Phoebe squeezed Olivia’s arm tighter. “There will be a reason. If he is half the gentleman that you profess him to be, he will have an explanation for this.”
“He will not mean it,” Anna insisted, her voice thick. “He cannot mean it.”
Lost in her own thoughts and trying not to lose her balance as her legs trembled, Olivia ran the rest of the way in silence. As did her friends who, for once, likely had no notion of what advice to give. Even if there was an explanation, so many people had heard Evan reject the marriage—how could they hope to salvage a future from that?
As Olivia rounded the corner that branched off toward the stables, Evan was just coming out of the stable gates, leading his horse. The creature was saddled and tacked and ready for a journey.
Evan halted as he saw her, his eyes widening.
“Stay here,” Olivia said to her friends. “This conversation does not require an audience.”
Anna and Phoebe looked like they wanted to argue, but Matilda and Leah hauled them back around the corner of the manor before they could say a word, leaving Olivia to stare at Evan. He stared back, his expression blank.
“Where are you going?” she asked, walking toward him. It took every shred of willpower she possessed to keep her voice soft.
He turned his gaze away. “I need to ride. I do not yet know where I am going.”
“Is that wise?”
“Likely not.”
Olivia reached for his hand. “Then, do not go. Stay here with me. Let us venture to the rose gardens and sit by the fountain until you feel calmer. Once you do, we can speak of what has occurred.”
“So that you can continue to lie to me, so that you can continue to promise a false heart to me?” His voice was cold, his hand not moving to take hers.
She shook her head. “Evan, I do not understand your meaning. I only vaguely know what has happened,” she said in earnest. “I was eating a lemon ice and missed all of the entertainment.”
Unwilling to surrender when she had only recently decided that she was going to be blissfully happy and deeply in love with this man, she grabbed his hand and held it tight.
Evan prized her fingers away from his. “Entertainment? Is that what it sounds like to you? I suppose it must have been entertaining for you, to watch me tiptoe into your trap. And, by goodness, you almost had me.”
“An inappropriate jest,” she replied, clenching her rejected hand into a fist. “But I do that when I am afraid. And I am afraid that I missed something terribly important, something that will alter the course of my life. Please, Evan—stay. Explain to me what is happening. I am… quite lost.”
She was more than lost, she was beside herself, but after years of refusing to behave like a society lady, she did not know how to regain his attention in a manner that would not have made him ride off immediately. Shouting and railing at him would gain her nothing, she suspected. But her soft approach only seemed to be making him angrier.
He looked at her intently, and in his eyes, she saw a glint of frost that had not been there before. Of course, she had expected some lingering anger from the argument, but the expression upon his face was not one of fury, but one of betrayal. And beneath the icy sting of his gaze, she felt like the traitor.
What did I do? Why are you staring at me that way?She longed to ask, but her courage failed her.
“You should return to your friends,” he said, climbing up into the saddle. “As you are Amelia’s guest, I am certain you will be welcome to stay as long as you please, and that is why I must leave. I cannot, will not, be where you are.”
Olivia grabbed the trailing length of his tailcoat, gripping it as if her life depended on it. “Do I not deserve an explanation? Why will you not stay and speak with me? Why are you suddenly casting it all aside, when you just promised never to hurt me? You swore your love and loyalty what seems like half a minute ago! You talked of marriage and happiness! Is your word so meaningless? Have I been a fool to believe in you?”
“There will be no wedding, andIam the fool,” he said, fixing his gaze ahead. “You are finally free from me, whether or not that is truly what you desired. Nevertheless, I surrender. I will bear the fault, so you need not worry about that.”
She tugged on his tailcoat. “I am worried that the last few days have been a dream, Evan!” she snapped. “What is happening? What did I do to change your mind so abruptly?”
“I never wanted this,” he replied flatly. “So, I am putting an end to the charade.”
She gaped at him, heart breaking in her chest. “But… I do want this. I am falling in love with you. I told you as much. Does that… mean nothing?” She swallowed thickly. “What has upset you so severely that you would break your promise? What did your father say, for I know this began with him? Or was it me? Was it what I wanted to tell you? Please, just allow me a moment to explain.”
Evan flinched. “I cannot do this, I am sorry. There is nothing more to be said between us.”
With that, he spurred his horse into a lope, forcing Olivia to let go of his tailcoat and step back, unless she wished to be dragged alongside. He did not look back once as Olivia watched him go, her eyes blurred by stinging tears. And as he disappeared through the gates, her legs finally buckled.
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
The following morning, Olivia sat at the breakfast table of the Dowager House, flanked on both sides by her dearest friends. On the opposite side of the table sat Amelia, Caroline, Daniel, and Olivia’s mother and father, as if the breakfast room had been split into sides: those who could not fathom what Evan had done, and those who could comprehend it perfectly well. Meanwhile, Olivia remained somewhere in the middle.
