Author's note: Immensely grateful for all the feedback. Hope you continue to find this little story amusing and fun. As I may have mentioned, this chapter is not strictly noncon/reluctance but I kept it under this category for continuity. Hope you continue to enjoy the efforts of this amateur writer. Please do send your thoughts and feedback.
Cheers all!
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Lord Davenport scooped up Evelyn, limp and exhausted, in his arms and carried her to a sofa by the fireplace. The fire had burnt down to smoldering embers. He laid her down and cover her with her wool shawl and brushed a lock of hair back from her adorable sleeping face.
Ah, the young! Full of energy one minute, quickly fatigued the next.
He smiled warmly as he brushed the back of his fingers over the curve of her smooth cheek and swiped the tip of her little nose. Her long thick lashes fluttered for a moment, but her eyes remained shut as she sank further into a deep sleep.
He left her there to gather up the crumpled leaflets of papers scattered at the foot of his desk. One sheet in particular caught his attention and he laid the rest aside. There wasn't enough light to make out what was written on that sheet, but he didn't need to read it to know its content. It was a neatly itemized list of Lady Evelyn's worth. A stunning dowry that, even with his already considerable wealth, made Lord Davenport catch his breath a bit.
He remembered the moment Prince Edward produced the list.
"I trust a man of your stature will neither be intimidated nor corrupted by all this," Prince Edward said with a chuckle. "A lesser man will find excess unavoidable."
Lord Davenport gave the list a brief glance. What he felt he kept to himself as he kept his eyes tracked on the prince as he tucked the list into the breast pocket of his jacket. "And what's to be expected from me, Highness?"
Prince Edward either didn't understand his meaning or feigned ignorance. "It's yours my lord! Your bride's dowry. Do with it as you like. Hell! Throw it all on a game of cards if you'd like as we both know you're plenty rich."
"And what's do you expect from me in return?" Lord Davenport asked again.
"Why, you're simply the best match for my little sister. We share some distant blood do we not? I believe your lineage trace back to the Conqueror. I simply couldn't find another man with your fortitude to suit Evelyn!"
"Here I was so certain it was my charming disposition," Lord Davenport replied wryly.
The young prince shrugged off the remark. His expression suddenly turned serious and solemn for once. "I think the villain who attacked Evelyn might have acted out of sheer opportunity and drunken lunacy, is what I think."
Lord Davenport's chin jerked and his jaw clenched tightly at the mention of that fateful night.
The prince nodded in agreement to what he saw on the Marquess' s face. "Can't be sure of anything though can we? With all the migrants flowing in from the country daily... the ones too drunk and useless to work in those hulking factories they have up north now. They'll happily slit anyone's throat to feed their disgusting appetites. You could hardly blame the filthy animal any more than you can blame blame a dog for biting, seeing a young lady, out alone at night- ."
"I assume this ties in with the proposed reform measures somehow," Lord Davenport guessed.
Prince Edward held up a hand. "I'm not one for politics," he protested. "My sole concern is for Evelyn. While part of me is certain it was just some crime of opportunity, I can't be entirely certain can I? Can you, my lord? She'll be yours after all."
"Measures are in place. She's safe in my care," Lord Davenport said.
The prince nodded, but something else still troubled him. "My little sister is very beautiful as I'm sure you've heard. Well, I don't need to tell you, you know how women are. Like nearly all beautiful women she can be willful and stubborn with a childish streak. Her curse being she's awfully bright too so I must urge you to protect her and keep her safe, even- no! ESPECIALLY from herself. "
Lord Davenport had lowered his chin but flicked his steely gaze up to the prince again. "Do you propose I cage her, Highness?"
Prince Edward's expression brightened once more and he chuckled humorously. "I see I'm on dangerous grounds. I wouldn't presume to tell any man how to handle his own affairs. I'm merely- well I feel it my duty to make you aware of certain facts."
"Speak plainly, sir! Is she prone to madness?"
"Not at all! But! Evelyn may from time to time get it into her pretty head to go looking for her mother. I don't need to tell you the litany of reasons why she wasn't successful and won't ever be successful. I think you can guess why such a thing would not be in anyone's interest."
"No doubt," the Marquess replied. "While I can keep her physical person from harm, how do you propose I should keep a daughter from seeking her own mother?"
"Lord Davenport ought to have no trouble controlling his wife, I should think. But, I've been told nothing occupies a woman's mind better than children of her own!"
Some remnants of a shattered cut-crystal tumbler crunched under Lord Davenport's boots, pulling his mind back to the present.
"Fuck!" he cursed then looked over at the sleeping Evelyn a short distance away.
"Nothing is ever done without forethought" he whispered at her. "We're all pawns in some great scheme aren't we?"
Lord Davenport sought out a fresh glass and poured himself a splash of deep amber colored whiskey. He looked at the list again, then back at the sleeping young woman before shutting the sheet away in a drawer. With one hand hooked in the waistband of his trousers, he held the whiskey tumbler before him and lightly swirled the amber liquid within the crystal glass.
