To Be by Your Side

by Lilybeth Zefram

  ‘Pleasure to meet you all.’ Lucas bowed and the usual pleasantries were exchanged.

  ‘We have been looking forward to both of your arrivals,’ Lady Evelyn said.

  James chuckled. ‘Indeed, Evie has been on tiptoes since the Rushmore house party.’

  Lucas grinned. ‘And George has been insufferable.’

  Lord James looked at Lucas and the two shared a particular look that was missed by everyone else.

  ‘Evelyn, I suggest it would be much easier for our respective siblings if we perhaps took a walk after we have tea and biscuits,’ George interjected.

  Evelyn cocked her head expectantly toward her brother. James nodded. ‘Indeed, that may be best for the sanity of us all.’ He grunted. ‘Very well, Evie, would it please you to have a stroll with Lord George?’

  ‘Thank you, James.’ Evelyn smiled demurely. Then she tilted her head to face George. ‘It would be wonderful to walk with you.

  ‘So, George,’ Evelyn said, the couple linking arms after walking out the door, ‘your brother says you are most insufferable. Is that true?’

  ‘I may have missed you more than I let on in my letters,’ he admitted ruefully. ‘Besides, I had to convince Lucas to come here so that our families could meet.’

  She nodded. ‘He seems to get on well enough. I think perhaps he and James may become friends. That would be nice.’

  ‘Indeed,’ George grunted.

  They walked in silence for a few moments.

  Then George started chuckling. ‘All this yearning and now that I am with you again, I do not know what to say.’

  ‘I understand,’ she admitted. ‘As long as the sentiment is there, I suppose. But it is nice to just be able to walk quietly with someone and know that they are different.’

  ‘That is a rather romantic notion and not entirely incorrect, I must say.’ He sighed. ‘I assume that it is no secret that I asked your brother for your hand in marriage when we were at Rushmore and that I likely intend to ask here?’

  Evelyn frowned. ‘Of course James told me.’

  ‘How do you feel about that?’

  She thought about this for a moment. ‘There is something I would like to tell you before you ask,’ Evelyn replied. ‘I ...I don’t... It isn’t something that is easy to say and am hoping you can bear it—part of me is confident that you can. But I would like to say it before any promises are made.’

  ‘When will you tell me? I will not rush you,’ George said hurriedly, ‘but you know you may talk to me as both a lover and a friend.’

  ‘First of all, I would like to do it privately,’ she said. ‘Only my family know of this for certain, which is only three people.’

  ‘In that case, you will allow me to ask you a particular question after you have told me this?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, if you can bear it, you can,’ she said with a smile, somewhat twisted with sadness.

  ‘As you wish, my Evelyn.’ George nodded, knowing that there was very little that would make him hate the woman he loved.

  She nodded and they once again lapsed into silence.

  ‘Perhaps you could tell me more of your journey?’ Evelyn asked.

  ‘It was quite uneventful and the beds were frightful,’ George replied, ‘but anything to get to my lady.’

  Evelyn laughed and the last of the tension seemed to float away on the wind.

  Chapter 11

  ‘I need you to invite George over, James,’ Evelyn told her brother at breakfast two days later. ‘I am going to tell him about Ruby today.’

  ‘What brought this on so quickly?’ he asked.

  ‘It seems that we have frozen in our association since I told him that he could not ask me to wed him until I made a confession.’ Evelyn screwed up her nose. ‘It has not changed anything but things are just...not going anywhere.’

  ‘As long as you are sure.’ James eyed his sister.

  Katie leaned over. ‘Do you want me to be there with you?’

  ‘No, Katie.’ Evelyn shook her head. ‘There is no need.’

  ‘If all goes well, Katie, we will have to think about putting you into Society more,’ James said. ‘That is, unless you wish to remain Evie’s companion. But you do not need to do that.’

  ‘You can find your Prince Charming,’ Evelyn added with a smile.

  ‘I did not like how the Duke of Ralston was looking at you in London.’ James shook his head. ‘I have to say, all this worrying over you two ladies is going to make my hair go gray.’

  ‘Nonsense,’ Evelyn retorted.

  Katie pondered for a moment. ‘I am not sure what I want.’

