Olivia shook her head. “There is no need, Mama. You should enjoy yourself, and I shall endeavor to do the same.”
“Nevertheless, I think I shall excuse myself for a moment, to ensure I know where our carriage is,” her mother said. “There are so many, we might not be able to find it again!”
Olivia chuckled and leaned in to kiss her mother’s cheek. “Thank you, Mama. For everything. I hope you know that I would not be smiling at all if it were not for your care of me, this past week or so. These past years, in truth.”
“It will forever be my honored privilege and my pleasure, Olivia,” her mother replied, her voice thick. “But I must tell you that the same is true for me. You have been my blessing since the day I found out I was carrying you.” She touched her stomach, as if remembering. “You, darling, are the reason I regret nothing.”
The two women embraced one another for a moment, both on the brink of tears, before her mother pulled back and, with a brave smile, said, “I will not be long, though I know you will be in the safest company. Those girls—they are a wonder.”
“As they shall always remind me,” Olivia teased, as her mother hurried away. It was not entirely appropriate to leave five young ladies without their chaperone, but there were plenty of other ladies in the refreshment room, and Matilda was meant to have a chaperone, but the woman in question had wandered off. Besides, it would not have been the first ball where Olivia and her friends found ways to be left alone.
However, just as she was about to walk over to them, where they stood pouring hefty measures of punch into pewter cups, she noticed a sudden shift in their demeanor. It began with Anna, who almost dropped her cup altogether. Anna jabbed Phoebe in the ribs who, in turn, poked Matilda in the arm. Finally, a sharp hiss from Matilda drew Leah’s attention away from the punch, her eyes darting toward the door of the refreshment room.
All at once, the four women raced across the room to Olivia. Anna, Phoebe, and Matilda formed a peculiar barricade behind her, while Leah halted in front of her, seizing her by the shoulders.
“I want you to remain calm,” Leah said, panting. “But… he is here. He has just walked into the room.”
“Who?” Olivia’s heart thundered in her chest, roused to a panic by the reaction of her friends.
Leah widened her eyes. “Think, Olivia. Would we form a defensive line for just anyone?”
“Oh…” All the air wheezed from Olivia’s lungs as understanding hit her below the ribs.
“Run, my dearest,” Leah urged. “We will distract him.”
Olivia’s gaze darted left and right. “Run? Where to?”
“Out of that door,” Leah said, nodding toward an open doorway to the right. It resembled a servants’ passageway but was the only other exit to the room. “Find your way back to the carriage. We will join you in due course. Now, go.”
Swallowing thickly, Olivia did as commanded, concentrating on the yawning mouth of the doorway. At the threshold of it, she knew she should keep going, knew she should not look back, but it was as if her neck did not belong to her, twisting back over her shoulder of its own accord.
A gasp escaped her lips. Evan’s eyes were locked on her, his mouth parting as if he meant to call out to her.
I cannot,she told him silently, as her shaky legs carried her into the gloom of the passageway, far away from that handsome face and warm smile that could shatter her resolve with a single kind word.
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
Evan had not intended to be at the Countess of Grayling’s ball that night, but Amelia had insisted. In truth, she had threatened him, telling him that accompanying her was the very least he could do after all the heartache he had caused her.
“You realize that I am the one who is supposed to be angry with you, do you not?”he had said, for he had not been able to think of anything worse than attending a ball after his recent appearance in the scandal sheets. He would be reviled, though not for his true indiscretion—riding away from Olivia like a fool.
“Why should you be angry with me?”Amelia had replied.“Because I knew of your father’s involvement? What nonsense! I knew, yes, and I should have told you, yes, but if you think for a moment that I would have allowed the match to proceed beyond the mere notion of an engagement if she was not right for you, then you do not know me at all. But shewasright for you—she was perfect for you, in truth—and you broke her heart for the sake of proving something to that monster. She is the only victim here. Oh, and if you begin with that balderdash about her being your father’s willing pawn, employed to trick you, then I shall box your ears! I saw her. I saw her pain. I saw her struggling to be brave. No one can pretend that well, Evan! No one!”
To make matters stranger, she hugged him a moment later, telling him that he should fight for what he loves.“I am sorry for not telling you,”she had added, squeezing him until he could not breathe,“but you ought to be sorry too, for running off, and not just running off, but scaring us all by vanishing completely.”
Evan still did not know what any of that had to do with accompanying his aunt to the ball, when Daniel would have been the obvious choice, but he had not wanted to get into a more heated argument with Amelia. Nor had he wanted her to stop hugging him. As such, he had relented, braced to bear the brunt of society’s disapproval.
Now, he was beginning to think that his aunt had not been entirely honest with him yet again.
She knew Olivia would be here,he realized.That is what she meant when she told me to fight for what I love.
He wanted to be furious with his aunt, but any irritation had evaporated the moment he had locked eyes with Olivia. She had looked a little tired, a little flushed, and a little scared, but he had never seen her look more beautiful. Just that glimpse of her, before she disappeared through the door, was like a sip of water after wandering for days in barren desert.
Fight for her!his heart bellowed.And do it now, or you may never have another chance.He had the letter he had written for her in his waistcoat pocket, folded around the dried daisy she had given him. He had put the letter there without thinking, but now the reason became clear. Fate had known they would meet again, and even if she would not speak to him, she would not—he hoped—refuse a letter.
He moved toward the passageway she had exited through, only to find his path blocked by two young ladies. Two of Olivia’s dearest friends, though their names evaded him.
“Is it true that you are already engaged to the Countess of Grayling?” one asked, matching every step that he took to try and get around her.
