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Authors: Cheryl Holt

Wonderful (28 page)

BOOK: Wonderful
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“I have no idea. As I mentioned, it was so hectic, and I was so young. I hardly had a chance to say goodbye to them. Anne—Evangeline—was holding my hand, and she was jerked away from me.”

Aaron gasped. “She dreams about that all the time. It haunts her.”

“Really? Gad, it was so horrid. I ponder it constantly. Whenever I pass a blond woman on the street, I wonder if it might be her.” He chuckled miserably and shook his head. “This explains why I liked her so much. Right from the start, I liked her. I even asked her once if we might have met before, but she was sure we hadn’t.”

“I’m stunned,” Aaron said.

“So am I.” Bryce leapt to his feet, and he glanced around the room as if he didn’t know where he was. “I have to go to London.”

“Now? It’s so late. Let’s go at dawn. We’d travel faster in the daylight.”

“Aaron, I’ve been searching for her for over twenty years. I have to learn if she’s with Florella. And Aaron?”

“Yes?”

“It appears you’ve ruined my sister.”

Aaron’s cheeks flushed with chagrin. “Oh, yes, it appears I have.”

“Amends will have to be made.”

“Such as?”

“I’ll devise an appropriate compensation. Marriage, for instance?”

“I’m engaged to someone else, Bryce. That’s been my problem from the beginning.”

“Engagements can be broken.”

“Sometimes they can. Sometimes they can’t. We’ll see which of those times this turns out to be.”

“We definitely will.”

Bryce hurried out as Aaron stood.

“If you’re going to London,” Aaron said, “I’m going too.”

But Bryce was already dashing up the stairs to pack his bag.

*    *    *    *

“I suppose you could head to Summerfield.”

“It’s probably for the best.”

Evangeline gazed at Florella. Except for a bruise on her cheek where Vicar Bosworth had slapped her, she was in fair condition. Florella had graciously offered to let her stay for a bit, but Evangeline grasped that the invitation wasn’t permanent, that she had to make plans for herself.

They were having tea at a shop in London and discussing Evangeline’s future.

She was still trying to catch her breath. Everything moved so fast in the city. There were crowds and horses and carriages and noise. She couldn’t steel her nerves so she didn’t jump at every sound.

Too much had happened too rapidly. She was exhausted and overwhelmed, and though she was appalled to admit it, she was incredibly heartbroken. She’d never been in love, so she hadn’t known it could end in such a grueling way. It had concluded so abruptly too. She couldn’t figure out how to forge on in a stable and sane manner, but she had to.

“Didn’t you tell me,” Florella was saying, “that this friend at Summerfield, this Rose Ralston, never answered any of your letters?”

“I don’t understand it. She’s not the sort who would fail to respond.”

“Precisely, so I’m worried she’s suffered a mishap. You might journey north only to find she isn’t there. Then what would you do?”

“I imagine I’d come back to London and search for Amelia.”

“Your other friend?”

“Yes.”

“The other one who never replied, so we can’t guess what’s become of her either, and I’m intimately acquainted with Lucas Drake. There’s an excellent chance she’s not married to him, so she could be anywhere and in any situation.”

“Lord Run said they had married.”

“Aaron
said
a lot of things, didn’t he?”

Evangeline snorted with disgust. “He certainly did.”

“Here’s what I was thinking.” Looking shrewd and sly, Florella peered at Evangeline over the rim of her cup. “Why leave London? I mean, Miss Cummings gave you funds so you’re set for a few months. Remain here.”

“And do what?”

“Sing. Act. Use your talents instead of hiding them.”

Evangeline’s pulse raced. “Sing?”

“Why not? You’re so good. I’m positive you could support yourself.”

“But…sing! My! I hadn’t considered it.”

“What is your other option? Will you beg Miss Ralston to let you live with her and her husband? Until when? Until he mentions that you’ve overstayed your welcome? You’d be like the proverbial poor relative, except you’re not even kin to them. It seems awfully precarious.”

“It would be embarrassing to impose—especially with their being newlyweds.”

“Quite right, Evangeline. Or perhaps you could return to teaching and have some old fusspot bossing you constantly. Could you bear it? Haven’t you groveled and obeyed long enough?”

“I can’t decide, Florella.”

“Or you could track down Miss Hubbard and move in with her and Lucas Drake. You could sit on pins and needles, waiting for the day Aaron arrives for a visit to show off his bride. You could hear all about their wedding.”

