How to Plan a Wedding for a Royal Spy by Vanessa Kelly Page B

interest you greatly.”
    His cousin needed no further prompting.
    â€œOh, indeed,” Alec responded, appropriately enthused. “A man can’t do enough to help the unfortunate poor, can he? You must tell me all about it, Mr. Beaumont. I’m indeed vastly interested.”
    Will had to swallow a laugh. As usual, Alec was laying it on rather thick. Evie’s features displayed her skepticism, but Beaumont was peering at him with an arrested expression on his scholarly face.
    â€œYou take an interest in charitable works, Captain Gilbride?” he cautiously asked.
    â€œLord, yes, as does my grandfather, the Earl of Riddick. We’re forever talking about where we can do the most good. There’s such a great need, especially in the stews, don’t you agree? It’s positively shocking what those poor devils there have to suffer.”
    Though Will initially thought Alec was overplaying his hand, he was wrong. From the gleam in Beaumont’s eyes, the man was well and truly hooked.
    â€œIn that case, I’d like very much to tell you about the work we do at St. Margaret’s,” Beaumont replied.
    â€œSplendid. I can’t think of anything I’d rather talk about.” Alec took Beaumont’s arm and started to lead him away.
    Beaumont seemed to recollect himself. “Evelyn, do you mind—”
    â€œNot to worry, Mr. Beaumont, I’ll take care of her,” Will replied.
    That brought the scowl back to the man’s face, but Alec steered him toward the other side of the room, talking with obvious enthusiasm. In a matter of seconds, Beaumont was reengaged in the discussion and had apparently forgotten all about Evie.
    Will had no intention of making the same mistake.
    He turned back to her with a warm smile. She nervously flapped her lace fan against the side of her leg, looking worried and suspicious. “What are you up to, Will?”
    He turned his back to the room, shielding her from observation. “Why should I be up to anything, Evie? I simply want to speak with my oldest and dearest friend.”
    Prettily flushed a few minutes ago, she now looked pale and strained. “Oh, is that what we are? Perhaps we have different definitions of friendship. In my understanding of the term, friends stay in touch with each other. They answer letters and make an effort to see each other when they come back home, for however brief a time. And they certainly don’t abandon one of them to wonder what she’d done to deserve such shabby, hurtful treatment from her oldest and dearest friend. ”
    For a moment, Will was too shocked to muster an answer. They stared at each other, the years and the distance falling away under the onslaught of her emotional pain. The hell of it was that he truly didn’t have a good answer, for he’d done exactly that—abandoned their friendship. Not out of malice or disregard, but simply because he’d been too idiotically selfish to understand the impact it could have on someone as sensitive and loving as Evie.
    Then she blinked, as she recalled her surroundings. Flushing a bright pink, she looked away. “I had no right to say any of those things, Will. Please forgive me.”
    He let out a heavy sigh. “You have every right to be angry with me. But I never meant to hurt you, sweetheart, and that’s the truth. I was just too young and stupid to know any better. Or to know what I truly wanted.”
    She met his gaze, her cornflower-blue eyes big and bright with unshed tears. “And what do you want now?”
    He wanted to tell her that he was sorry he’d been such a fool, and that he should never have turned his back so firmly on her. That he wanted them to be close again, as close as they’d once been.
    But there was another truth staring him in the face. As much as he regretted hurting her and losing her friendship, he didn’t regret his decision to enter the army. Oh, he’d