His Innocent Rose (Hinley Manor Book 1)

Chapter 46: Blush

"I am not! I am content being Lydia's maid and I do have friends. We had a small circle but we were all well-behaved. My life is far from being miserable. I am not anything like you." She refilled her glass and blinked. The spirits were starting to take hold but she shook her head discreetly. She cannot show weakness. "Perhaps that was why I abhorred you, Emelia. You were one nasty whore who cannot keep her hands from someone else's fiancé. I was raised to be a proper lady and you...you were raised by nobodies." And she drank her brandy, closing her eyes when the bitterness hit her tongue.

"I was raised by a servant, yes. But Ana is not a nobody to me. She was a mother to me and Sam—when my own was not around. I may not have the same education and environment you grew up with but I am not a whore. I did not have my hands on Damian," she paused and pointed her finger at Evangeline, "it is Damian that you meant by 'fiancè' right?" Her opponent nodded and she continued, "Well, you assumed the wrong thing. You made up assumptions that are far from the truth. And a proper lady would not do that. A proper lady never think badly of a human being."

"And what is the truth, Emelia? Between you and Damian?"

"I was his childhood friend." She gulped her drink down and placed the glass none so gently. The next words were private yet she felt she could express them, with or without spirits. "And when we were growing up, we thought we were in love." Evangeline let out a shocked gasp but she ignored this. She reached for the bottle and poured down a refill. "We were young and naive. We knew nothing of the real world by then. He was kind and charming to me. Never treated me like a servant or a lowly peasant. I was...enchanted by him."

Evangeline took the bottle from her refilled her own glass. "So you've loved Damian since you were what, a mere child?"

"Perhaps." She replied, the brandy was making her warm all over. Perhaps, she shouldn't have shut the blinds and let the evening wind blew inside. "What would a proper lady like yourself know about love, hmm?"

"Love is for the hopeless. People who had no plans for their future and simply lived a day and not the next. I am not that kind. I know practicality more than anything else and love is nothing close to it. The books tell you that love is wonderful but they also tend to make you do silly things. I have never dreamt of falling in love, it seems like a waste of time."

Em laughed bitterly, "You speak so harshly it makes me think someone had broken your heart in the past."

"There was none! I shall not allow any man to break any of my organs, specially my heart. For it pumps blood all over my body and I believe I shall die if it stops."

Em couldn't hold back her chuckle, "Damian has broken my heart yet I am still alive." To this, Evangeline's face flushed. "Fret not my dear lady, perhaps when it is your turn, you shall do much better than I did." She took another swig and handed the bottle to her. Her glass left empty on the table, realizing it was futile to drown on little amounts.

"I shall never be in your shoes, Emelia. For I have no plans of chasing a man that is beyond my reach to begin with." Then she took the bottle from her hands and ignored their glasses, too. She raised the brandy up to her mouth and took a mouthful directly from it. And it was not a good idea. She gulped in more than she could. She paused for a few seconds and composed herself, "If you had been strong, you wouldn't have fallen for him. He was nobility and you were his lowly servant girl."

Em noticed that Evangeline's breath has started to come in short and shorter each time. She was feeling the effects of the brandy.