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At that point, Evie inwardly cursed Daniel for foisting the task of informing her grandmotherandthe Dowager Duchess of Ashton of their apparent betrothal on her.

What an absolutegentlemanhe was proving to be!

“What poor Lady Evelyn means to say,” a laughing voice interjected, “is that she has found herself currently betrothed to my most charming nephew.”

Both of them turned to find the Dowager Duchess of Ashton walking serenely into the parlor. The corners of her eyes were crinkled in delight. She bustled over to Evie and hugged her warmly.

“Well done, my dear,” she whispered. “I must say, he certainly took his sweet time with it. I was beginning to think he would never work up the courage for it!”

Evie nearly choked at her words. If there was anything that Daniel did not lack, it was courage.

And the sheeraudacityto do whatever he wanted.

“Is that true, dearest?” her grandmother gasped. “But I did not know that you were courting!”

I honestly had no idea of it either!

Evie felt as if she might burst into tears. Or laughter. Or both.

“Ladies,” a low voice admonished them. “I beg you, do be gentle with my bride. She tends to be shy.”

Evie narrowed her eyes at Daniel, who had chosen just that precise moment to casually stride into the parlor. He had already taken off his cravat, and the first few buttons of his linen shirt had already been undone. With his sleeves folded back, and his hands in the pockets of his breeches, he looked the very picture of gentlemanly ease.

And she could not help but admire his forearms.

“Fret not,” he told her softly, his hand pressed gently to her back. “I shall take things from here.”

“You better,” she mumbled under her breath. “If it was not for you, we would not be in this particular dilemma! And I am not your bride.”

“Not yet, you mean.”

He shrugged his shoulders and smirked devilishly at her. The man certainly was aware of the effect he had on her and was unscrupulously using it to his full advantage!

“I, for one, do not consider this to be a problem at all,” he added. “On the contrary, it should solve both our problems rather easily.”

His green eyes locked onto hers, sending a frisson of heat down her spine that pooled low in her belly. He was standing so close to her now that it was hardly appropriate, but did she really have to think about it right now?

A soft cough swiftly dispersed the haze that clouded her better judgment, and Evie would have jumped away if Daniel had not held her still.

The Dowager Duchess was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. “I suppose you two lovebirds might have a great deal you wish to discuss in private, but us old ladies would like an explanation if you will.”

“I might also need a glass of wine to go with it,” Lady Wellington added.

“I second that!” the Dowager Duchess declared. “Maybe make ittwofor me.”

Barnaby, who was ever at his masters’ beck and call, quietly left and returned with a tray of wine glasses for everyone. Daniel and Lady Wellington each took a glass, while the Dowager Duchess took the two that she claimed she needed. When Barnaby held the tray out for Evie, she realized that she was meant to take a glass herself.

A faint fragrance rose up from the burgundy surface, enticingly tickling her nose. A closer inspection would reveal that the smooth surface was marred by faint ripples from the trembling of her hand.

Evie rarely ever drank wine, and certainly not when she had not had dinner yet.

But if the situation calls for it…

Without saying anything more, she brought the glass up to her lips and downed the entirety of its contents. The liquid burned a path down her throat, but pride kept her from coughing.

There was no way she was going to give Daniel Stanton the satisfaction of seeing her choke on a glassful of wine.

It was too late that she realized that the wine was not meant to bolster her courage, nor fortify her grandmother and the Dowager Duchess for their news. When she finished her drink, both of the older ladies were looking at her in shock.