“Pardon?” he replied.
“I heard you were discussing a match with the Countess of Grayling,” the woman repeated. “There are many gentlemen who believe it is unseemly for a widow to possess so much. Do you believe that?”
He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that the other pair of Olivia’s friends were sneaking out of the refreshment room via the main door. Figuring that they would be on their way to rendezvous with Olivia, he turned on his heel and rushed for the same door. The two ladies who had tried to block his path were not quick enough to cut him off.
“I have no intention of being engaged to anyone, unless it is your friend,” Evan tossed back over his shoulder as he hurried from the room, keeping the other two ladies in his line of sight. He could not lose them. They were his road back to Olivia.
Through the throngs of revelers, a strange chase ensued. The two ladies who had tried to stand in his way were weaving through the crowd behind him, apologizing to everyone they knocked into and stumbling in their efforts to keep up. Meanwhile, the other two ladies ran on ahead, though they were rather more agile than the pair behind him.
Several times, Evan lost sight of them, his eyes darting wildly as they blended into the tide of splendidly dressed guests, but it did not take long to see the chaos they left in their wake: angry voices, furious scowls, and irritated gestures. He followed the ripples until he saw their heads bobbing again, pressing on toward their destination.
After what seemed like an eternity, his heart racing with the panic of missing his chance, his lungs on fire from holding his anxious breath, he cut down a narrower passageway on the right in his pursuit of the two ladies. They disappeared around a sharp corner, prompting him to pump his legs faster to catch up. And as he turned that corner, praying he had not lost them altogether, a gasp caught in his throat as he almost barreled into the pair.
They had halted in the middle of the empty corridor, their arms folded across their chests, their eyes narrowed in defiance.
“Are you following us, My Lord?” one of them—a tall, severe-looking woman with an icy voice—asked. “Do you not know that it is unseemly to chase young ladies, particularly those who are without their chaperones?”
Evan stooped to catch his breath. “Let us not play these games. I know your intentions are good, but so are mine. I wish her no harm, I just… want to pass a letter to her.”
“A letter?” the other woman—a small, pretty thing, as timid as a mouse—asked.
Evan nodded. “There is too much to be said, more than I can put into one simple letter, but it is a beginning. I desire to make amends, even if I cannot mend the hurt I have caused.”
“You realize that you are supposed to send a letter to someone’s residence, did you not?” the severe woman remarked. “For tonight, I shall be your messenger. Give me the letter, and then, if you truly mean what you say, you will leave without further trouble.”
Evan shook his head. “I must give the letter to her myself. I must see that she has it in her hand. If I give it to you, how do I know it will reach her?”
He had the utmost faith that her friends would, indeed, deliver the letter to Olivia, but having glimpsed her, he knew he could not go until he had seen her properly. At the very least, he wanted to tell her how beautiful she looked that evening, in a gown of gold and ruby red that made her seem otherworldly. And that he was sorry.
“I know you do not trust me,” Evan continued. “If I were in your position, I would not trust me either. But… truly, I just want to put this letter in her hand. It is all I want.” His voice cracked, and though he coughed to try and clear the lump that had formed, he knew the two ladies had heard it. The smaller, shyer one tilted her head to one side, observing him with curiosity.
A moment later, as the sound of footsteps echoed in the passageway behind him—the rest of the foursome catching up, to well and truly corner him and send him on his way—the small, timid woman stepped forward. She beckoned for him to come closer.
He obeyed.
“She is in that room,” the woman whispered, pointing to a door on the left, a short distance behind her. “You have two minutes. I will not stand in your way. So, hurry, because the other three will not be so lenient.”
He blinked at her in surprise. “Why are you helping me?”
“Because I have not lost faith completely,” she replied, her tone still hushed. “And because I see the same pain in your eyes that I see in hers. I pray I am not wrong.”
“Thank you,” he gasped, his legs already moving, his body sliding through the gap she had left by stepping forward. The severe woman tried to grab for his sleeve, but she could not find purchase on the smooth fabric. He broke away from her, running as fast as he could for the door on the left.
Twisting the handle, he burst into the room beyond—a small library, by the looks of it—and hurried to close the door behind him. He flattened himself against it, fully aware that Olivia’s friends would attempt to gain entry, but he would have his two minutes no matter how many knocks his spine took from their urgent attempts to batter down the door.
Across the room, Olivia stood with her back to him, by a half-open set of French doors. A warm evening breeze, rich with the scent of roses, tousled her hair and gown as she stood there. She could have been out and into the night in half a second if she had wanted, but her foot hesitated on the threshold.
“Do not,” he said softly. “Please.”
She remained frozen, not turning to look at him.
“I realize I did not grant you the same favor,” he continued, spurred on by the tiniest flicker of hope, “but please, allow me just a moment with you, to speak with you. When I am done, if it is your choice, you need never see me again.”
“I thought I heard you say you wanted to give me a letter,” she replied, at last. “Which is it—a moment to speak with me or a moment to give me that letter?”
He sighed. “Might I read it to you, and do both?”
“Very well,” she said, her back still turned, “but do be quick. I lack the coin to be able to pay for whatever damages my friends may cause in their rescue efforts.”
