Page 78 of A Bargain with the Rake (Necessary Arrangements 3)

Evie blinked. “Who else should I have married?”

“Anyone.” Sam enunciated every syllable. “Literally anyone.”

“Well, you married my first fiancé, so no, not anyone.” Evie raised her brow at her friend.

“It’s not like I stole him from you! You refused to marry him!”

“Nevertheless.” Evie folded her hands primly. “How about you tell me about your life instead?”

“No, no, no, Evie, darling. I shall not let you change the subject so easily. Please, do tell.”

Evie felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment. She never truly kept anything from Sam. Except for her long-standing affection toward St. Clare. They all leaned closer, waiting for her story in attention. “I—all right. I shall tell you. But no scathing remarks from either of you. You promise?”

“We promise,” her friends chorused with meek expressions on their faces. She wasn’t fooled a bit.

Evie took a fortifying breath. “I made a promise to my grandfather. In fact, it was the main reason I did not go through with the marriage to Ashbury.”

“The letter,” Sam said and leaned closer to Evie. “The letter that the solicitor gave you from your grandpa. Is that what it contained?” At Evie’s nod, she frowned. “Surely, he did not ask you to marry St. Clare? Why would he do that?”

“Well, he didn’t. Not directly anyhow.”

“How then?” Julie raised a brow at her cousin.

Evie had told her about the bargain, but she hadn’t told her why she chose Gabriel.

“He said… He wrote that I should only marry for love and not accept anything less.”

Her friends’ jaws dropped as they tried to make sense of the words.

“Evie—”

“I know!” Evie stood and started pacing the room. “I know, all right? I know what you all think of him, I know who he is, and I am not making any excuses.” She turned to her friends then and squared her shoulders. “I love him all the same. Have loved him for a long time now.”

The look of bewilderment on her friends’ faces would have made her laugh under any other circumstances, but at the moment, they were mingled with pity, and Evie couldn’t stand it. Only Mary frowned in consternation, looking from her sister to Evie then back again.

“I don’t have any illusions about him. I don’t expect him to be faithful or to love me in return. I’ve made my choice and approached Gabriel with a bargain. He is free to continue his pursuits as long as I am free to do as I please. I know, it is not ideal, but if I had to marry, it should at least be someone I love, don’t you think?”

Her friends exchanged a look, and Evie rolled her eyes. “I am not deranged. You can tell me what you think.”

“Well, I think that—” Julie started carefully but got unceremoniously cut off by Sam.

“Why didn’t you tell me? We have been friends for so long! I’ve never kept anything from you.”

“Oh, truly?”

“Yes!”

“Oh, truly?” Evie raised a brow, and Sam grumbled something under her breath. “Because, as I do recall, you forgot to mention a thing or two about the man I was about to marry last season.”

“You were distressed at the moment, and it’s not the same thing! You’ve kept it from me for years.”

“Yes, because I knew how you’d react. I know how you feel about him, how everybody feels about him.”

“Evie, dear.” Julie stood and approached her slowly. “Are you sure it’s love?”

“I am not a child, Julie.”

Julie cocked her head to the side. “I didn’t say you were. It is just surprising that you’d make that choice.”

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