“Can you walk to the carriage?” he asked.
For a fleeting instant, Evelyn wanted to tell him that she could not and would need to be carried again, but then she remembered herself. To be carried in his arms when it was necessary was one thing, but to be carried when she was perfectly capable of hobbling a short distance was quite another. Not to mention the fact that Selina had staked her claim to him; Evelyn would not lose a friend over an odd, inexplicable feeling that she was sure would soon pass.
It is just because he has been kind to me, that is all.
“I can,” she said, and duly set off in the direction of the carriage, flanked on either side by Octavia and Selina.
“Back so soon?” Matthew’s voice greeted Evelyn’s return to the manor, grating on her last fiber of patience.
She limped further into the entrance hall with Octavia’s aid, Selina following close behind, and cast her brother a cool look. He was leaning up against the newel post of the grand staircase as if he had been waiting there for some time, deliberately placing himself where he would be prominently seen. By Selina, most likely.
“Her ankle was troubling her,” Octavia said curtly, before Evelyn could. “You could assist us, or you could keep standing there, as useless as the very post you are leaning against.”
Matthew’s jaw dropped. He was not accustomed to being spoken to like that by anyone, much less a woman. But Octavia was Hugo’s sister; she was protected in a way that Evelyn was not.
“I only meant that I did not expect everyone to return so soon,” he said awkwardly, pushing away from the staircase to offer his help.
“I am quite all right,” Evelyn insisted, ignoring the hand that Matthew held out. “I shall grip the banister if I need additional support.”
He furrowed his brow and took Evelyn’s arm anyway. “I will not be accused of standing by while you hurt yourself again, if you should fall down the stairs,” he mumbled. “Do not protest.”
“I did not,” Evelyn said, secretly grateful to have him to rest against as she peered up at the stairs.
Were there always so many of them? Why did her guest chamber have to be so high up and far away?
She took a breath and was about to take her first step when Hugo ushered his sister aside and took Evelyn’s other arm. He said nothing, did not even cast her a sideways glance, but when she moved, he moved with her. And, for once, Matthew also held his tongue, his face a picture of concentration as he helpedhissister up the seemingly endless staircase.
I have never had so many people tend to me,she realized with a sad smile, for both Octavia and Selina were coming up the stairs behind her, providing extra safety in case the gentlemen could not manage the task.
After an arduous twenty minutes, the odd party made it to the door of Evelyn’s guest chambers.
Hugo stepped back, though he remained in the doorway as Matthew led Evelyn the last stretch to her bed. There, Octavia and Selina took over, fussing over the patient while Matthew retreated, tail tucked, slinking past Hugo with a fear that provided a great deal of satisfaction to Evelyn.
“He scolded them during the hunt,” Octavia whispered, flashing a wink.
Evelyn shuffled back against a stack of pillows. “What?”
“My brother told me,” Octavia replied. “Said he scolded your brothers during the hunt.”
“It is true,” Selina interjected. “They were both helping me to untangle my reins after I got caught, and His Grace was… rather cross with them both for showing no concern about your whereabouts. It was thrilling, in truth, to see him show such authority, and to see your brothers so flustered.”
Evelyn’s gaze darted back toward the door, but Hugo had vanished from sight. He had said nothing about such a scolding when they had encountered one another in the woods. Had he thought it might hurt her to discover that her brothers did not care about her? Did he think that was new information?
“Luke turned bright red,” Selina continued. “I did not know if he was going to bow his head to the duke or punch him. Truly, for a while, I thought there might be a fight.”
“How did I not know about any of this?” Evelyn asked.
Selina shrugged. “With your injury, it did not seem important. Idowish you could have been there to see it, though.”
Evelyn sat back against the pillows, utterly astounded. It was one thing for Hugo to spring to her defense in public, where it would be helpful to his reputation, but to defend her when she was not even there? She did not know what to make of that… only that it further muddied the waters of her fraught mind and wayward heart.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Are you certain that the baron did not say something unkind to you?” Octavia asked, perched on the side of the bed. “It is just that you have not been yourself since that encounter. I could ask my brother to speak to the man, if he has been uncouth or discourteous.”
Sympathy swelled in Evelyn’s chest for her new friend. After the unpleasant experience that had almost caused a scandal for her, it was understandable that Octavia would think the worst. But the truth was, there was nothing inherently wrong with Miles… it was just that there was nothing inherently right with him, either. Not for Evelyn.
“He was entirely civil,” she insisted. “I had already begun to feel… uncomfortable while I was in the modiste’s; it had nothing to do with the baron.”
