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Ava’s eyes suddenly widened as though she had just made a discovery. “Did the Duke hurt you?” she asked.

“Ava!” Eveline cried, shocked.

“Did he break your leg?”

Eveline had never seen her sister so mad. She was certain if her husband was there, Ava would have launched herself at him.

“Let us enter the drawing room, and I will tell you everything,” Eveline said.

“Oh, if the Duke laid his hands on you, I shall ensure everyone in London knows what a brute he is. God help me, I will take it up on myself to get him outcast from Society. Nobody shall?—”

“He did not hit me!” Eveline cut in.

She knew her sister did not quite like William, so it was rather quite expected for her to react in such a manner.

“You show up here unexpectedly with an injured leg and your belongings. I do not believe you,” Ava scoffed.

Eveline was relieved when she was finally able to sit down and take her weight off her leg.

“Now, tell me what the Duke has done to you,” Ava pressed.

“The Duke has done nothing to me,” Eveline said, even though that was only partly true.

William might not have laid his hands on her, but he had shattered her heart into pieces.

“Then what is wrong with your leg, and why did you come here without prior notice, and why are your belongings here?” Ava asked.

“Give her a moment to catch her breath,” Stella interjected.

She looked rather sad, which was quite different from the happy girl who had launched herself at Eveline only moments ago.

Eveline could tell that her younger sister knew that something had gone terribly wrong.

She sighed. “I decided to move back here,” she said simply.

The looks on her sisters’ faces told her that they were now more confused than ever.

“I am certain you did not decide to move back because you have missed your sisters or your childhood home.” Ava raised an eyebrow.

“I moved back because I… I had a disagreement with my… with William and…” Eveline trailed off, quite unsure how to continue.

“The Duke could not have possibly thrown you out?” Stella gasped.

She looked rather disappointed, and Eveline could understand why. Stella, had, after all, held William in high regard, and Eveline knew she had secretly hoped she could secure a husband like him.

“Oh, Stella. William would never throw me out,” Eveline reassured her. “I left of my own will.”

“Eveline, if you refuse to tell me what has happened, I shall ride over to his castle so he can explain everything to me,” Ava threatened.

Eveline had learned, over the years, not to take Ava’s threats lightly. She knew that her sister could, indeed, go to her husband’s estate.

“There will be no need for that, Ava. I shall tell you everything. The Duke did not lay his hands on me or break my leg. I had injured my ankle after I fell off my horse when we went riding yesterday morning.”

Ava, unsurprisingly, did not look so convinced. “That sounds rather too convenient.”

“Eveline would never lie about something like that,” Stella said.

Eveline smiled at her in appreciation.