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Having reached the stairs, I froze. It was him, Evander Eagleman, Verity’s brother, and though his words were not meant for me, they pierced so deeply that my mind went blank. Fear crept into me, as did the urge to run, for he would think me the same, of course.
Only when Evander appeared in the hall and his gaze shifted to me did I regain myself. He also looked stunned.
Not sure what else to say, I noticed his hand and said, “You will need to wrap that hand, Your Grace.”
He ignored me and looked at the rest of his company, who urged him to leave, and as he went to do so, I realized this was my chance.
I moved to follow him.
“Yes?” he asked.
“You are in need of treatment. Where else were you struck?” I inquired.
“I am quite fine, thank you,” he insisted.
“Doctor!” a maid called for me. “Mr. Topwells is in need of your help once you have seen to the duke.”
“I am fine. Good day,” Evander snapped angrily as he quickly exited and moved into the carriage.
Shit!
“Mr. Topwells, are you all right!” the maid called out.
I turned to see the furious, bloodied man glaring murderously out the door. He, too, was Verity’s brother, Fitzwilliam.
“I am perfectly fine.” He sneered at her.
“You are bleeding,” I said to him, coming closer. He looked me up and down and then waved me off.
“I am fine. I do not need your care—”
“You and your brother share a similar disposition when it comes to doctors, I see,” I said, waving my hand for him to sit.
“Do not call him my brother. He is— Why am I even speaking to you?” He scoffed and brushed me out of the way as he, too, left.
I debated returning to the inn, but could not let this chance pass. It would not be so odd for me to go to Everely now—if only to get a glimpse of her.
24
Verity
I could not believe my eyes. I was walking back into the house when I saw him—or saw what I thought to be a figment of my imagination on a white horse arriving at our estate. I nearly threw myself behind a tree to hide. As I watched him approach, panic filled me, and I followed from a distance, unsure of what was happening. The maids were whispering about how my brother looked as though he had gotten into a fight of some sort. But surely, Theodore could not have been here, in Everely, simply for my brother.
“Verity? What are you doing?” Aphrodite asked, coming down the hall.
“Are my eyes deceiving me, or is Dr. Darrington here?” I finally found the voice to ask.
“Yes, he is.”
Oh. Oh. “Truly, he is here?”
“Yes.”
I was unsure what to do or think, so I turned from her and walked back the other way.
“What is he doing here?” I muttered to myself. He had to have come for me, correct? Was thinking that merely my own hubris? There was a possibility that he had come here on business, but so soon after leaving without a word? Was that not cruel of him? Or maybe he did not know I was here?
I turned once more but could not bring myself to walk back and ask the question to him directly. Instead, I gripped my hands in nervousness. What was I to do? I had no idea what I was to do.
You need not exert any further pressure or effort. That is beneath you. The marchioness’s words came to my mind. And since I had no better plan myself, I walked away once more.
It was he who had left me.
If he wished to speak to me, he could seek me out. And if he did not desire to speak to me, I would resign myself to hate him for all of eternity and thank heaven I did not make a greater fool of myself.
“That is that,” I said, lifting my head high. Then I thought: What if he wanted to find me but got lost within the house? Everely was rather large. “Ugh, I have lost all my senses.”
“Then I am not the only one?”
I jumped, spinning around to find him, his hands behind his back and a soft smile on his lips. Now I had to have been dreaming. Here he was right behind me, in the middle of the hall, while I had been trying to think. It was too soon. I had not yet digested this turn of events, and he had not had to search!
“I know—”
I turned from him as if he were not there and continued down the hall.
“Forgive me!” he all but yelled, and I nearly tripped.
“Will you keep your voice down!” I spun to whisper-yell at him. “The maids will hear.”
“I care not who sees or knows. I came here for you. To beg your—”