“Oh, my Lord, that would be the worst.”

“It definitely would be.”

“The world is spinning so fast,” Evangeline complained.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Florella said. “It beats plodding away in some country village where no one notices you and you die of boredom. Wouldn’t you like to stand out for a change? Don’t tell me you haven’t thought of it.”

“Of course I’ve thought of it, but to actually
do
it! The prospect is terrifying.”

“Why would it be? What if you’re remarkable and all of London falls in love with you?”

Evangeline chuckled. “My whole life, I was scolded for my talent and grandiose ambitions. I was deluged with horror stories about girls who brazenly ran off to London. They always ended up wrecked and ruined.”

“Not me. My path went in the precise direction I dreamed. Besides”—Florella flashed a perceptive grin—“you’re wrecked and ruined anyway, and it occurred before you ever made it to London.”

“Too true.”

Evangeline flushed with shame.

In a moment of weakness, she’d confessed her liaison to Florella, but Florella had already been apprised. By Bryce. Luckily, Florella hadn’t been shocked. She was used to women leading scandalous lives and having affairs. She was in the middle of one herself with Bryce.

“I have an idea for you,” Florella said.

“What is it?”

“I asked a friend to listen to you sing.”

“You didn’t!”

“I did. If he likes you, you’ll have work right away. And if you build up a following—which I’m sure you’ll manage—your situation will improve very quickly.”

“Meaning what?”

“He owns a gentleman’s club so, occasionally, it can be a bit wild”—Florella waved a hand as if describing a pretty flower or hat—“but the customers are rich and top-lofty, and if they like you, anything is possible.”

“I don’t know,” Evangeline said again.

“Why not try it?” Florella pressed. “What have you got to lose?”

“My reputation? My morals? My dignity?”

“You lost those when you crawled into bed with Aaron.”

“Oh.”

They stared for a minute, and Evangeline realized she was too weary to make such an important decision. She yearned to go somewhere quiet, to rest and regroup, but where would that be? To Rose at Summerfield? What if Evangeline traveled to the estate and Rose wasn’t there? Then what?

Evangeline would be alone in a strange place, her funds swiftly dwindling.

Wasn’t it better to find a job in London? Florella was a friend, and she’d arranged an audition. Shouldn’t Evangeline be grateful? Shouldn’t she agree?

Still though, it seemed wrong. She was tired and worn down by events. She was about to refuse, when Florella gulped the last of her tea and said, “Let’s go.”

“Where?” Evangeline inquired.

“To sing for my acquaintance. He’s dying to meet you. No time like the present, is there?”

Evangeline dithered and debated, but Florella was so excited.

“All right,” Evangeline murmured. “What could it hurt?”

“My feeling exactly.”

“He might not even like me.”

“I don’t believe we’ll have to worry about that.”

Florella took Evangeline’s arm and led her outside to their carriage.

*    *    *    *

“What in God’s name were you thinking?”

Aaron glared at his father and retorted, “I could ask you the same. You’re the one who sent Claudia and Priscilla to Fox Run. What did you suppose would happen when they arrived?”

“I
supposed
that the appearance of your fiancée would yank you back to your senses.”

“It didn’t.”

“So I hear,” Lord Sidwell snapped.

Aaron was in London, at his father’s house—though why he bothered was a mystery. Each successive visit was more contentious.

They were in the drawing room, having a whiskey before Lord Sidwell traipsed off to his nightly entertainments. For once, Lord Sidwell was not glad to see Aaron, and Aaron wasn’t glad to see his father.

He was brooding over Evangeline, over the mistakes he’d made, the choices he faced. The entire journey to London, he’d talked to Bryce, probing his memories of Evangeline when she was a little girl.

With Bryce suddenly popping up as Evangeline’s brother, there were even more problems created.

“You humiliated Priscilla,” his father complained, “insulted Claudia, gave Ignatius a thrashing—”

“He deserved it.”

“In front of his mother. She’ll probably harangue about it forever.”

“Don’t listen to her.”

“She claims you wish to have him removed from his post as vicar.”

“I’ve had enough of him—and Gertrude. They’ve prevailed on us one too many times, and Iggy has none of the traits required to be a minister. He has to go.”

“And then—after you’ve offended practically everyone we know—you stumble to London and immediately begin nagging at me about your doxy.”

