Lady Alexandra's Lover (Sex and the Season #3) - Helen Hardt Page 0,8
Nothing. “Drat. Anything sounds good to me. Even blood pudding.”
Evan let out a little laugh. “Not your favorite, I take it?”
“I can’t abide it. Perhaps it’s the dark color. Or that it’s made from pig’s blood. I don’t know. All I know is it’s all we had some days during my childhood, and I’ve truly learned to abhor it.”
“I don’t mind it myself. A bit tangy, I think.”
She shook her head. “Try eating nothing but that black sausage plus oatmeal porridge for days on end. Trust me, you’d learn to despise it. I choked it down. It was either that or go hungry.”
Evan walked closer to her. “It was that bad for you?”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
“I only know what my father has told me.” He helped her to a chair and sat down opposite her at the table. “I’d like to know more, if you’re willing to share.”
“Why would you want to know? I’m not interested in your pity.” And she wasn’t. She had her pride, which was why she’d never go without again, even if it meant marrying a man she might not be in love with.
“For God’s sake, Alexandra, I’m not offering you pity. I’d like to get to know my new stepmother better is all.”
“Then speak to her about it,” Ally said dryly. “It’s nothing I wish to relive.” She rose, and then sat back down. “Why the sudden interest in my mother? You certainly weren’t in favor of the wedding.”
“I just thought they were rushing.”
“Is that truly the only reason you were against it?”
He shook his head and sighed. “I was very close to my own mother, so it’s difficult to see someone take her place.”
“Yes, I understand. Well, I can try to understand. I wasn’t close to my own father at all. In fact, I’m glad the bastard is dead.”
Evan widened his eyes.
“Don’t look so shocked. He was a tyrant.”
“I thought you didn’t want to discuss your past.”
“I don’t. What we’re discussing is why you were so against the marriage, and why you want to know about my mother now.”
“I’m interested. She’s my father’s wife.”
“Yes, she is. And I do believe the problem you first had when they announced their impending nuptials had to do with your estate, come to think of it. You think my mother is after your father’s money.”
“I never said that.”
“You don’t have to say it. It was written all over your face then, and it still is now. That’s why you’re interested in our past. You want to know just how destitute we really were and are. You want to know how much of your father’s money my mother wants.”
“Alexandra—”
“Ally, damn it! I detest Alexandra.” She was named for her father. So was Sophie. Angus Alexander Sophocles MacIntyre. Her dreaded name and her sister’s would always remind her of him. They’d both paid the price for not being boys.
Evan swallowed and let out a breath. “Alexandra, I don’t think your mother is after my father’s money. It’s clear how much she loves him, and he her.”
Ally sighed. The truth was her mother had no interest in the earl’s money, though surely it was a wonderful fringe benefit. Her mother was in love, and had been for twenty years. She was now married to the love of her life. No, Iris hadn’t married for money, either time. She was forced into marriage with the girls’ father when she was twenty-five years old, and she married David because she loved him.
It was Ally who was marrying for money. Perhaps this conversation was hitting a bit too close to home. She bit back her words. No need to be so defensive.
“You don’t have to worry,” she said. “Your father has assured us that there is plenty to go around and that neither your future nor your siblings’ will be affected by this marriage.”
“Yes, I’ve come to realize that.”
“You’re not entitled to anything anyway, as a second son.”
Evan pursed his full lips.
Oh, no. She’d hit a nerve.
“By law, that is correct.”
“What will you do, then, when your father passes on and your brother inherits the earldom?”
“For God’s sake, I’m an able-bodied man, not a nitwit. I’ll be fine. That I promise you.” He stood. “I’m bone tired. The sun has set. I’m going to lie down.”
As soon as Evan said the words, fatigue hit Ally like a freight train and she let out a yawn. “Yes, I am also exhausted.”
“You take the bed. I’ll spread some linens on the floor.”