“I did,” she said. “Though I didn’t understand it by half.”
He arched a brow and she could see she had gone too far. His brow wrinkled. “I have a hard time believing you don’t understand everything you choose to speak on.”
Behind her, Tibby snorted, and Evangeline cast a quick glare over her shoulder before she put her attention back on him. “Would you care to walk with me?”
He blinked, shook his head, almost as if he remembered himself in that moment or that a spell had been broken. “I hate to be rude, but today is not a good day for it. Perhaps another time?”
“Oh.” Evangeline forced a smile. “Yes, of course. No trouble at all.”
He reached out and caught her hand, squeezing gently before he released it. “Thank you. It was nice to see you. Good day.”
He turned and continued across the park at the same speed he had entered it, leaving Evangeline behind, staring after him in the cold.
“Good day,” she muttered, for he was already out of earshot.
Tibby stepped up beside her and they watched him walk away together in silence. Evangeline felt Tibby’s comments hanging in the air, unspoken but as loud as the thundering hooves of a dozen horses or the sounds of a group ice skating on the frigid lake in the distance.
“Oh, just be out with it,” she muttered.
Tibby turned toward her with a half-smile. “You tried to manage him and he will not be managed.”
Evangeline pursed her lips. Tibby was not wrong, though she would never admit it. She had believed she could easily turn Henry into her and obtain the response she had wanted. And yet…
“Posh,” she said, waving her hand as if she had no care in the world.
Henry was almost across the park now, heading to the other entrance. She could not help but notice what a fine form he cut. She blinked at the unexpected thought.
“He is biddable enough,” she proclaimed. “And he’s always liked me.”
“Has he now?” Tibby snorted.
She turned away now that Henry was gone from her sight. “You know he has. You’ve seen him when he comes with his father to call on my own. He always comes directly to me to talk. He always watches me even when we aren’t speaking. Don’t be foolish, I know when a man has an interest.”
“That you do, with all who have circled you over the years,” Tibby conceded with a tilt of her head.
Evangeline motioned toward the carriage that had been waiting for them. As they walked, she sighed. “But I do not want any of those men. Men who want my money and my influence and access to my father’s title. But this…this idea of choosing a man to marry…a man who wouldn’t do those things…wouldn’t it solve everything?”
Tibby shot her a side glance. “Would it, though?”
A rare feeling of defensiveness shot through her, and she came to a halt on the path and faced her. “If I married a man like him, I would retain myself. And Henry would benefit. Whatever happened with his father, he must wish to be free.”
“Would he be free?” Tibby asked.
“Yes!” Evangeline insisted, though she wondered why she felt the need to fight so strenuously to prove her point. Normally she did not feel a desire to defend herself. If someone didn’t agree, who cared? She trusted her instincts. Today they felt less…instinctual.
Tibby lifted her brows.
Evangeline huffed out a breath and it crystalized before her like smoke. “I’d like it if he had his own pursuits. If he is busy finding planets, he would have little time to trouble me.”
Now Tibby’s expression fell, and Evangeline was shocked to see pity in her eyes. “My lady, that sounds positively depressing.”
Evangeline pushed past her and allowed the footman to help her into the carriage. She flopped into her place, arms folded, as Tibby joined her. The carriage began to move and her maid stared at her, those last words hanging between them.
“Why?” Evangeline finally ground out through clenched teeth. “Why would that be depressing?”
The sadness on Tibby’s face was so plain. “No love, Lady Evangeline. No…no passion.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “No connection at all? Is that what you really want?”
Evangeline caught her breath because when the future she imagined was laid out in that way, it did sound rather dire. And yet she had also seen the dark side of all those things Tibby extoled. The darkest side.
“Perhaps there is some value in a love match. They certainly seem in fashion at present. But we both know things like love and passion and connection don’t last,” she said softly. “Friendship might, though. And Henry is a friend, isn’t he? That is why I would choose him for this endeavor. It’s a good idea.”
Tibby was quiet for a moment, then leaned forward. “Will Mr. Killam say the same when you bring this fool idea to him?”
Evangeline’s lips parted at the very idea. After all, if she told Henry, he might refuse her. She didn’t want that.
“I’m not going to tell him,” she said. “At least not at first. I need to convince him, guide him.”
“Manipulate him,” Tibby said, her tone dry as dust.
“Not in a bad way,” Evangeline said. “After all, he’d certainly never pursue me of his own accord. We’ve been friends for years and he’s never been untoward. No, I’ll have to catch this wallflower in true time-honored fashion.”
Tibby’s brow wrinkled in confusion and concern. “And how is that, my lady?”
Evangeline smiled as the doubts she had allowed herself to feel faded slightly under the weight of her renewed confidence in her plan. After all, she was the daughter of the Duke of Allingham. She was Lady Evangeline. She was a diamond of the first water. She was leader of the ladies. Nothing could stop her once she put her mind to something.
“It’s very simple,” she said, settling back more comfortably against the carriage seat. “I’ll woo him.”
Chapter 4
Henry sat at the large table in the center of the hall at the Society of London Astronomical Studies with another of his colleagues, Donovan McGilvery. It had been two days since his encounter with his father, since his strange interaction with Lady Evangeline just afterward in the park. Both had been on his mind since, which led to a level of distraction that he rarely encountered.
“Great God, man, you have just miscalculated two equations. Have it out before you compute a known planet away instead of finding a new one.”
Henry stared at the equations before him and immediately saw his errors. Simple mathematical mistakes he had not made in years.
“I apologize,” he said, pushing aside his papers and rising to his feet. He shoved a hand through his hair and then pushed his spectacles up his nose out of reflex rather than necessity. “I admit I am having a difficult time of it.”
“Tell me about it,” McGilvery said, concern lining his face. “Sometimes you need a second opinion on something if you are lost in the weeds of a problem. Is it about the equations?”
“I wish it were,” Henry said with a sigh. “A simple scientific question could be debated and solved. This…well, I would share, but it isn’t about society business and I hate to bother you with foolishness.”