The man spoke to the Duke again, laughing at something. Evelyn’s vision tunneled. There was the faintest lift of his brow when he glanced back at her, as if to say,Look at everything I took from you and how well I wear it.
She wanted to slap him. Hard. And then again, just to be certain.
Cordelia’s hand brushed hers. Hazel shifted closer.
Evelyn’s breath came sharp and quick, like cold air slicing down her throat. The sting behind her eyes was unwelcome. More importantly, it was unacceptable.
She turned sharply toward the Duke as fury simmered just beneath her skin. “What are they doing here?” she demanded. “What sort of twisted, manipulative turn is this?”
The Duke, who had just turned in polite acknowledgement of her presence, blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
She laughed, bitterly. “Don’t insult my intelligence by pretending you don’t know.”
He took a measured step closer, his brow furrowing. “Miss Ellory, I assure you, I?—”
“No,” she snapped. “I don’t want to hear your assurances. You have made yourself quite clear.”
“I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about?—”
“And you never will.” Her hands were trembling now, but she held herself as tall as she could. “Enjoy your grand little gathering, Your Grace. I will be in my appointed room. There’sno need to escort me—your butler will suffice. I’m sure he’s used to guiding guests through estates full of ghosts.”
With that, she turned, skirts swishing violently around her ankles as she stormed past the rest of the stunned party.
She didn’t look at her sister.
She couldn’t.
Each step toward the grand front door felt heavier than the last, with her boots striking against the stone as if she were trying to crush the memories rising with every heartbeat. Her chest was tight. Her vision swam. The house loomed like something from a fever dream, elegant and ancient and vast, and all she could think wasget away, get away, get away.
By the time she reached the entrance hall, her composure was a brittle shell, ready to crack. She stopped the first footman she saw and urged with a voice that somehow remained steady, “Please show me to my chambers.”
And as she followed him up the staircase, her hands clenching hard at her sides, she thought she might scream or shatter.
Chapter Ten
It was only several minutes later that Robert found himself sitting in the high-backed leather chair in his study, still as a statue. Across from him, Lady Cordelia shifted in her seat. Lady Hazel did not.
He had offered them the larger settee, but they seemed too tense to notice the gesture. Cordelia’s eyes flitted to the clock on the mantle and then to the door, as though expecting Evelyn herself to appear and end the interrogation. Hazel met his gaze squarely. He respected her for it.
“I will ask only once more,” Robert said, endeavoring to keep his voice as calm and measured as he could, without menace though it often read as such. “What on earth is going on here?”
Cordelia looked toward Hazel, silently begging for a reprieve. Hazel gave her none.
Robert waited. He did not fidget. He did not pace. He simplywasthe way a thundercloudwas: quiet, vast, heavy with the threat of something more.
Still, there was no answer. He exhaled, controlled but not weary, not at all annoyed, and made himself ease back an inch in the chair. It was a slight concession. He knew he probably frightened them though he had never raised his voice in their presence nor anyone else’s in recent memory. It was not in his nature to soothe, but for Evelyn’s sake, he would try.
“I do not seek to unearth gossip,” he said with his tone unchanging, “nor to cast blame. I ask only because I wish to understand what Evelyn is enduring. It seems—” he paused, searching for the word, “—that I have erred. We had begun to speak plainly with one another, or so I believed. But now, she will barely look at me after what I have unknowingly done.”
Cordelia pressed a hand to her mouth then dropped it quickly as though realizing the gesture would betray something. Hazel’s expression remained even.
Robert’s gaze moved between them. “I understand now that I was misled. Her mother was emphatic. She said Evelyn misses her sister terribly and would be moved by a surprise visit. Shebeggedme to extend the invitation to the Viscount of Forth and his wife.”
At the mention of Evelyn’s sister, Cordelia winced. Hazel drew in a long, quiet breath.
“She lied,” Hazel said finally. “Lady Brimwood lied.”
“I had surmised as much.”
