Page 23 of An Agreement with the Soldier (Necessary Arrangements 2)

Evie was so distressed by grief for her grandfather and worry about her guardian’s wife’s schemes that she was not thinking clearly. Hence her willingness to accept the first proposal she received no matter how unsavory the idea seemed to her. Lady Clydesdale’s influence was palpable, too. Marriage was forever, and in this quest to cover her pain, Evie was forfeiting her own happiness.

Well, if her friend was in trouble and in need of a hand, Sam would offer her one. What she needed to do, Sam decided, was to find a suitable gentleman for Evie to marry, and she needed to do that before Evie acquiesced to Ashbury’s proposal.

After a short bath, she came downstairs to find her family at the breakfast table.

“You are back late today,” Isabel said in lieu of a greeting.

“Good morning, Isabel,” Sam answered with a bright smile. “Richard, Adam.” She inclined her head toward her brothers, who stood up as she entered.

“Where have you been?” Richard furrowed his brows at her.

“A morning ride,” Sam answered and settled in her chair.

“I don’t remember giving you permission to go on a morning ride. Who was with you?”

“James. James is always with me, you know that,” she said with a weary sigh. “And what else am I supposed to do in the mornings?”

“I don’t know… embroider?”

Sam narrowed her eyes at her brother.

“She is safe with James,” Isabel intervened, and Sam sent her a grateful look.

“I don’t see how she can be safe with a footman—”

“Richard.” Isabel sent him a reproachful look, and he grumbled something under his breath.

“I received a letter from Alan today,” Adam said into the tense atmosphere.

“Truly? What does he say? Did he send me a separate note?” Sam asked, watching her brother in anticipation.

“No, he did not. You know how he is, very laconic. He just lets us know that he is enjoying his trip to the Continent and urges us not to worry,” Adam answered around a bite.

“As if it is as simple as that,” Isabel said and let out a snort. “Is he enjoying his travels so much that he can’t find the time and write a proper correspondence?”

“You have to ask him yourself, Isabel,” Richard chimed in. “He is alive and healthy. He hasn’t forgotten how to hold a quill, so that’s all that interests me at the moment. Let him have his fun. When he comes back, he won’t have much time to traipse around the world anymore. He will be busy helping me around the estates.”

Sam rolled her eyes. “Alan is younger than me, and he gets to travel the world without accounting for his every action. Yet if I am delayed on my morning ride, you take my head off.”

“You are a lady, it is different.”

“Because I can’t take care of myself?”

“No, because there are far more people looking to take advantage of you,” Adam interceded. “Come now, sister, you know that. Nobody thinks of you as defenseless, but this world was just not built in favor of ladies.”

“When does Alan say he is coming back?” Sam endeavored to change the subject.

“He doesn’t. Not for another year, I gather.”

Sam chewed her food silently.

“Do not worry, sister,” Richard answered with a smile. “If he dares to tarry, I’ll go to the Continent myself to bring him back kicking and screaming.”

Sam smiled crookedly. “It is all right. I am not angry at Alan for traveling, perhaps I am just contemplating the unfairness of it all. Why do I have to suffer the rigors of the marriage mart year in and year out, while neither of you is looking to marry?”

“As I said, the world is not fair to ladies.”

“That may be true,” Isabel interjected. “But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start looking for a wife. Either of you, or perhaps both of you. We need the Gage line to continue.”

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