Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
“Are you going to join us today, Father?” Aaron asked Evander. “Please, you must say yes.”
As was becoming tradition, Evander had joined his son, Miss Finch, and Aaron for breakfast. So common was it now that when he entered the breakfast room earlier, he saw that the three of them had not started eating yet.
Rather, they sat patiently, and when he entered the room, none of them looked surprised.
Aaron, of course, beamed with delight, and it was a sight that warmed Evander’s heart in ways that he once thought to be impossible but was now growing used to. This is what it meant to be a father, and it was a feeling that he wanted more of.
What was I so afraid of… why did I spend so long resisting what is a perfectly natural thing?
Even his son’s request that he join them today, while once anathema to Evander as he was busy and could not condone wasting time like that, was not nearly so egregious. He wanted to join them. He wanted to continue down this path. He wanted to be the man he believed that he could be.
“I… I am not sure,” Evander said, as if on instinct. His mind immediately went to his office, the mounds of work piled on his desk that he needed to get to.
“You should do,” Miss Finch pointed out. “In fact, today is a perfect day for it.”
“As opposed to all the others,” he responded dryly, which saw her roll her eyes in response.
The Opera last night had been a tremendous success. Miss Finch had thoroughly enjoyed the evening, and Evander had managed to get through it without doing something foolish or falling back into old habits that would have seen the moment ruined.
If anything, he had been too comfortable with her on his arm. Even the noticeable judgment from his peers did little to persuade him from this course. As strange as it was, their objections only galvanized him further, wanting him to prove that they were wrong about her.
There was, of course, that niggling feeling in the back of Evander’s mind, a warning that this could not go on.
When his relationship with Miss Finch had been purely about his physical attraction to her, it was easier to ignore reality and claim that all he wanted was to sate his desire and enjoy her temptation.
It was shallow, it was easy, and it left him free to do as he wanted without the added guilt.
However, the more time he spent with Miss Finch, the closer they became, and the more dangerous the future appeared.
Where can this even lead? Nowhere, and she must know it as well as I. But does that make it better? Or am I only setting us both up for future pain…
What Evander should have done last evening was take Miss Finch into his room once they returned home. He should have made it clear what he wanted from her, dismissing these concerns and establishing clearer boundaries between them.
Evander did not do that… and while he was not ready to admit to why, deep down, he knew the reason.
“Make your jokes,” Miss Finch said to him. “But my meaning is, I am planning on taking the boys into London today, and while I was going to ask for a chauffeur to join us, I cannot help but think you might be more suited.”
“Into London?” Evander frowned. “For your lessons?”
“That’s right.”
“And the reason…”
“To teach them,” she said with a coy smile of her own. “As is my charge.”
He looked at her flatly. “Teach them what? Everything they need should be readily available here, and if it is not, all you need do is ask and I can send for it.”
“Do you not trust me?”
“This is not about trust.”
“It is,” she said, looking right at him, still smiling to herself. “I thought by now you would know me well enough to trust that I know what I am doing.”
She was teasing him, and he knew it. Poking and prodding, purposefully antagonizing because she seemed to enjoy setting him on edge. Just as he enjoyed it too.
“Just tell me what you are doing in London,” he groaned. “If you want me to come, the least you can do is –”
“I am taking the boys to the markets,” she cut him off.
“While it is a simple thing to teach them basic mathematics in a classroom, I find it just as pointless. They need real-world experience, because rarely is it so easy as adding and subtracting in a stale room where everything is given to you and nothing might go wrong.”
“Go wrong? What could possibly go wrong?”
She shrugged. “That is what we will find out. Perhaps for a duke, it is a rare thing to be in a position where someone challenges you…” She looked at him suggestively, and he shook his head.
“But in the local markets, stripped of titles and whatnot, you might be surprised how difficult it is to reach a fair price. As I said,” she winked. “Real-world experience.”
“I can’t help but feel that all this is you wanting to get out of the mansion for the day.”
“Well…” She laughed. “Maybe that’s just an added bonus.”
“Come, Father,” Aaron urged. “Please.”
He had so much work to do today, tasks that needed to be attended and could not possibly be put off. But in the face of his son’s pleading, and with the way that Miss Finch looked at him… Evander was only so strong.
