Page 32 of The Odyssean Duke

The way he said those words was entirely more seductive than they ought to be, and Evelina’s breath gave an embarrassing little hitch. She tried valiantly to ignore the heat curling between her thighs. “We still have a month,” she said. “Unless you believe you cannot manage it.”

“I can prove myself right now,” he said huskily.

“Oh?”

Instead of answering, he leaned forward and pressed his lips hard against hers. Evelina’s hands rose instinctively to the lapels of his jacket. She pulled him to her and kissed him with all the passion she could muster. When Evelina broke the kiss, her breath came in deep, uneven pants for air. She ached to kiss him again, though. Evelina wanted this man like she had never wanted anything else in her life.

“Shall we?” he asked, his eyes darkened with lust.

Evelina shivered. The thought of him having congress with her right there on the settee sent all her thoughts scattering apart. It was a delightfully scandalous idea. But?—

She had not yet made the agreement.

“We would not want to scandalize my servants,” Evelina said. His Grace did not need to know that most of her servants had gone.

“Very well,” the duke said. “By my estimates, we will be wed by the end of the week anyway.”

“So confident!” Evelina exclaimed. “I have not agreed to anything yet, Your Grace.”

He grinned. “But you will.”

CHAPTER 13

Three days had passed since her last meeting with the Duke of Rothbury, and Evelina had already taken the contracts to multiple solicitors, who had looked over all the terms with a critical eye. Both men had announced that the contracts were in her favor, exceptionally so for a marriage contract. Now, there was only one more thing to consider: would she sign them?

That was the question Evelina pondered as she joined her sister at the British Museum. She and Theodora had walked arm-in-arm until her sister skipped ahead, eager to gaze at the newest arrivals from Egypt. “Beautiful,” Theodora murmured as she beheld a magnificent sarcophagus.

Evelina nodded. The room was filled with such antiquities, so many that it seemed impossible to her that so many mummies and artifacts could exist in the world. She bit the inside of her cheek, for she was a little wary of how so many artifacts came to be in their part of the world. Evelina had followed with considerable interest Lord Elgin’s acquisition of marblesfrom Greece and the criticism that had followed. Lord Byron, in particular, had been rather adamant that the artifacts were stolen. That had left Evelina feeling a little unsettled because she had never in her life imagined a person she was less likely to agree with thanLord Byron, the most notorious of England’s rakes.

“Evelina?” Theodora asked. “Did you hear what I said?”

Evelina shook her head. “No, I apologize. What was it?”

Theodora gave her a soft look. “You have been quiet since we arrived. Is something weighing on you?”

Evelina sighed softly. “I—I suppose there is no point in delaying any longer. I had hoped to ask if your husband might agree to be my trustee.”

Theodora blinked. “Why would you need a trustee?”

“Because I want to ensure that, if I marry the Duke of Rothbury, my fortune remains my own. You know that the law will be kinder to me if a man is managing my money,” Evelina said. “I had thought about asking your husband.”

Theodora’s smile was watery. “And you trust Alexander so much?”

“He is like a brother to me,” Evelina said. “And he has—he freed our mother from a dreadful situation. I adore him, Theo.”

Theodora squeezed Evelina’s hands between her own. “I am so glad,” she said. “I have often thought about how happy I am that the two dearest people in my life love one another.”

“I am happy for you,” Evelina said, affection swelling in her chest for Theodora.

“And I would wish the same for you,” Theodora said gently. “Are you certain that you wish to get married?”

“It is the safest way to have a baby,” Evelina said. “I want to be safe. Having a child out of wedlock would not be ideal. I must think of what is best for the child, and His Grace offers benefits that I would not have if I chose any man I found in the tavern or elsewhere.”

“You are not wrong,” Theodora mused. “But I would prefer that you find happiness as I have.”

“I will find happiness as a mother,” Evelina said. “My husband is relevant only as he can provide me with children.”

“So you say.”