  ‘I do not even know what will happen,’ Evelyn said. She glared at her brother. ‘Don’t get too far ahead. Besides, Katie’—she turned back to her cousin—‘no matter where I am there will always be a place for you—whether you wed or not.’

  Evelyn played with her breakfast. The eggs were quickly going cold and hard.

  ‘Evie, eat,’ James prodded.

  ‘No, I have too much on my mind.’ She stubbornly shook her head.

  The siblings glared mutinously at each other for a long moment.

  ‘Very well,’ James said, ‘but I shall inform your George that you need to be fed at the earliest convenience.’

  ‘You are such a...a...’

  ‘What, Evie? Say it,’ James dared her.

  ‘Idiot!’ she cried.

  James grinned, and then let out a bark of laughter for his sister’s benefit.

  Evelyn stood up. ‘You are a frustrating man, brother mine.’ She moved away from the dinner table. ‘I think I will go see Ruby and then take some time alone. Invite George for ten. I want to do this sooner rather than later.’

  ‘Very well, Evie,’ James sighed. ‘Send in Macleod, and make sure he has pen and paper. I will send him over immediately.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  Evelyn left and went to the nursery. It never took her too long to adapt to new places. James and Katie, especially, made sure she could get through new surroundings independently. Entering the nursery, Ruby gave out a shriek of delight, ‘Mama!’

  ‘Hello again, beautiful,’ Evelyn said. ‘Want to play with mama, Ruby?’

  That got an excited squeal.

  ‘Not too long, though, my dear,’ Evelyn continued. ‘George is coming over. I need to tell him about you. He will guess who your real papa is but I have hopes that George will want to be your papa now.’

  ‘G’ore.’ Ruby jumped up and down.

  ‘Yes, baby, George,’ she sighed, hugging her daughter close to her. ‘Now, shall we play with your blocks?’ Evelyn went to fetch the blocks anyway. ‘We can build an extra tall tower today. We’ll see what we can do, Ruby.’

  It had been a nervous wait for Evelyn but George did indeed arrive at ten that morning. After playing with her daughter, Katie had come and joined them, too. Evelyn had gone to the piano to do some thinking while she muddled along, creating a tune of her own that she would probably forget.

  ‘Evie.’ Katie knocked on the door softly. ‘Lord Windermere is here. Macleod placed him in the drawing room.’

  ‘Thank you, Katie.’

  Katie engulfed her cousin into a hug. ‘He loves you, Evie, I can tell. He might need to take time, but I am certain he will welcome Ruby regardless of the truth.’

  Evelyn gave her cousin an extra hug. ‘You are always too kind to me,’ she told her.

  ‘Do you want me to do a tray of tea and biscuits for you? Then I will leave you alone. I can ensure that James does not get too restless either.’

  ‘As usual, you are a gem.’ Evelyn sighed.

  ‘Now, go!’ Katie giggled softly.

  George stood as Evelyn entered the room. She could tell because he seemed to be wearing blue that day. He then wished her a good morning. The perfect gentleman, he helped her to sit before resuming his seat.

  ‘It was an unexpected pleasure to get your note this morning, Evelyn,’ George told her.

  E
velyn looked down at the floor. ‘I realised we were not moving forward anymore and to do so I need to tell you my most important secret. If you decide you cannot be with me afterwards, though, I beg you to keep my secret as well. I trust you to do that.’

  ‘Evie,’ George sighed. ‘There is a lot I would be willing to overlook or forget or even forgive to be with you. As long as you do not go around murdering people or committing highway robbery or smuggling, I doubt there would be much that would change my mind.’

  ‘Does it help if I say it is none of those?’

  He snorted back his amusement. ‘I am certain it is not those. The question is, does it help you when it comes to telling me this thing?’

  She thought for a moment. ‘Not really. I am really very nervous, George.’

  Their tea and biscuits arrived and they were once more left alone.

  ‘Please.’ George reached over and took her hands in his. ‘Evelyn, just tell me what you need and then we will move on from there.’

  ‘You make it sound simple.’

  ‘It could be.’

