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Chapter Five
Thomas did not immediately seek out his brother, instead opting to take yet another much-needed moment for himself following the beautiful woman’s departure.
She came out of nowhere! And, I will admit, I have never met anyone quite like her. How was I ever to be prepared for such an encounter?
When Thomas did finally succeed in collecting himself, he could think of nothing besides the gorgeous girl with raven-black hair and gray eyes, whose sharp-witted comments and clear intelligence somehow managed to succeed in paling such exquisite physical beauty.
He was halfway back to the crowd gathered by the orchestra, which had at last begun to play again in time with the fireworks display, before he realized he hadn’t caught her name.
“No,” Thomas said aloud, stopping dead in his tracks.
He hurried to find Gerard. His brother was deep in conversation with the Marquess of Newhey, Jerome Wilmore, but Thomas was desperate enough he didn’t think twice about interrupting.
“Brother, I need your help,” he said, gripping Gerard’s arm.
Gerard pulled himself away, but his eyes were wide. “What is it? Is there some form of emergency?”
Immediately, Thomas felt both ridiculous and ashamed. He was giving both Gerard and Jerome a fright.
“Not in the traditional sense, no,” he said, and quickly described the beautiful woman he had just met, as well as his dilemma over failing to procure her name.
Gerard nodded along, though there was a teasing light to his eyes at Thomas’ admittedly juvenile predicament.
Jerome’s face, oppositely, had gone tight. “Excuse me,” he said, interrupting Thomas mid-sentence and walking off.
Thomas frowned. “Is he quite all right?”
Gerard raised his eyebrows and followed Thomas’ gaze. “Jerome? Oh, I’m certain he will be fine. Perhaps he has eaten some bad hors d’oeuvres.”
“Perhaps…”
“But you need my help locating this young lady again, yes?”
Thomas tore his eyes from the crowd surrounding the orchestra and looked back at his brother. There were hundreds of people in attendance tonight, between all the titled families and their attendants. The young woman truly could have disappeared anywhere.
“Yes,” he pleaded. “Yes, Gerard, please. You must help me find her.”
* * *
Evelina had scarcely allowed herself to be found by Matilda when Jerome appeared once again. Or, as he’d referred to it earlier, ‘circled back’ to Evelina.
“My Lady,” he said, dark shadows cast over his eyes now that the fireworks had concluded and the moon had not yet fully risen. “I have word that your mother is feeling unwell. We are to meet the rest of your family on the Thames’ opposite shore.”
Evelina was still half-dizzy from her encounter with the mysterious stranger, and Matilda was so out of sorts from losing Evelina to begin with, it took both of them a moment to process Jerome’s words.
“We must make haste,” he said again when they didn’t respond, jerking his chin in the direction of the boats.
“All right,” said Evelina at last. She allowed Jerome to pull her away from the festivities, with Matilda hustling behind, hardly able to keep up.
They were halfway to the boats before the situation fully registered.
“You say my Mother has taken ill?” she asked, suddenly worried.
“What now? Oh, yes, quite ill indeed.”
“Should we not at the very least call a physician to meet us?”
“I’m sure His Grace has it under control,” Jerome said shortly, though Evelina noticed he had begun to fidget.
