There was no reading Evander's face as he stepped back, no stumbled back as if he had see her chaperon creep up on them unexpectedly. Except it was only the two of them still, surrounded by rain.

He had just kissed her. The thought continued to echo in her mind. He had just kissed her … and now he was talking about the weather? Caroline had never had anyone react that way before. Had it truly been so bad? Her cheeks flamed red as if this had been her first kiss, her eyes wide in disbelief. But that was the thing, she had been kissed before and never had she seen his reaction before. It was both baffling and a tinge mortifying.

"Yes, indeed." She saw no other way but to agree with him as she averted her eyes and stared out at the rain.

Caroline waited a beat, wondering if she ought to say something, but she simply couldn't leave it like that. " I'm not offended, Evander." Caroline told him, turning her gaze on him. The only probable reason she could think for his behavior was his strict adherence of social expectations. But couples weren't meant to wait till marriage to sneak a kiss. It was something they were expected to do, sneak away from chaperones, see if there was some element there. Otherwise, Caroline thought, one could easily be trapped in a loveless marriage, and that kiss from Evander hadn't seemed loveless to her.