“Take my arm, Evangeline.”
She did. Her fingers shook as they gripped the sleeve of his jacket.
“We shall walk now, slowly, and you will collect yourself, because we must return to the ballroom. Do you understand?”
“Do you believe me?” The words were a whispered plea. The woman who had brought Cavendish to his knees was broken in that moment.
“I do, Evie. I know that none of what just happened was of your making.”
She exhaled slowly. “Th-thank you.”
He fought the need to hold her until she stopped shaking, but he couldn’t, because the rage inside him would scare her.
“No thanks are needed. I’m only sorry you were subjected to whatever Cavendish did to you.” He almost didn’t want to know, because he feared he would release her and storm back to that scum.
“It was Lady Beasley who lured me to look at the stars. I-I thought she was being nice, and then her daughter was out here and told me someone was in danger. She begged me to help. I ran, and he was there—”
“It’s all right,” Anthony said lowering his hand over hers as the panic rose in her voice. “No one will harm you again.”
The sob was small, but he heard it. He released her arm and slid his hand around her back, pulling her close. Her fingers gripped his lapel as Evie pressed her face into his chest.
“It will be all right,” he said to the top of her head, as much for himself as her. He needed this contact to calm the rage inside him. And she needed it to reassure her she was safe now.
Anthony knew he had to release her before anyone saw them, but it was one of the hardest things he’d ever done. He never sought physical contact with anyone, but he wanted it with her, which was why he let her go.
“He didn’t hurt me; it was just the shock. No man has… has behaved like that around me before. Lord Cavendish grabbed me. He then told me I was his woman, not yours.”
“I’m sorry you suffered because of me,” Anthony said attempting to tamp down the need to finish what he started back there in the trees. He put her hand once again on his arm, and they walked to the house.
“I don’t know what lies between you, but I think it was not just you he wished to punish, Anthony. I think he wanted to hurt me for daring to refuse what he’d offered.”
He worked through what he should say to her about his past dealings with Cavendish, because she deserved something after what she’d suffered.
“Cavendish, Calthorpe, and another were the older boys in Blackwood Hall where we lodged during our school years.”
“Was he as horrible as he is today?”
He looked down at her, studying the delicate side profile. The ridge of her cheekbone, and a long curl over a small ear. Anthony had never thought of her as small because her personality was so large, but he realized she was.
“Yes, and even more so. He was a thug and a bully,” Anthony said. It was odd, but in that moment, he could not find the anger he usually felt when he remembered those days. His rage was solely on Evie’s behalf.
“I’m sorry if you suffered because of those men, Anthony.”
“Thank you.” It was humbling that she could think of him in that moment.
“Evie, when we return, there may be murmurs. I’m sure that if Miss Beasley was part of that entire business, she will have been spreading untruths about the place,” Anthony said, remembering what Lady Raine had told him.
“Prue—”
“Was the one who said she could not find you, “Anthony said.
“Then I must get back to my sister.”
“You’re sure?”
She nodded.
“We went for a walk in the gardens, Evie. Remember to say that and only that if you are asked anything about where you have been.”
