To Defend A Duke

Chapter 16

"I cannot believe you left me!" Henrietta screeches as soon as she bursts through their bedroom door two hours later. Evelyn looks up from her sketch pad but makes no comment, her pencil continues to curve along the paper. 

Henrietta throws herself onto the sofa and screams into the material, she rolls over. 

"I had no one to talk to, everyone looked down on me and Edith treated me like I was nothing after I told her you weren't coming! Plus I heard some girl call me a country whore!" She moans pitifully. 

"You didn't have a nice time then?" Evelyn asks, closing the pad over a drawing of the pistol. 

"It was awful, why don't you ever do anything to help me?" Henrietta pouts her bottom lip wobbling. "You are the worst." 

"It is a mystery," Evelyn says wryly leaning back into a more comfortable position. 

"Fredrick was the only person who was nice to me." Henrietta sits up and spits curls from her mouth. 

"He was there?" Evelyn's hand pauses as she sweeps hair from her eyes. 

"He came in to say goodbye to his mother and ended up staying," Henrietta replies. "We talked." 

"So it wasn't a complete disaster?" Evelyn asks, feeling as though there is more to this than being implied. 

"No, he is a lovely man." Henrietta smiles beautifully and walks over to her mirror. She twirls in small circles, her hands overlapped on her heart. "He is the most charming man I have ever encountered, he talked to me about the most intelligent things." 

"What sort of things?" Evelyn asks, leaning forward. 

"The empire, the law." 

"When I try to talk to you about those things you walk away," Evelyn says dryly. 

Henrietta snorts, "He has a way with making everything sound interesting, you are just dull." 

"Well in other news," Evelyn gets to her feet and walks over to her chest to put away her things. "A message came from the dress shop, you have your fittings tomorrow at 11." 

"I can't wait to see the dresses!" Henrietta says excitedly, bouncing on the spot. "I hope they are as good as I asked for." 

"I am sure they will be." 

"Are you excited to see them on me?" 

"I am not coming with you," Evelyn informs her. 

"Why not?" Henrietta turns around in outrage. 

"I am meeting an old friend for tea." Evelyn lies, facing away from her.

"Who? You don't have any friends." Henrietta sniffs, checking her face in the mirror. 

"My old ladies maid," Evelyn says, "You never met her." 

"Oh, no one then," Henrietta says in a light voice. Evelyn whirls around to reprimand her but she has already left the room, leaving a thick cloud of perfume in her place. Sighing to herself Evelyn sits on her bed and drums her fingers against her thighs, thinking. For once it seems as though she has encountered a problem that she cannot solve with a few hours of thinking and theories. The sense of apprehension floods through her blood and swirls around before rushing to her head. A mystery that requires more than a basic sense of intelligence seems tantalising.  

The next morning Evelyn barely speaks at breakfast, she only talks when asked a direct question and survives the rest of the conversation with nods and mumbles. She waves goodbye to her cousin and aunt as they leave at 10:20 and bid Juliet a farewell when she leaves for the market. Willaim didn't show up for breakfast and his room is silent every time Evelyn presses an ear to the door. Unable to resist she cracks the door open to find that he is dead to the world, head to the pillow.