Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Evander spent the following two days perfecting the portrait of Miss Finch.
It was not the longest he had ever worked on one of his paintings, but it was easily the most effort he had put into one.
He could not describe the feelings that flowed through him when his brush danced across the canvas, but he knew that they were important and meaningful and should not be dismissed.
The longer he worked on that portrait too, the more he thought about Miss Finch… and himself, for that matter.
For all his life, Evander had done what he was told.
A strange thing to admit, as he had always thought of himself as one who was in control of his own life.
He was a duke, a respected businessman, the type who others came to and pledge their loyalty to because he was quite literally at the top of the societal food chain.
However, the more he thought about it, the more he came to accept that this was not the case at all.
Everything he did, and everything he had ever done, was at the behest of others.
His parents had trained him to obey, to act how he was told, and to do as was expected of one of his birth.
His marriage to Lilliane was not forced, but it was not something that he had wanted.
Rather, he had to marry, once again doing as he was told to do.
Even the way he acted around people, how dispassionate he was, how cold and calculating, was born from a perception of how he believed he needed to behave.
So ingrained was this perception that he had believed for so long that this is who he truly was.
But it isn’t the real me… or rather, it is not who I can be.
Miss Finch had changed the way that Evander saw himself.
He did not know how, or why she saw him as different.
Nor did he know why he wanted her to see him that way.
All he knew was that when he was with her, he was able to act and feel in ways he had never dared to before.
She brought out a different side of him; she showed him what he could be, and he refused to dismiss it as he would have done in the past.
She told me that it is not too late to change… that I can be better. I want to be better. For me… for Aaron… even for her.
Thus, as he painted, as he saw reflections of himself in his portrait of Miss Finch, Evander came to a decision. It took him two days to reach it, but when it was done, he knew it was the right thing to do.
He stood back from the portrait. He marveled at his work, as well as Miss Finch’s beauty. The colors he used were light, the shading was hopeful and positive, and the smile that she wore… he felt it in his chest so that it wrapped his heart and confirmed that this was the correct path to take.
Evander was changing, he wanted to change, and it had everything to do with Miss Finch.
Evander heard soft laughter and pleasant conversation as he made his way to the breakfast room. It was becoming a familiar sound in his home, and he rather liked it.
Gone were the times when he avoided such things.
And gone were the times where he would do anything to avoid even the perceptions that he was trying to grow closer to his son…
as if such a thing was a weakness. Now, he welcomed it, as he saw this relationship in a new light, one he needed to try harder to see grow.
“Good morning,” he said as he strode into the breakfast room.
“Father!” Aaron stood from his chair, excitement taking his face the moment he laid eyes on Evander. “Are you joining us?”
“I am,” he said simply as he walked down the length of the table. “Assuming I am not too late.”
“You are right on time.” Miss Finch smiled when she looked at him, and that smile alone was enough to confirm that Evander was making the right decision.
He rather liked the way her smile made him feel. It struck him in the chest, it had his heart fluttering, and it dashed away any self-doubt that might have lingered from what he had come here to do.
“Joining us again?” Miss Finch noted with a coy smile. “How many times is this?”
“I told you I would, didn’t I?” he responded coolly as he sat down. “I am, if nothing else, a man of my word.”
She laughed. “Shame on me for doubting you.”
“Are you going to join us later today?” Aaron asked eagerly. “In our lessons?”
“Sadly, I cannot,” he said. “I have work.”
Aaron bowed his head. “All right…”
“But I would, if I could, Aaron,” Evander made sure to confirm. “And maybe later in this week, when I have some free time, I will.” He found that he meant it, that he wanted to be more involved.
Miss Finch eyed him curiously.
“What?” he asked her.
“Oh, nothing,” she said with an innocent shrug. “Nothing at all.”
He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, as if to warn her off whatever assumption she had come to in her head. But she did not look away, challenging him as she always did.
“There is another reason I wanted to join you this morning,” Evander then started as he pulled his chair in and straightened his back. “Before you became busy with today’s lessons.”
“Oh?”
“Tonight, it turns out that I have a spare ticket to the Opera. Times were that I wouldn’t bother going, too busy…” He winked at her. “But tonight, I am rather in the mood, and I was wondering…” His chest tightened as if worried. “… if you might wish to join me.”
Miss Finch balked. “Me?”
“Who else?”
“The Opera… I…” She fidgeted nervously. “Are you certain? That sounds like a rather… I am not sure if… surely, there is somebody else you could take?”
“Even if there is, I am not asking them.” He looked right at her. “It is you who I wish to take.”
“What of the boys?”
“Miss Spencer can watch them.”
“What about –”
“Do not make me order you to join me,” he cut her off. “I would rather you wanted to come.”
“I do want to come,” she said shyly, hardly able to look at him. “I really do.”
“Good, then it is settled.” He nodded once to confirm it. “We are going. As for what you will wear…” It was subtle, and with the boys there, Evander was sure to keep it so. But he allowed his eyes to flick over her once, just long enough so that she would see it. “Leave that to me.”
Miss Finch looked as if she was trying not to appear too excited about this invitation. She did her best to return to her breakfast, her focus firmly on the plate. But Evander saw her coy smile, just as he saw the flush of her cheeks.
She wanted to go, and he wanted her to go with him.
Miss Finch had done so much for Evander this past week, more than she could ever know, and it was time to repay the favor. What was more… while he could not say where this relationship might be going… Evander was excited to find out.
He was turning into a new man, and it was time that he proved it.