Page 23 of Impeccable
At some point in her meditation, she sat in a chair while she continued to stare into the fire. This was how she was situated when she heard a rap on the door.
“Evie?”
Recognizing Heloise’s voice, she said, “Come in.”
“Are you all right? Lord Gregory said you’d gone upstairs because you’d caught cold outside. He felt rather badly about that.”
“Has he gone home?”
“Yes, everyone has. It’s late.”
Evie blinked toward the clock on the mantel. It was indeed late. She’d been sitting here considering Gregory’s proposal for a long time.
Heloise pulled another chair toward Evie and sat down. “Are you ill?”
“No.”
“Then why do you look like that? As if you’re unsettled?”
“Because I am.” Evie thought about not telling her, but she needed her sister’s counsel. Heloise had been the one to guide Evie throughout their lives, and she needed her now more than ever. “Gregory proposed we have an affair.”
Heloise’s eyes rounded, and she sat back against the chair. “Oh.” She took a deep breath, and her expression relaxed. “What did you say?”
“I haven’t given him an answer. I asked him to kiss me.”
“And did he?”
Evie nodded.
“Was it a test? And if so, did he pass?”
“I hadn’t intended it to be, but I suppose it was. He was quite spectacular, particularly when you consider that he’s a virgin.”
“Heisn’t.” Heloise sat forward, her features once more widening in surprise.
“He is.”
“But he doesn’t want to be any longer?”
Evie lifted a shoulder. “Apparently not.”
“Perhaps this is a silly question, but did he make that decision before or after he met you?”
It wasn’t silly. “That’s actually a very astute observation. I shall ask him.”
“Does it matter? That is, will his answer determine what your answer will be? Or have you already made up your mind?”
Evie groaned and tipped her head back to stare at the ceiling for a long moment. “I haven’t decided anything.”
“Do you want him?”
It took several breaths for Evie to summon the nerve to answer. She lowered her gaze to Heloise’s. “I do. And that is what frightens me.”
Heloise reached over and took Evie’s hand. “I understand. It was the same for me and Alfred. Not at first. But within a fortnight of our arrangement, I felt differently with him.”
It hadn’t even taken Evie two days, let alone two weeks. From the moment she’d encountered him at the hedgerow, she’d felt as if she’d fallen under a spell.
Brow pleating with concern, Heloise looked at the fire. “I confess I’m disappointed he proposed an affair instead of marriage.” She snapped her gaze to Evie’s. “He doesn’t know about you, does he?”
