Secrets to a Gentleman's Heart (Gentlemen of Intrigue Book 1) by Samantha Grace

Author:Samantha Grace [Grace, Samantha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Samantha Grace Publishing
Published: 2015-10-19T18:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

Regina winced when she spotted Evangeline at the bottom of the staircase. Her sister’s arms were crossed, and the rapid slap of her slipper against the marble floor announced her impatience. She was waiting for answers.

“Aunt Beatrice is tucked into bed,” Regina said as she descended the stairs in an attempt to delay the inevitable. “She insisted on a nip of brandy first. In this case, a nip was the same as the two fingers Uncle Charles pours for himself. I don’t expect Auntie will be up and about anymore tonight.”

Evangeline pounced the second Regina’s toes touched the ground floor. “You lied for him.”

“What would you have had me do? Aunt Beatrice was going to summon Bow Street.”

“Of course she was. Auntie thinks he compromised you. I think we are lucky she didn’t shoot him.”

“Yes, well. I’m certain you understand the reason I misrepresented the truth.”

Evangeline maintained her implacable stance. “Misrepresented the truth. Lied. It is one in the same.”

With a groan, Regina pushed past her sister to return to the sitting room, where they had been reading before she went upstairs to investigate the noise.

“We are not finished.” Evangeline dogged her heels all the way to the sitting room. “I don’t give a fig about the moral implications. My point is you acted to protect him, and now you are betrothed. Are you all right?”

“I don’t know.” Regina pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled. “And I wasn’t protecting him. I was thinking of Sophia.” Her claim might be more convincing if she hadn’t thrown herself between him and Aunt Beatrice’s pistol. She hadn’t made a rational choice, but she didn’t know how to explain the stab of panic in her chest when she’d seen the gun’s barrel aimed at him. She didn’t fully understand it herself.

Regina plopped onto the sofa and held her head with both hands. “If a Runner had been summoned, what is to say he would have left before Lord and Lady Seabrook carried Sophia home from the ball? Our sister would have been embarrassed, and I would have been mortified. We picnicked with Xavier yesterday. How long would it take before the gossips began to speculate on the real reason he was found in Wedmore House?”

Evangeline sat on the sofa beside her and rubbed Regina’s back like their mother had done to soothe them when they were ill or overwrought. “I understand,” her sister said in a quiet voice, “but you shouldn’t have to marry to protect our reputation. Love is the only sound reason.”

Regina lifted her head and sent a half smile in her sister’s direction. She’d had no idea Evangeline was such a romantic. Her sister had always seemed too practical and focused on intellectual pursuits to entertain romantic ideals.

“I cannot say with certainty that a desire to protect our family name is fully responsible for my actions. When I saw Aunt Beatrice aiming at him...” A wave of nausea swept through her. “What if the firearm had discharged? His family loves him the same as you, Sophia, Aunt Beatrice, and I love each other.

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