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“What situation?”
“That he had wished to monopolize your companionship for the entire evening.”
Frowning, she happened to glance over his shoulder and noticed Ryan watching them from across the hall. He gave her a grin accompanied by an outrageous wink. Instinctively, she felt her insides coil. Curse the man. He knew she had no wish to dance with anyone else that evening. Forcing her into a situation that made her uncomfortable was something perverse enough for the man to do. For whatever reason, he seemed to enjoy watching her squirm in scenarios that were outside her comfort zone. It made her steam to realize that this scenario, in particular, he was instrumental in causing.
She had yet to understand what ulterior motive he hoped to achieve in doing so, but Evelina suddenly had a desire to show him that he did not have the power to control her or her life.
Turning back to George, she firmly said, “I’d be happy to.”
It was obvious that she not only surprised herself but Ryan as well if his expression was anything to go by when she shot him a look before taking George’s hand. Feeling suddenly smug, she purposely tilted her nose in the air at Ryan before allowing George to lead her away. However, not that he would have noticed, she realized with gloom, for the next female on his dance card had approached him and averted his attention.
Out on the dance floor, Evelina’s smugness was short-lived. With a start, she realized her mistake and felt the regurgitating of unease stir in the pit of her stomach. George placed his hand on the small of her back and swung her into line among the rest of the dancers. And to Evelina’s horror, far faster than Ryan had done.
She struggled to balance herself and shot a nervous glance to the dancers nearby. Thankfully, no one appeared to notice her lack of gracefulness or how inadequate she was on the dance floor. Then before she could observe any further disparaging looks, George swung her rather swiftly across the floor. Thankfully, he kept a grip on her waist providing some ounce of support.
“Uh, could we slow it down, some, Mr. Hastings? I’m awfully tired.”
“Sure.” He grinned but his stride barely slowed and Evelina found herself more than once stumbling as she tried to keep pace.
Beginning to grow anxious, she shot a glance around the hall silently seeking assistance. Without even realizing it, her gaze sought out Ryan in the large gathering. She desperately needed at that moment his confident smile or encouraging look. But the distraction caused her to miscalculate a step and to stumble over her own feet. Embarrassed, she mumbled an apology to George and tried to force herself to concentrate and keep up with George’s rather fast pace. She considered asking him to slow down once again but feared he would think her a dunce as she had previously done so and presumably, he considered he had already relented.
Then without warning, she felt him throw her into a spin under his arm. A maneuver that required her to rotate on one leg in a full circle. However, he had spun her so quickly, her legs tangled beneath her throwing her off-balance. Since George had to release her to exercise the move, she no longer had his grip to help keep her steady. Her arm flapped widely at her side as she tried to regain her balance. Then in one horrifying moment, Evelina felt herself go down and hit the ground hard.
The room went completely still. Silence filled the hall as the music came to a screeching stop and all the dancers came to an abrupt halt.
Evelina looked up from her spot where she lay sprawled out on the dance floor and to her complete and utter horror, discovered every single person in that room was staring down at her in a combination of shock, silence, and horror. It was as if her worst nightmare had come to life.
Then out of the sea of horrified faces, Ryan was suddenly at her side. In his undertaking, he did not slow or pause. He wordlessly knelt, swept her into his arms, and carried her out of the hall.
Evelina buried her face in his neck, trying to hide her shame.
From behind them, her parents were immediately on his heel. “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Are you all right, Evelina?”
“She’ll be fine,” Ryan stated and only stopped once when he safely exited the hall and stood on the landing to the entrance. “You go back inside.”
“Perhaps I should take her home?” Clive took a step toward Ryan as if to remove Evelina from his arms.
Ryan turned aside clutching her closer and told them, “That won’t be necessary. I’ll take her home.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, go back inside. Enjoy your daughter’s engagement party. Put everyone’s mind at ease regarding Evelina’s well-being.”
“Yes, yes, of course.” He glanced anxiously at his daughter. “Will you be all right, Evie?”
Evelina waited for that familiar feeling of wanting to run into her father’s arms where she felt the safest. Only there did she feel protected from an unjust world. However, to her dismay, she simply nodded her head and remained limp in Ryan’s arms.
She thought she felt him exhale before he spun around and made his way to the carriage. “No need to worry, Clive. I’ll get her home safely.”
Once down on the street, he unloaded her gently into the carriage as if she was the most precious piece of glass, then hurried around to the other side shouting to the driver the address of the Hepworth home. Once inside the carriage, he turned and searched her eyes.
“Were you physically injured in any way?”
“No.”
He exhaled loudly. “Thank God.”
The expression on his face changed suddenly as his body both relaxed and tensed at the same time somehow. Leaning toward her, his eyes narrowed as a look of remorse clearly darkened them. “I’m so sorry, Evelina. I shouldn’t have pushed you. I just wanted you to be—”
