Page 91 of Impeccable
“I was just leaving,” Mrs. Kirby said. She patted Evie’s hand. “Take care, dear.”
Evie was surprised to feel as though her throat were clogging. Mrs. Kirby was of an age to be her mother. It was incredibly heartening to think she might have a friend like that. “I will, thank you. Foster, send Lady Warfield up.”
Mrs. Kirby left, and a moment later, Ada hastened into the drawing room. “Who was that?”
“My neighbor, and new friend, Mrs. Kirby. Ash may have impregnated her dog.”
Ada blinked. “Ash is the dog you found with Lord Gregory?”
“Yes, and when I had him overnight, he got out of the garden—the gate was left open—and found his way through a hole in a wall into the Kirbys’ garden where their very sweet Bess had been left out by mistake.”
“An affair by moonlight.” Ada wiggled her brows and smiled.
“An affair by opportunity is more like it.”
“Moonlight is far more romantic,” Ada said, sitting on the settee Mrs. Kirby had just vacated. “I came yesterday, but Foster said you weren’t receiving.”
Evie retook her chair. “He told me you came. I just needed a day to myself.”
“I understand. I hope I’m not intruding, but I would guess not given Mrs. Kirby.”
“As I said, I just needed a day to…adjust.”
“And how are you today?” Ada asked tentatively.
“Better, despite the papers.”
Ada grimaced. “So you read them.”
“I started to, but then I chucked it into the fire. Why torture myself?”
“Precisely. I’m so pleased to hear you’re in such fine spirits.” Ada’s sunny expression dimmed. “I’m sorry you had to resign from the club. Honestly, I want to resign too.”
“Please don’t. Lucien needs all the help he can get right now. He is concerned many people will resign or that they’ll simply stop coming. I suppose you’ll see if attendance is down tonight since everything was made public today.”
“We have so many members who don’t pay attention to that. For instance, the gentleman who used to train Bennet.” Ada referred to a pugilist who coached their friend Prudence’s husband, the Viscount Glastonbury.
“Perhaps I should visit Prudence,” Evie mused. She’d given birth to a son just a few weeks ago.
“You’re thinking of leaving town?” Ada asked.
“I was considering it. But I won’t go to my sister.” Never mind that they lived next door to Witney Court—the officious marquess and his wife weren’t in residence. How was Evie ever going to visit Heloise again when they were? “I don’t want to trouble her with my presence when this scandal is so new.”
“From what you’ve told me, it seems she wouldn’t mind. And she dealt with her own scandal after she wed Alfred.”
“Which is why I shan’t burden her with mine.” Furthermore, going back there would only remind Evie of Gregory. She’d recall how they met and the glorious time they’d spent together at the cottage. Forget his brother and sister-in-law, how was Evie going to visit Witney without wondering if Gregory was so close by?
“I think Prudence would be thrilled to have you visit. But you’ll have to write first. With Bennet’s family, I think they have to make certain preparations for guests.” His great-aunts were eccentric—at least that was the word they mostly used—and could be off-putting. They could also be disrupted, and Bennet sought to keep them comfortable.
“That’s true,” Evie said.
“You could always go to Stonehill,” Ada suggested, referring to her country home. “And you’d be completely unbothered since Max and I are in town.”
That wasn’t a terrible idea either, but Evie couldn’t help feeling as though she were running away. When she’d left before, she’d done so with the purpose of reinventing herself. If she was going to leave London, she needed a plan other than trying to evade scandal. She couldn’t simply come back as a new person as she’d done before. If she wanted to do that, she needed to find a new place to live.
But the thought of leaving London, the only home she’d ever known, made her queasy.
“You seem indecisive,” Ada said quietly.
