The gig moved forward, and Ash sat up to look out at the passing scenery.
“He seems to appreciate the view,” Evie said.
Lord Gregory nodded as he steered the gig along the drive. “Yes. If you want a blanket, there’s one tucked behind the seat.” He glanced over at Evie. “Since you overheard Susan the other day, you must have heard what she said about Ash.”
“I did. That’s why I tried to subtly ask you about where he was sleeping.”
“The subtlety you were telling me about in action.” He smiled. “I wouldn’t ever let her dictate what I do with our dog.”
“Our dog?”
“We found him together, didn’t we?”
“Yes, but we can’t share him. He’s your dog.” She stroked Ash’s back lest he think she didn’t care about him. “I will simply visit as long as we are neighbors.”
“Then I shall have to endeavor that we are neighbors when we are both in London. What is your address?”
She slid him a look of appreciation and let out a short laugh. “Now, that is some smooth flirting.”
“I didn’t even realize.”
She suspected he really didn’t. “I probably shouldn’t tell you my address.” She definitely wouldn’t if he were any other man.
“Why not?”
“It isn’t terribly seemly.”
“I don’t plan to advertise it. On the contrary, I will guard it like my very own special secret.” He cast her a sidelong look, his eyes glittering with a distinct heat that she felt all the way to her bones.
“I live on Charles Street in St. James’s.” Stiffening, she kept her attention on the road in front of them so she wouldn’t see his reaction.
Good heavens, she was fast coming to sixes and sevens. Perhaps if she’d lain with a man at some point in nearly three years, she might not be so affected by Lord Gregory. Yes, that was it. Not that he was singularly alluring. Or that she hadn’t been affected by any man in nearly three years.
He was, apparently, different. The desire she’d felt for men who’d become her protector wasn’t the same as what she was experiencing now. But then, she really couldn’t compare. She’d only ever been with men who’d paid her for the privilege.
Evie pushed those thoughts away. Straightening her spine against the seat, she asked, “Are your brother and sister-in-law coming to dinner tomorrow?”
When he didn’t immediately respond, she looked toward him. His jaw was tight.
“They’re coming, aren’t they?” She sighed.
“I’m sorry. Susan is rather fixated on the Phoenix Club and Clifford’s exclusion from it.”
“Does she think I’m somehow going to help her?” If so, she’d be sorely disappointed.
Lord Gregory glanced toward her, his eyes glinting with humor. “I think so. I tried to tell her you are not the sole decider when it comes to membership. But of course, I have no idea if that’s true. Perhaps you do have the final say.”
That made Evie laugh. “There is a membership committee. It’s secret, however, so I can’t tell you who’s on it.” Nor could she tell him that the club’s owner, Lord Lucien Westbrook, actually had the final say, even if he tried to pretend that he didn’t.
“You’re a member.” He didn’t ask it as a question. “I mean, you’re a patroness, so you must be.”
Evie was the only patroness on the committee, and that was a secret not even the other patronesses knew. However, Evie typically took their opinions into account when she cast her vote on invitations. Well, two of the three of them. She almost entirely ignored Lady Hargrove’s overzealous and often self-serving input.
“You’re not going to respond to that, are you?” Lord Gregory asked.
“Did you ask a question?” She kept her hand on Ash’s back as he settled into her lap for a nap. “I can’t believe how well behaved this puppy is.”
“I see we’re changing the subject.” He laughed. “He isn’t really. Well, mostly he is, but he’s still a puppy. He ran around the stables about fifty times before I drove to Threadbury Hall. He’s just tired. After a snooze, he’ll be clamoring for another runabout, I expect.”
“To return—briefly—to the subject of your sister-in-law’s interest in the Phoenix Club, it isn’t the right place for someone like her or your brother. It’s for people who aren’t offered every invitation as they are.”
“But they aren’t. They don’t have one to the Phoenix Club.”
“You aren’t advocating for them, are you?” Evie supposed it was a difficult situation. The marquess was his brother after all. Perhaps he wasn’t as pompous as his wife. Except, Lord Gregory had indicated he wasn’t without fault. Then again, who among them was?
“I’m not,” he said firmly. “In truth, it’s nice to have a club where I know I won’t encounter them.”
Then Evie would endeavor to ensure it stayed that way. “I’m sorry you and your brother aren’t close.”
He lifted a shoulder. “That’s just the way it is. We are nearly complete opposites.”
“You have nothing in common?”
There was a moment of quiet as Gregory’s brow furrowed with contemplation. He finally said, “We both like horses.”
“That can’t be everything. Aren’t you close in age? Surely you played together as children?”
“Yes, we are only eighteen months apart in age, but the divide between us is much wider. I suppose it started when we were children, precisely because we didn’t play together. We did at first, but we didn’t enjoy the same things—just riding. I liked to read and draw and climb trees. He preferred to shoot and hunt and devise schemes to pilfer sweets from the kitchen, much to the cook’s dismay and our mother’s frustration. That is likely because he was so often sent to bed without dessert because he’d committed some offense, such as using my mother’s figurines for target practice.”
Grimacing, Evie wasn’t sure how she would manage such a sibling. She and Heloise were so very close and had many wonderful memories from their childhood, despite losing their mother and living with so little security. She almost told Gregory about that—she didn’t have to mention her sister’s name—but it somehow didn’t feel right. Why tell him about her beloved sister when his relationship with his brother was fraught? “I wish things were different for you.”
His gaze warmed with gratitude. “I used to too, but as I said, this is just how things are. I’ve made peace with that for the most part.”
“Does he have anything to do with the plans you alluded to last night?” She’d been looking forward to this discussion.
“Not really. He doesn’t give a fig what I do.”
Evie shifted herself toward him, careful not to jostle Ash too much. “So, you’d ‘ultimately’ like to wed. I had the sense you might wish to do other things first. Is that true?”
“Perhaps. I don’t really know. I just know that I see myself married at some point. With children. And a dog.” He tossed her a grin that made her breath catch.