CHAPTER 2
Eva had been terrified in the garden. How her parents had thought that she could have ever married Mr. Featherstone was beyond her, but honestly, they all knew very little about him.
Removing the fact that he was almost twenty years her senior which was very off putting in its self. Mr. Featherstone had introduced himself just days before. He had an air of superiority and a paunch stomach that Eva did not particularly care for, however she was not one to judge to harshly and was waiting to see his true nature.
Her parents did not know Mr. Featherstone very well and his betrothal request came through her grandfather the Earl of Wentz. Eva knew that if she had been adamant in refusing her parents would have allowed her to turn him down.
Mr. Featherstone had taken the first opportunity that they had been together alone together to shove her out the terrace doors at Eden’s wedding.
Eva had been surprised to be sure, but had no idea that he would then start trying to kiss her, her very first kiss mind you. And when she wasn’t compliant, that he would get angry with her and rip her dress open and hold her down until she felt hopeless and quite without anyone in the world to save her.
Being smaller, Eva had always been the underdog. To compound that she was the youngest of seven sisters, so Eva never had anything new, fresh or even on its first turn. She was used to second hand, being second fiddle and for fighting for anything that she had ever been given. But Mr. Featherstone was quite a bit bigger than her tiny frame and for one small moment she worried that perhaps this might be one battle that she could not win.
If it hadn’t had been for Viscount Moberly’s quick actions she would have been thoroughly ruined. Eva wondered if that hadn’t had been Mr. Featherstone’s intent in the first place.
Of all men that could have come to her rescue, it had to be Viscount Moberly. The one man in the world that haunted her dreams and caused her endless hours of silly infatuation, the Bluebells were going to get such a laugh out of this.
Eva could feel his eyes sear her when he realized that her dress was torn. Those eyes of his, they were an odd light gray color, startling and mesmerizing. It is funny, because she would have thought that they would be cold, or distant.
But cold was the furthest thing that she was feeling once they settled on her breasts. She could feel them harden and plump to her mortification. It was one thing to do so in the privacy of her bedchamber, but quite another with him looking on. Traitors…
Daniel Moberly was a finely sculpted man, chiseled, almost like an artist had seen to him. He was much taller than she was, but he did not give her the overpowering feeling that Featherstone had. Daniel also kept running his hands through his sandy brown hair, leaving it in a perpetual state of messiness that she could not help but feel looked as if he had just stepped from his bed.
She wasn’t really attending to what he was saying, her eyes widened when she noticed that his breeches were tight, something that Sophie had taught them in a Bluebell’s meeting.
He desired her! Her eyes flew to his face and he looked so terribly concerned as his words floated to her again.
“I will not hurt you.”
Eva frowned a little at this, “You didn’t hurt me.”
Goodness, he had saved her!
“Who are you? Who is that man to you?” he pleaded looking at Featherstone’s unconscious form.
Eva’s euphoria ebbed. He didn’t desire her. He didn’t even know who she was. This was only the excitement of the evening. Pushing her hurt feelings aside, she put on her game face and tilted her face further upward so that he could see her more clearly.
“You know me, Viscount Moberly.”
His look of sheer shock was enough to let her know that indeed he had no idea that it was her. Once again, Eva was a nobody, or at least a nobody to him. It was of no consequence, it seemed that was to be her lot in life.
Viscount Moberly seemed to finally come to his senses and removed his jacket and came to cover her. He was all business, and Eva knew that reality had set in.
Just when she thought things could not possibly get worse she heard Rose’s voice cut across the air. It didn’t matter what she was saying or how terrible she was being. It was simply too much to bear, she just needed to get rid of her.
“Why are you even here, Rose?” Eva sighed, looking her in the eyes and hating the smug smirk she saw there, “You don’t like any of us anyway, please do not bother yourself, I will go away.”
And Eva meant every word of it. She could go live with any one of her sisters. They all had children and would love a live-in nanny that they could boss around for free. It wasn’t the life that Eva had wanted for herself, but what choice did she have now?
But what came out of Daniel’s mouth had Eva’s head whipping back to his face.
“You will not speak to my fiancé that way. She had had an accident and is borrowing my jacket. For you to delight in her misfortune shows what a small-minded person you are. Good day.”
Eva couldn’t let him fight all her battles. That was not how things worked, she went to tell him just that when he tugged on her wrist and pulled her along with him towards the house.
What was it about large men thinking they could drag her about? She tried to tug back but he simply tightened his hold.
Eva was using the other hand to hold his jacket closed over her body so it wasn’t as if she could use it. With a strangled humph she allowed him to take her where he wanted to go, but she was seething.
As they entered the ballroom Eva was wondering if he was going to alert her parents of the kind of man Featherstone had been. While a gallant gesture no doubt, it was unnecessary she could do this on her own. But to her utmost horror he did something completely different.
He announced their engagement. The man really had to stop fighting her battles, right after he stopped kissing her. That he could choose to never stop and Eva would be alright with it.
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