Page 46 of What a Lord Wants

And being a damnable idiot, he’d promised to make her immortal.

Winslow slumped down into his chair. “But she’s doing better now.”

Dom wasn’t certain at all of that. As far as he could tell, her mother’s death still haunted her.

“This season’s been wonderful for her. She’s making her way into society where she belongs and finally behaving like a proper young lady.”

Not really. How well did Winslow know his daughter?

“Well on her way to finding a good husband, now that Burton Williams is no longer pursuing her.”

Dom carefully kept his face inscrutable. So Winslow didn’t know what happened last night. Eve hadn’t told him. According to what Dom had overheard at the ball after Eve fled, most people considered what Williams had done to be distasteful. Talk of it would surely die down over the next couple of days, with only vindictive, jealous misses continuing to give it power. But in the meantime, Eve would suffer.

Fatherly pride laced Winslow’s beaming smile. “She has it in her to be a grand lady.”

“Very much so.” Dom meant every word.

“I hope that ladies like the dowager Duchess of Trent and gentlemen like yourself will guide her in the proper direction.”

Thatstung with irony.

“If Mariah could find a good husband, then surely Evelyn can do the same. Someone staid and dependable to keep her in line and out of trouble.”

Dom stared at the man. Did her father know her at all?

“A nice accountant perhaps. A clerk in His Majesty’s government. Or a bank manager.”

Obviously not. Thinking of a much better pairing for Eve, he muttered, “Or a highwayman.”

“Pardon?”

“I said…or any nice man.”

“Hmm. Quite.” He thoughtfully took a sip of bourbon. “Do you know Christopher Carlisle, brother to the Earl of Spalding? He seems quite taken with her.”

At the mention of Eve with Kit, Dom bit the inside of his cheek.

“A good man like him might be just what she needs.” Winslow smiled and slapped his hand on the desktop. “He wants to be a vicar, you know.”

Dom tasted blood.

A soft knock sounded at the door. Thank God for the interruption. Both men looked up as the butler stepped inside the room.

“Yes, Bentley?” Winslow called out.

“Sir.” He cleared his throat and looked at Dom. “Your Lordship, Miss Winslow sends her regrets for being indisposed and unable to accept callers this afternoon.”

He grimaced. Of course she did.

“Well.” Winslow stood, prompting Dom to his feet, their conversation over. “Perhaps we’ll see you at the exhibition.”

“Yes. I hope so.” He nodded and accepted his hat and gloves from the butler who held them at the ready. Which was fine with Dom. If he couldn’t see Eve, then there was no point in lingering. And certainly none in continuing this very uncomfortable conversation with her father.

With a parting nod to Winslow, Dom was shown to the door. But he now had even more questions than when he arrived, and as long as she refused to see him, no way to get answers.

Chapter 13

One Long Week Later