At the slight to Evangeline, Aaron bristled. “If you call her a doxy again, I’ll beat you to a pulp. If you’d like to risk it, we could write to Iggy and ask how it feels.”

Lord Sidwell was aghast. “You’ll
beat
me? Your own father?”

“Her name is Evangeline. Or you can use Miss Etherton if you prefer.”

“Let me tell you something, Aaron—”

“No, let me tell
you
something, Father.”

Aaron had reached his limit. He’d spent his life, ignoring his father’s faults, ignoring the punishments Lord Sidwell had inflicted on Lucas, making excuses and convincing himself that his father had to be respected and obeyed.

But did he?

Aaron was exhausted from trying to please his father, which was nigh on impossible. Lucas had always said so. Lucas had always seen their father as he really was. Only Aaron had been blind. Only Aaron had refused to accept the truth.

He shoved himself to his feet. “I shouldn’t have stopped by.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course you should have. This is your home.”

“No. I shouldn’t be here. I’ll stay at my club.”

“You absolutely will not.”

“I will, and after you hear me out, you’ll want me to leave.”

“What now? Don’t you dare upset me more than you have already.”

“The past few days, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect.”

“So have I,” Lord Sidwell replied, “and I’m wondering why I had children. Why should I care if there’s an heir to this bloody estate? After I’m dead, how can it matter?”

“I agree, so I’m not marrying Priscilla.”

“You…what? You are marrying her! You are!”

“No. At Fox Run, I was confronted yet again with her genuine nature, and I simply can’t proceed.” He shrugged. “I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.”

“You will wed her!” Lord Sidwell thundered. “You will, or I swear, you will be disinherited. You and your brother both! I will cut you out of my life and my will.”

“That’s fine with me, Father, and Lucas won’t mind either. Besides, wasn’t he previously disinherited? And as for myself, Fox Run is profitable, so it’s an idle threat.”

“You will not mention your scapegrace brother to me!” Lord Sidwell raged. “You will not be impertinent!”

“You’re correct; I shouldn’t be, so I’ll just be going.”

Aaron spun away, and Lord Sidwell’s shouting ceased. His voice became cajoling.

“Aaron, wait,” Lord Sidwell said. “Let’s not quarrel.”

“We’re not quarreling.”

“We have to talk. You’re not thinking clearly. I believe Miss Etherton has driven you mad.”

“No, I’ve always been insane, and I was pushed there by your vanities and posturing. She had nothing to do with it.”

Panic flared in Lord Sidwell’s eyes. “Aaron, listen to me. If you don’t marry Priscilla, how will we repay the dowry? The money’s gone.”

“Whose fault is that, Father?”

Lord Sidwell had the grace to look chagrinned. Still, he puffed himself up. “If you cry off, Claudia will sue. She’ll drag you through the courts. Your name will be ruined.”

“This will come as a shock to you, Father, but we’re not held in much esteem by anybody.”

“You will not denigrate our ancestors,” Lord Sidwell fumed.

“I’m not denigrating them. I’m merely telling you what people say. We’re not that highly regarded, so if Claudia wants to ruin my
name,
she won’t have to try very hard.”

“You’ll be shunned. You’ll be a pariah.”

“I don’t care.”

“You’ll destroy
my
life.”

“Poor you,” Aaron sarcastically mused. “Instead, you’d like to destroy
my
life by shackling me to Priscilla.”

“I’ve explained to you about having a bride like her. You’ll live separately. You’ll never have to see her. It will all work out.”

“Yes, I suppose it could happen that way, except for one teeny, tiny thing.”

“What is that?” Lord Sidwell asked.

“I won’t accept such a dreary existence.”

Aaron started out, and Lord Sidwell frantically called, “Aaron! Let’s discuss this.”

“No, I have urgent business to attend.” Aaron had to find Evangeline, had to catch up with Bryce to learn if there was news from Florella.

“What could be more urgent than your wedding to Priscilla?”

“How about my wedding to Evangeline?”

Aaron’s question fell between them so dramatically that Aaron might have shot off a gun.

“You will honor your betrothal to Priscilla!” His father was bellowing again.

Aaron sighed. He was weary and fatigued and couldn’t abide his father for one more second. Respect be damned. Courtesy be damned. He was beside himself with worry for Evangeline, and he’d had enough of Lord Sidwell and his tirades.

BOOK: Wonderful
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