I turned my head in her general direction, but was too drained of energy to rotate completely around. Smoothing my hand over Charles’s sweat dampened curls, I nodded.
When I heard no response, I forced myself to turn around. Miss Lyons and Alice stood in the doorway along with two footmen. Miss Lyons chewed a dainty fingernail.
As I looked up at Mrs. Kellaway, she met my gaze with concern. She knelt down beside me. “Thank the heavens he wasn’t harmed.”
I nodded, holding Charles tighter. The lump in my throat prevented me from speaking. I couldn’t cry—ever—and especially not in front of Miss Lyons and Alice.
A tightness gripped my stomach as I remembered everything.
I was still helplessly trapped in Mrs. Everard’s scheme. I had lost another chance to set things straight.
But right now, my opportunity was gone. The only way to console my nerves was to stay with my brothers for the rest of the day. Nothing,nothingwould come between us again.
I carefully set Charles down, and he walked toward Peter without any trouble at all. It was comforting to see, but my entire body still shook from the terror of the past several minutes. My heart beat shallow and fast.
I stood up too quickly.
A sudden lightness flooded my head. Black splotches filled my vision in angry bursts. I leaned against the chest of drawers for support.
“Annette? Are you unwell?” The words swam like water in my ears. The room spun, a blurry swarm of wood and glass and fine decorations and a girl with golden hair. I didn’t want to faint.Fainting in front of Miss Lyons and Alice would be even worse than crying. My hand slipped from my support, and thankfully all consciousness fled before I hit the ground.
CHAPTER 26
Iawoke to the smell of rosemary and a pair of icy blue eyes.
It took several seconds and dozens of blinks to wholly absorb my surroundings. I was laying on my bed, and the window was open. The sky was dark—the only light coming from a nearby candle. The new sense of warmth from my blankets dispelled the prick of cold on my arms, and I noticed a dainty hand holding a jar of potent rosemary smelling salts beneath my nose.
The dainty hand and the icy blue eyes belonged to Miss Lyons.
“She’s awake!” The exclamation brought the sound of hurried steps to my ears. Mrs. Kellaway, Alice, the Everards, and two men I didn’t immediately recognize came into view. Then Charles’s dimpled grin and Peter’s twinkling eyes appeared above me like two precious gifts.
“You fell down.”
“And then you slept for a very long, long, long time.”
“And then your eyes just opened.”
I knew it was my brothers talking, so I laughed, even though I could hardly decipher their words. Slowly inching my arms to each side of me, I pressed myself into a sitting position, wincingfrom the unexpected pain in my ribs. My head throbbed, filling my ears with the sound of my heartbeat with every movement.
“How are you feeling?” This came from Mrs. Kellaway.
I found her face among the many peering down at me. I mustered a smile. “I have felt better.” I was struck with a wave of embarrassment at the amount of attention that was focused on me, especially in my current state. “But I will be all right. Thank you,” I added in a hurried voice.
Mrs. Kellaway put a gentle hand on my arm.
The older of the two men, I recognized as Mrs. Kellaway’s husband. I had only seen Mr. Kellaway once, ten years before, but his kind face was difficult to forget.
The younger man must have been their eldest son, Edmund. His eyes were striking, much like Owen’s. Much like Alice’s. His hair was darker than Owen’s, but he smiled just as easily as he observed my brothers. I hadn’t known the men were returning today as well, but it made sense. Almost the entire family was together again, which would be a suitable way to mark the ending of my time at Kellaway Manor. It was now very clear to me that I needed to leave. I had already drawn far too much attention to myself.
My quiet observations were halted by Mrs. Kellaway’s voice. “Annette, meet my husband and eldest son, Edmund. They arrived shortly after you fainted. They are eager to make your acquaintance, knowing you will soon be part of our family.” She patted my arm. “But of course, further introduction can wait until you are feeling well again.”
I wanted to faint again. I wanted to scream. Mrs. Everard needed to tell them the truthat once. I shot her a begging look, but she greeted it with a sly wink.
I had no idea how to react to that. My head hurt too much.
“Please rest, my dear.” Mrs. Kellaway patted my arm. “There is a tray of food on your desk. We will see you tomorrow.”
My eyelids were growing heavy again.“Will you keep Peter and Charles safe?” My voice was faint, but urgent.
