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The Dowager Duchess must have seen the doubt and pain on her face, for she squeezed her hands in sympathy and reassurance.

“He will come to his senses,” she promised Evie. “You will see.”

Such beautiful words, imbued with so much hope…

Evie only wished that she had enough left in her to be able to grasp onto it and never let go.

Instead, she smiled sadly at the Dowager Duchess. “Aunt Caroline, I will never forget your kindness during my entire stay here in Ashton Hall, but I am afraid that I must return to Blackthorn Estate.”

She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I c-cannot stay here—not while Daniel is in the process of securing an annulment. I-If any of you need me, I shall be at my brother’s residence…”

It would not only hurt her to see him, to be so near and so distant at the same time. It would be a devastation capable of shattering her entire world, but with such agonizing slowness that even breathing would be a torment.

“Will you at least consider all the things I told you, Evie?” The Dowager Duchess looked at her with such sadness that she felt as if her heart would break all over again.

“I do not know, Aunt Caroline,” Evie whispered brokenly. “All I know is that I need to get out of here—at least for now.”

The older woman patted her cheek gently. “If you ever need anything, please do not forget that this old woman will always be here for you.”

“Thank you so much, Aunt Caroline… for everything.”

Evie finally managed to get up from the floor with a little help from the Dowager Duchess. It was rather laughable, really, that she should require assistance from a woman who was nearly three times her age, but her legs had already failed her.

Now, she had to look towards a future without Daniel in it, and it was so bleak that she wanted to crumple back to the floor in a heap and just carry on crying.

But she was Lady Evelyn Fitzroy-Stanton, and she could no longer stay on the ground. She would not linger where she was apparently not wanted. She would return to Blackthorn Estate and nurse her broken heart if need be.

Maybe with enough time, she might even learn to live without it.

CHAPTER 27

Among the many rules that he established for those he had previously had a liaison with, these two were of paramount importance to Daniel—they were never to seek him out in his place of residence, especially in broad daylight, and he was never to seek them.

Standing outside Cobham House, he had already broken one of them.

I have broken far more for Evie.What is another one, really?

“Y-Your Grace!” the butler stammered when he opened the door and found Daniel standing before him with the coldest expression known to mankind.

“Inform the lady of the house that the Duke of Ashton is here to see her!” he snapped at the poor man.

“B-but your card?—”

Daniel leveled his frigid gaze on the man, and the butler turned as white as a sheet hung out to dry. He was also fluttering in such a manner that a soft breeze might even knock him out.

“There is no need for a card, Wesley,” a husky voice called out from the back. “His Grace is an old acquaintance of mine.”

The Marchioness of Cobham stood before him in a burgundy gown with a decolletage that was much too low and a bodice much too tight to actually be considered proper. A small smile played on her lips, her dark eyes shining as she regarded him.

“Do not stand there at the door, Your Grace.” She laughed lightly. “Do come in. Otherwise, the gossips will label me as a most ungracious hostess, in addition to my other less-than-savory epithets.”

Daniel did not even give the butler a passing glance as he strode through the door and followed the Marchioness into the sunny parlor. When she saw the slight frown that marred his brow, she let out a low laugh.

“You disapprove of my choice of decor?” she asked him with an arched eyebrow.

He turned to glare at her. “I did not come here to discuss your decor. You may damn well do whatever you want.”

“Oh?” She smiled. “Then, pray tell, what are you here for?”