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“Ill? Pah!” Lord Lindstone spat. “I saw him earlier, when you were dancing with that wretch of a duke.”

“His Grace,” Miss Baker said.

“What was that?!”

“Nothing...”

Evan kept his body pressed to the row of hedges that led to where Lord Lindstone and Miss Baker were speaking. Light footed. Breathing minimal. Careful not to be heard because despite knowing that this conversation wasn’t for him and he’d do best to ignore it, he simply didn’t have it in himself to turn the other way.

“The point is, he was here. And you...” It was a snarl. “You were busy.”

“It wasn’t my fault, Father.”

“Oh, it never is!” he snapped at her, and Evan nearly leapt around the hedge then and there, fear striking him that Lord Lindstone might be manhandling his daughter. “But all hope is not lost.”

“I don’t see how? If Lord Malnor has left already, there isn’t much I can do.”

“He has left, but he is not gone,” Lord Lindstone pointed out, a tinge of triumph in his voice now. “Remember, tonight he is sleeping at Lord Wexley’s manor. As are you.”

“All right? But if he has retired already, he is likely tired. Or as I said, ill. He won’t be awake when I return, Father. Maybe I can catch him tomorrow when he breaks his fast. I promise tomorrow, I will do better.” She couldn’t have sounded less excited by the notion, her voice cracking with each word spoken.

“Tomorrow will be too late.”

“Then what?” A pause in the conversation, and Evan crept closer. Although the two weren’t speaking, he could sense a meaning being passed between them. And sure enough, “Father! I don’t... Surely, you are not serious?!”

“Deadly serious. And why you would think I might be anything but — you know how important this is.”

“No,” she said emphatically. “I won’t do it. You can’t... you can’t make me.”

“Excuse me?” Lord Lindstone snarled. “What did you just say?”

Evan could picture the overweight lord standing over his cowering daughter. He could see the rancor in the Viscount’s eyes. Although it didn’t sound as if their conversation had come to blows, Evan prepared himself to intervene if needed.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “It’s just that... I don’t know if that will work.”

Lord Lindstone snorted. “Of course, it will. Even Lord Malnor, for how he carries on — you would think the man’s feces smelled like roses, the opinion he has of himself. Pah! Even he won’t be able to resist the sight of a young lady standing over his bed, begging to join him. He’ll think he’s in a dream.”

Evan’s stomach twisted. Was Lord Lindstone serious? Surely, not! What the man was suggesting, what he was asking of his daughter, there was just no way. This went beyond trying to convince a lord to court one’s daughter. This was... this was beyond anything Evan could imagine. A more reprehensible act he could not fathom.

“And if he refuses me?”

A snort. “That won’t be a problem. Wear the dress he had made for you.” Evan’s stomach twisted further at that. “Showing just the right amount of skin. And if he tries to refuse, we’ll just have to see how convincing you can be.”

“There must be another way?” she pleaded.

“Don’t you dare question me. I have told you what is at stake here. I have told you time and time again! Lord Malnor is who you must seduce, and seeing as you have failed me at every turn, it is time we took desperate measures.”

“But there must be someone else?” Miss Baker pleaded, and Evan could just about see the tears forming in her eyes. “If it is debt that you worry about —”

“How dare you!” he cried so loudly that Evan was sure that those inside the ball could hear. “My finances are none of your concern, woman. The only thing you need to concern yourself with is the task I have set. Do you understand?” A beat, hesitation from Miss Baker. “I said do you —”

“Yes, Father,” she hurried.

Evan still could not believe what he was hearing. Even putting aside the despicable act that Lord Lindstone was demanding of his daughter, the desperation of it all made little to no sense. Yes, David was wealthy. But he wasn’t the only wealthy lord in London. If Lord Lindstone’s debts truly were as bad as they sounded, why David? Why was he so determined that David be the one to cover them?

There was more going on here than Evan had realized. More than a conniving lord eager to see his daughter marry someone of good stock and worth. There was something else at play, and while Evan might have liked to think about it further, Lord Lindstone was speaking again.

“You understand what will happen if you fail me?”