Page 35 of What a Lord Wants

The brush hesitated at that before Mariah continued with brushing her hair over her shoulders and down her back.

“The problem is…he’s different.”

“Different how?” Another pause of the brush. This one much longer.

“He’s a good man.” Aman, while Burton was a mere boy in comparison. “Quite well-respected.” In certain circles…small, artistic circles.

“Whoever he is, you must be careful.” Mariah’s face turned grim as she began to brush Eve’s hair again. “I did you no favors by marrying into the Carlisle family. It made the Winslows even more prominent.”

“Even more prone to attacks by fortune hunters and society gossips, you mean?”

“Exactly.” Mariah set down the brush, then returned to the dressing room. Her voice was muffled, but not her concern. “We can’t have adventures anymore like we used to.”

No, her adventures had been elevated to a whole new level of scandal, if anyone ever found out.

“We were able to get away with them before because no one cared who we were and because we never would have been accepted into society anyway. A shipping merchant’s daughters…Half of society thought we were already ruined to begin with, the other half tolerated us only because of Papa’s fortune.” The sound of doors and drawers opening and closing punctuated Mariah’s words. “Until the Carlisles came along and changed everything. Now the gossipy old hens will be watching and waiting, just salivating to find a bit of scandal involving the Winslows, especially if they can connect it to the Trent title.”

Wonderful.Eve heaved out a sigh. That was just what she needed—more guilt weighing on her shoulders that she might hurt not only her own family but the Carlisles, as well, for this taste of irresistible excitement.

“But I need to dosomething,” she called out over her shoulder in exasperation. “All this sitting around in the house, staring at the walls, with nothing to pass the time—” It was death. Already she felt as if she’d wasted so much time by not seizing all of life that she could, by not making every moment count. If her own mother’s life could be cut so short, then Eve’s could be, too. Just as easily. “There are only so many hours a woman can needlepoint before she goes mad. Only so many books she can read before she goes blind.”

The rustling of fabric didn’t hide Mariah’s amusement. “You could play the pianoforte.”

No, she most certainly couldnot. “And punish the rest of the household right along with me?”

A contemplative pause. “Perhaps you’re right.” Seconds later, Mariah emerged from the dressing room with an ice-blue satin gown draped over her arm. “So this man you’ve met who is dumb as stone—”

“He is not!”

“He hasn’t noticed you as a woman.” Mariah held up the dress to shake out the fabric. “How intelligent can he possibly be, then?”

Her chest warmed gratefully at her sister’s defense of her, even at Dom’s expense. “Actually…he thinks I’m beautiful.”

Mariah’s eyes darted to Eve’s in the mirror. “He said that?”

“Yes.”

A knowing smile played at her lips. “Then I think he’s noticed you.”

“No.” Eve’s shoulders sagged. “He didn’t mean it like that.”

“Oh, every man means it like that.” She gently took Eve’s hair and held it up on top her head to see in the mirror how the dress would look with her complexion. “So this man who hasn’t noticed you but thinks you’re beautiful—”

Eve rolled her eyes.

“Do you want his interest?”

Did she? Certainly having Dom’s attentions on her had been better than she’d imagined—not only as an artist who saw her as a masterpiece to be painted, but as a man who wanted to kiss her.

But simply being associated with him and his libertine’s reputation might also mean the ruin of all she and Mariah had fought so hard to keep safe since she returned from Scotland.

Eve pulled in a ragged breath and admitted, “I don’t know.”

Mariah wrapped her arms around Eve to hug her from behind. “Oh, my poor Evie.” She rested her cheek against Eve’s and said with sincerity, “The heart is a beastly thing, isn’t it?”

A long sigh escaped her. “Cruel and devious.”

“As are all the fairytales with their handsome princes.”