“Evelyn, you are the most extraordinary woman I have ever met.” Andrew’s eyes twinkled blue and green as he smiled down his narrow nose at her. Despite the public venue, he ducked his head and kissed her cheek, lingering just so he could breathe more of her florally Ivory soap scent. “You say that now, but you do realize I’ll have to spend some more time with them in order to weasel for more detailed information,” she cautioned. "You might not be so excited later." “I can tolerate a few hours of the Princes if it will get Charlotte out of my hair permanently. Besides, once we’re in residence in Los Angeles, we’ll likely never see them again. It's my rotten luck that they were in California at all,” he grumbled. He moved up in the line with Evelyn, closer to Rupert’s teller window. “St. Louis. I can’t imagine what possessed her to go there.” “Is it that different than New Orleans? Both seem drastic cultural changes compared to either New York or Los Angeles,” Evelyn commented. “I don

Emerging from their bedroom suite, Evelyn watched as Andrew peeled a generous number of bills off his money clip and handed them to someone just outside the door. “Thank you.” He nodded briefly, then closed their suite door. “Darling,” he smiled, his eyes skimming her from head to toe approvingly as he reached for her waist, “I didn’t hear you come out. Our valet tells me the Princes were involved in a drunken card game until the wee hours with the resident helpful celebrity, Mr. Laurel. Neither have emerged from their suite yet today. Given the amount of alcohol consumed, he’s of the opinion we may not see them until they disembark tomorrow.” Evelyn chuckled, staring up into his handsome face and finding herself getting lost in his eyes, mostly green today with only slight hints of blue. “It’s almost orphic how well you predicted that.” “’Orphic,’ is it?” He grinned broadly at her choice of adjective, greatly appreciating the subtle wit, though he had to adm

Andrew wondered if Evelyn suspected anything that had happened, particularly when the train put into the station in Chicago and the Princes disembarked onto the platform. If she did, to her credit, she said nothing. He couldn’t imagine her approving of such vigilante punishment, even on her own behalf, had he told her directly. But he liked to imagine the cold mist in her eyes and the upward tick of one graceful brow was brought on by satisfaction at seeing Daniel Prince trailing along behind his wife and their luggage with a clearly pained gait. Not that it mattered. He’d do it again in an instant if it insured her safety. Like his intuition about the mood of the market, Andrew’s instinct about the foolish and disrespectful Daniel’s mood was crystal clear too. Undoubtedly, they’d encounter the Princes again somewhere in society. Whether Evelyn was officially his wife or not, regardless of her upbringing, she’d be treated with all the respect due her. “Shall we see if there’s a chai

Startled, Evelyn stumbled backwards into Andrew’s steadying arms. Recovering then, she looked back over her shoulder at him with a grin. “Why you sneaky man!” Andrew laughed outright. “Happy birthday, darling. And I’ll have you know, this was not my idea.” “Of course it wasn’t,” she muttered, knowing full well who’d orchestrated this. “You still took part,” she accused, kneeling as Peter bounded into her arms, his older sister, Sarah following more sedately. “Were you surprised!? Were you surprised!?” Peter demanded, clutching her tightly around the neck. “Why, you saw!” she chided. “I was so surprised I nearly leapt out of my skin and I’m quite certain I’ve ruined both your father’s dancing feet. Mmm. I’m so happy to see you both.” She hugged them both fiercely, kissing their cheeks. “We’ve only been gone a month and look how big you’ve grown!” “Governess is a good cook, Miss Evelyn,” Sarah replied softly. Peter snorted, backing away. “But she doesn’t know how to make chicken no

“Stop! Stop! Stop!” Evelyn begged, gasping the words and struggling weakly against his chest. “A—Andrew, you’re hurting me!” Cursing, he tipped her gently to her feet. “We can’t stay here, darling. You need help. Immediately.” She clutched at her abdomen, panting at the vague but no longer unbearable pain near her navel that throbbed towards her hips and pelvis and around her back. As he set her on her feet, the pain dulled to a low roar, but she felt so faint and weak, she knew she couldn’t straighten from her doubled over position, let alone walk. Both her arms and legs felt tingly and uncoordinated, like they weren’t fully under her control, and every time the pain surged, she was certain she was going to lose her breakfast. Andrew caught her as she started to slump to one side, kneeling so he could look into her face. “Do you think you can sit down so I can call an ambulance?” “I—don’t—know.” Wavering against him, she closed her eyes and fought a