“You saved her, my lord,” someone said.
“I brought her in, but it was Miss Spencer who saved her,” Anthony said looking around for Evie, but he couldn’t see her in the crowd that had formed.
Regaining his feet, he searched but still couldn’t find her.
“If you are looking for Miss Spencer, Lord Hamilton, she asked Miss Prudence Spencer and Mr. Landon to take her home,” Lady Howe said.
She’d left before he could speak to her. Before he could assure himself she was all right.
“What you both did was extremely brave, my lord. Allow me to thank you.”
The acknowledgments came then, and Anthony felt as uncomfortable as the people delivering them. He was nobody’s hero, and these people knew that, but were willing to overlook the man he was for what he’d just done.
But it was not he who was the true hero this day. It was Evie, and she’d left before he could tell her that.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Evie had returnedhome after saving Miss Little, exhausted. She’d brought a woman back to life, and that was both a terrifying and exhilarating thought. All she’d wanted to do in that moment was get far away from that crowd of people. Her hands had been shaking, and she’d been close to tears, so she’d urged Prue to get her away from there.
Prue had then helped Evie shed her wet clothes and change, then Evie had fallen onto her bed and slept the entire rest of the day, not waking until morning. When she did, her head was stuffy, and her chest burned.
What followed was an illness that laid her low for nearly two weeks, which considering the visitors who had called at the Spencer house, was both a blessing and a curse. The curse was her throat was raw, and her entire body felt like she’d been stomped on and then rolled over by a herd of cows.
Today was the first day she felt more like herself. She’d risen, bathed, and was now sitting in the small chair beside the bed watching Prue pack for the Hampton house party, which she did not want to attend, but had no choice in the matter. Preparations, it seemed, had been made while she was ill.
“There are a great many flowers in this room and downstairs when I ventured there earlier,” Evie said.
“Lord Hamilton brought some, and others also. He has called often for news of you. I’m quite sure he didn’t believe me whenI said you were recovering, and he wanted to check for himself,” Prue said as she pulled a box out from under the bed.
“Tell me you didn’t let him in here to see me?” He’d brought her flowers. Why did that make her feel warm, when for days she’d been ice cold?
Prue dropped the box on the bed and looked at Evie. “You looked all pale and interesting, with your lank hair stuck to your head. Of course I did.”
Evie grabbed a pillow off the bed and threw it at her.
“Prue?”
“Hmm?” Her sister was lifting the lid off the box.
“I’m sorry that you feel I am controlling, and I promise to ask for your help and opinion in the future.”
“Apology accepted. But we both know that’s a lie, Evie.”
She laughed, because her sister was right. She liked to be in control, but then she wasn’t the only one. Control was important to Anthony too.
She’d missed him. It was as simple as that. Missed their debates and the way he challenged her. She’d thought about him endlessly as she lay in her bed for days. He was becoming a problem for Evie because she was beginning to feel a great deal more for the man than she should, and that would never do.
Your arrangement with him is only temporary.
“Lord Hamilton said he was displeased you had left that day without telling him,” Prue said.
“What? Why? I was cold and my dress was stuck to me exposing…well, everything,” Evie said, waving her hand about.
“You should have told him. He was worried, and you’re engaged.” Prue pulled a dress out of the box that Evie had never seen.
“Fake engaged, but you’re right. I should have at least told him I was going. I’ll concede to that.” But she’d needed to get out of there because she couldn’t completely discount that she mayhave been ill, and there was no way she would do that in front of at least a dozen members of society.
“It’s a miracle,” Prue muttered, shaking out the dress.
