her back an inch so she was resting against his chest. “I have met Miss Hester before, and I have met your uncle and aunt. In all that time, when seeing them at soirées and balls, I never knew they had a niece who lived with them. You were not mentioned.”
Her brow furrowed deeply. “I wasn’t?”
“If you ask me, they do not deserve your admiration or your longing. Save it for someone who will give you a real family, Evie. Save it for the man you will… seduce.” It hurt him to think of her seducing anyone else but him, yet he also wished her to know the truth. She deserved something better, a family infinitely more precious than the one she’d been given.
“Thank you,” she whispered and looked down at the gown with a small smile on her lips at last. “So, if I made a gown like this, you think I could wear it at a ball?”
“You could, but why would you have tomakethe gown? Surely you can just commission a modiste?”
“I do not have the pin money my cousins have. My dowry and inheritance will not be released until I marry.”
His hand tightened protectively around her. Her aunt and uncle should be providing for her, she was their responsibility, theirs to shower with affection, theirs to love, and yet they were doing none of it.
“You need not make the gown, Evie. You can have this one.”
“This one?” she spluttered and turned around in his arms to face him. “I cannot do that. It is your mother’s!”
“Well, she hardly has use of it anymore. She died many years ago, and knowing my mother, she would just be glad to see the gown had a new lease of life. Take it, use it, it is my gift to you,” he assured her.
“But…” She shook her head, stepping toward him a little more. Rafe now wrapped both arms around her, just wanting her that inch closer, so he could touch more of her again. “You are not at all as I was expecting when I first arrived here.”
“What do you mean? I distinctly recall raising my voice at you,” he reminded her with a low chuckle.
“That was anger, shock, perhaps.”
“Certainly that.”