  Evelyn sighed heavily. ‘It’s a bit of a long story. But you already know part of it. In fact, it is not really a long story at all, just a few simple facts that you may or may not quite like.’

  George squeezed her hands. ‘Start from the beginning. That is always best, I am told.’

  She nodded, nibbling at her bottom lip. ‘Yes, the beginning.’ She looked at his face. ‘You already know about my love affair with Matthew and it is part of that. You know that because I told you I was not a virgin and, well, the rest I suppose you guessed.’

  ‘Matthew Ashton acting like a loyal pup toward you helped me bring the pieces together.’

  That made Evelyn snort. ‘He is not a loyal pup. The last day we were together, he told me after we had...well... Anyway, afterwards, he announced to me that he was announcing his engagement to someone who effectively boiled down to be the proper type of woman he would need to take for a wife.’ Hastily, Evelyn added, ‘But I do not mean to offend Lady Annabel. She is a nice lady and besides being younger than me, she is considered prettier and most importantly perhaps, she has eyesight.’

  George grunted. ‘So he pushed you aside after he took pleasure.’

  Evelyn knew that he did not mean to sound as callous as he did. George was merely stating facts. She nodded and sniffed, knowing she might well cry. ‘This is the first time I’ve ever told anyone the sordid tale in full.’ Evelyn looked around before turning back to him. ‘After he told me about his engagement I asked him what I should do if I found myself to be carrying his child.’

  George took a deep breath. Evelyn could have sworn she heard him thinking. She was sure she could hear the pieces of the puzzle falling into place.

  ‘He said,’ she continued, ‘words to the effect of that he had taken precautions so if I ever claimed to be with child he would consider it a lie or not believe himself to be the babe’s father.’ Evelyn shook her head, tears brimming. ‘But he did not even take precautions. Not really. And just minutes before he said that to me, he had finished inside me. He was never like you have been. You are so tender and kind. Your soul is so beautiful to me.’ Evelyn hiccupped through a rush of tears. ‘You are...you are my stars and moon. I learnt what bad love was, what it was to be in love with the concept of being in love. And with you I know true love.’

  George sidled next to Evelyn and took her in his arms for a comforting embrace. In a hoarse voice, he said, ‘But you were with child.’ His tone was angry, which Evelyn instinctively knew was for Matthew.

  Evelyn nodded, her head tucked safely against George’s chest.

  ‘Then Ruby is your daughter, truly,’ George concluded. ‘I had heard rumours that she is your brother’s bastard but that is not true.’

  She shook her head. ‘Yes, she’s mine and I love her. James and my Uncle do not know that Matthew is her father but they helped me with the details. Uncle Thomas took leave and came here from India after Katie had written to him. He did not want my babe taken away from the family. They both tried so hard to find out the identity of her father, I only ever told them he was married and he was by the time Ruby was born.’

  George held her tightly. ‘I would gladly put in a few punches for myself as well as your brother and uncle.’

  ‘He is not worth the trouble, not at all.’ Evelyn shook her head. ‘Leave it in the past.’

  ‘As you wish, love.’

  Evelyn looked up at him with her glassy eyes. ‘Am I? Am I still your love?’ she asked, almost in awe.

  ‘Always,’ George murmured and kissed her softly on the lips. ‘Thank you for trusting me with this truth. I will have to think more on this, but it will not stop me from loving you or asking you to be my wife.’

  ‘The irony is that I gave birth to her a week after his wedding,’ Evelyn added. ‘I was going to tell him about the babe when we were together that day, you know,’ she continued. ‘But when he said what he did, I realised that he would do anything to ensure that I was nothing more than a mistress. I was just too foolish to see it before.’

  George cupped her face now. ‘You learnt a lesson the hard way. Just as I did, except I lost my precious children little worse than murder. But you have your babe and that is a miracle, from just her being to how your family allowed you to keep her. Ruby is beautiful and she is a credit to you.’ George’s eyes were a little damp as he realised that he believed every word he had just told her.

  ‘Oh, George,’ she hiccupped. ‘We are a mess.’

  ‘You are a beautiful, brave mess,’ he amended.

  ‘And you are handsome and brave.’

  ‘I love you, Evie.’

  ‘I love you, George.’