“Fine,” he sighed with exaggeration. “I will come, just this one time.”
“Yay!” Aaron cried out with joy.
His son’s face… the smile he wore… that was enough to tell Evander that he had made the right decision. It helped too that Miss Finch looked at him with pride, because she knew better than anyone else how important this small gesture was.
“How about that pendant, Miss?” the shopkeeper asked greedily as he eyed the pendant that hung from Miss Finch’s neck. “I’d be willing to do a trade.”
“Oh, this…” Miss Finch’s hand wrapped around the pendant as if to protect it. “No, this is… we are not here to trade. We wish to barter.”
“Trading is bartering, Miss,” the shopkeeper pressed.
“I said no, thank you.”
“Oh, come now, don’t be like –”
“The lady said no.” Evander stepped beside Miss Finch and glared down at the shopkeeper in warning. “Either do as she asks or we will find someone else more willing.”
The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man who looked as if he had not showered in days. When he had assumed that Miss Finch was on her own, he stood tall, leaned over the counter, and tried to assert himself over her so that she might bend to his demands.
Evander had been standing back, not wanting to get too close. He was there to watch, to see Miss Finch teach his son, and to see just how well his son performed when there was nobody to help him.
In this instance, however, Evander felt his presence was necessary.
“All right, all right…” The shopkeeper leaned back. “I was only asking.”
“You asked, you were denied,” Evander said. “Now, are you going to help? Or do we need to go somewhere else?”
The shopkeeper clicked his tongue. “What was it you was looking at? I’ll do as fair a price as I can, but don’t be expecting me to do you no favors.” He glanced at Evander, shrank back further, and then focused on Miss Finch. “Come now, I ain’t got all day.”
Evander shook his head at the little man and took a step back, at which point Aaron and Henry stepped forward.
“How much is that one…” Aaron pointed gingerly at a wooden box carved with forest animals. It was a simple lockbox, one that might be used to store items of value.
A poorly made one at that, and far beneath anything that might be deemed worthy of Aaron… but that is not the point.
“Oh, he has a good eye!” The shopkeeper scooped up the box and held it out. “Let us start the bidding…”
They had arrived at the markets less than thirty minutes ago.
The markets were located in the west of London, sprawling from the streets onto a neighboring park; a city of shabby tents and hastily constructed stalls, every alley and path was crammed with people as they hustled about in search of various deals and items for them to purchase at what was a cheap price.
It was not a place that Evander would ordinarily find himself.
The type of people who populated these markets were those of the lower class, some working, many street urchins with itchy fingers and quick hands.
Evander had objected when Miss Finch nominated this marketplace, but she dismissed his concerns, claiming that she had shopped there a dozen times or more.
He watched her closely as they roamed the markets. He considered her in a way that he hadn’t before. It was easy to see her in a different light when she was in his mansion, dressed in finery, acting in a way that suggested she belonged. But here… this was her true self.
It made Evander feel more uncomfortable than he expected. For this past week, it had been easy enough not to think about who Miss Finch truly was and how different their worlds were. Here, however, it was impossible to ignore.
Does it even matter… You know it does, Evander. Despite how much you wish it were otherwise, nothing could matter more.
“Father…” Aaron tugged on Evander’s shirt and drew him back to the moment. “What do you think?”
“Hhmm?”
“The price,” Aaron said. “Is it fair?”
“Miss Finch?” Evander looked at Miss Finch. “What do you think?”
“That is not for me to say,” she said. “Master Aaron’s math was perfect, and I’ve been watching closely.
But I brought him here not just to add and subtract but to experience how the world works.
Sometimes we are ripped off, sometimes we are the ones taking advantage.
Life lessons, which are learned through doing. ”
“So….” Aaron bit into his lip.
“Buy it,” Henry pressured him. “It’s a good price!”
“Henry,” Miss Finch warned her young brother. “Allow Master Aaron to make the decision on his own.”
Aaron looked bewildered. Face scrunched into a ball, he glanced from the shopkeeper to Miss Finch to Evander. Evander gave him nothing, wanting to see what his son would do. It was such a small thing, but his son needed to learn to stand on his own two feet.