My Fair Lily(65)

Evangeline returned home while he waited, obviously having come from a shopping trip. He was never happier to see his younger cousin. Though only a year or two older than Meggie, the strain in her eyes made her appear substantially older. She was still a beautiful girl— or would be, if she ever learned to smile. “Let me help you with those packages,” he said, startling her.

She glowered at him, her cheeks pink from a mix of the cool outdoors and anger on finding him standing in her home. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to sort things out between us, and to correct any idle gossip you may have heard about last night.”

“To correct it? Or to gloat?” She drew away when he reached for her packages. One appeared to hold dishes and the other was shaped like a teapot. No personal items, just the functional sort that would be set out in a cupboard display.

He sighed and took them from her anyway. “Where do they go?”

“In the dining room.” Her lips began to quiver and she was obviously about to cry.

He sighed again. “Summon your brother down here. I think your butler died along the way. Not sure he made it up the stairs.” He drew aside one of the dining room chairs and settled into it. “I’ll wait here, Evie.”

That use of her name drew him back fifteen years. It surprised her as well. “What do you want with us? You’ve won, Ewan. Why can’t you leave us alone?”

“I haven’t won anything. Nor do I wish for anything from our grandfather. By the way, I’m sorry I broke Desmond’s nose.”

Evangline nodded. “He shouldn’t have struck your friend. Lily. Is that her name? He didn’t mean to, but she stepped between him and Meggie... it just happened. And he told me he’d seen you at Tattersalls. I know he stood by while those villains punched the stuffing out of you. He didn’t know they wielded knives. He would have helped you had he realized you were in serious danger.”

Ewan doubted it.

“Bring him down here, Evie. We’re even now. Here’s our chance to start over.”

“I wish I could believe you.” However, she turned and left the room, her step light on the stairs as she scrambled up them to fetch her brother.

Desmond wasn’t nearly as hopeful or polite. “Get the hell out of here, Ewan.”

“Sit down,” Ewan ordered as though this were his home and they were the guests. He wasn’t trying to belittle his cousins, but he’d come here to talk and damn it, that’s precisely what he was going to do. “You ought to know Grandfather better than anyone. When have you ever seen him be kind or gracious to his kinfolk? To anyone, for that matter. He never is, unless he has an ulterior motive.”

“He has a motive.” Desmond grabbed a chair, swung it out and settled into it. Though his movements were tense and angry, Ewan took his decision to sit as a good sign. “He wants to make you duke and leave me to rot.”

“I doubt it.”

“He’s had years in which to make me his heir and hasn’t done it,” Desmond insisted. “Not when my father died. Not after your father died. I’ve helped him with the Lotheil affairs for years. I’ve worked hard and done a damn good job, but nothing I do is ever quite good enough for him.”

“I think he’s trying to manipulate both of us. Even if he does offer, I won’t accept. He knows it.”

“Hah! Am I supposed to believe you? Am I to ignore the gossip now spreading like a wildfire about town? He doted on Meggie at the Simmington musicale, showered her with attention and every courtesy. He introduced her as his granddaughter.”

“She is his granddaughter.”

Desmond pounded his fist on the table. “So is Evie, but he didn’t invite her to join you, or send a carriage around to deliver her to the Simmingtons.”

Ewan felt badly about that. Not even he had thought to call on Evie and bring her along, nor had he bothered to make arrangements for Eloise to pick her up. He couldn’t have asked Lily, not after what Desmond did to her. But had he asked, she would have agreed. Unlike his grandfather, Lily was sweet-natured and loving. She would have helped him win back his family, whether she liked them or not. “You’re right, Des. To my shame, I didn’t think beyond getting myself over there before the blasted party ended. It won’t happen again. I promise you. Until you’re healed, I’ll take care of Evie.”

He noticed the flicker of surprise in Evangeline’s eyes, perhaps a ray of hope in their sad depths. Damn it. Why hadn’t his father interceded sooner?

Desmond’s expression darkened. “We don’t need your charity.”