  George sighed. ‘I want to think on a couple of things, but I will return to you this afternoon.’ He held her close and kissed her. ‘I...I will think on it because at this stage I will not seek counsel from my brother. This is none of his concern.’

  ‘You might have to tell him one day,’ she said softly. ‘Lucas is your brother and I am sure that he worries about you.’

  ‘Perhaps one day,’ George relented. ‘But for now, I have some thoughts to ponder.’

  Evelyn only nodded, knowing that she would do anything for George. She accepted that he needed time alone, indeed to ponder. Part of her wondered if he would reject her, despite what had just been said.

  ‘You trust your brother and I trust you,’ she murmured. ‘In fact, I also trust your brother. If you can accept me, I know that you can tell your brother.’

  ‘I just said I love you.’

  ‘Yes.’ She nodded. ‘But life is not purely driven by one’s passions. One must be proper in the eyes of Society. Both our pasts are proof of this.’

  George paced his bedchamber back at the rental he and his brother occupied. Lucas had asked him what was troubling him. At first, George refused to answer. Upon realizing that Evelyn had a knack of being correct, he took the plunge to explain the situation to his brother. She understood from experience that one’s brother could be privy to most of one’s secrets.

  Lucas, after being told, just frowned. ‘And so does that diminish what you feel for the lady?’

  ‘Not at all.’ George shook his head. ‘I know Society rules say she is ruined, especially if it became known. But she is my Evie and I do like Ruby very well.’

  ‘And Evelyn told you to confide in me?’

  George sheepishly admitted, ‘Evie has a frightful habit of being correct. She just knew that I would need to tell you. She is a remarkable woman.’

  ‘Indeed, though, remarkable does not seem to suffice.’ Lucas nodded. ‘She certainly is a wonderful choice of duchess, indiscretions notwithstanding.’

  Feeling displeasure and disgust pool at the thought of his first wife, George was well aware that he had learnt immensely from his first marriage. He nodded. ‘Evelyn is perfect, to me at least.’

  ‘As it should be.’

  The t
wo men were silent for a long moment before Lucas spoke again. ‘Do you see Ruby as one of the children you lost needlessly?’

  ‘Perhaps.’ George sighed. ‘But she is clever and adorable. Any man would be proud to call her his.’

  ‘Except her father?’ Lucas frowned.

  ‘I just told you what happened. Currently, other than Evelyn, I am the only one to know the identity of the man.’ George all but growled, ‘I want to knock his teeth down his throat but I promised I would not. Though I know I would have the support of James and their uncle if I did. Apparently their uncle came over to support Evie and was ready to shoot the bastard.’

  ‘But that does not really tell me that you know what you want to do,’ Lucas told his brother with a shrewd look. ‘You say that you still wish to wed Evelyn and that this does not alter your love.’

  ‘Then it is simple.’ George suddenly grinned. ‘If Evie will allow it, I will adopt Ruby and claim her as my own. That will only cause a stir if someone goes digging up paper trails and whatnot. Perhaps it is because I have lost children in the past, deliberately by my ex-wife. In fact, you are likely correct.’

  Lucas nodded, fiddling with the eye patch that covered his right eye. ‘And if she does not wish you to adopt her daughter?’ he asked.

  ‘Then perhaps she will still let me claim her. Regardless, I will be her father.’ George grinned, warming up to the idea more and more. ‘I always realised that they were a package deal but now knowing that Ruby is her daughter. I am really getting into this business of being a father. Of course, I would also like to supply Ruby with some baby brothers and sisters, too.’

  Lucas shook his head, looking at his brother fondly. ‘You are a lost cause. But that is a good thing, indeed.’ He leaned back in his seat. ‘So you are going to be a papa and I shall be Uncle Lucas, eh?’

  George really liked the sound of that. ‘I will be a papa,’ he whispered in delight. ‘Then there is no point in delaying now. Everything is out in the open. I shall ask Evelyn for her hand this afternoon.’

  ‘Shall I accompany you so as to entertain your future brother-in-law?’ his younger brother drawled.

  ‘Why not? I hope to be celebrating shortly after seeing Evie. Cannot have a celebration without the brothers-in-law.’