Page 26

A loud scream reached them, coming from somewhere up ahead. Evangeline started running, so he followed. Anthony was faster and rounded the row of trees which led to the water first. He found a rowboat overturned, and the occupants in the water.

“Mr. Benjamin has gone under several times, and Miss Little is hampered by her dress, and I can no longer see her!” A frantic Miss Beasley uttered these words. “W-we are friends, and I know she cannot swim.”

Shrugging out of his jacket, Anthony attempted to pull off his boots, which wasn’t easy, but he managed it with a lot of hopping. When he was done, he looked at the boat’s occupants and found Evangeline wading into the water.

“Get out of there at once!” he roared, following her.

“There are two of them. You can’t save them both!” she called back.

“You’re fully clothed!” he bellowed.

“I will stand here, and you can bring them to me!” The water was up to her chest now. “Hurry!”

He looked behind him and saw no one else disrobing, so he plunged into the water and started swimming. Passing her, he did not take long to reach the man who was floundering about in the water like a child taking his first swim.

“Where is Miss Little?”

The man lunged at him and took them both under.

“Stop thrashing your arms, Benjamin!” Anthony bellowed when they resurfaced. He still couldn’t see Miss Little. Was she under the boat?

“There!” Evie shrieked.

Following her hand he saw the woman surface, frantically slapping at the water, before sinking again.

Wrestling Benjamin under his arm, Anthony propelled him toward Evie, who was now paddling toward him.

“You’ll drown, you fool. Go back!”

Of course, she ignored him, then took hold of Benjamin, who instantly clung to her.

“Desist!” she yelled at him, “or I will let you drown, Mr. Benjamin.”

Deciding Evie had the man under control and that her sister and Landon were now wading in to assist her, Anthony swam in the direction he had last seen Miss Little.

Diving under the surface, he tried to find her.

It took him two more attempts before he saw a flash of white.

Swimming toward it, he reached out and grabbed an arm.

Surfacing, he saw she wasn’t conscious or, he thought, breathing. He started back to the bank, where a crowd had now formed. Evie was out now and being wrapped in Landon’s jacket.

When he could stand, Landon helped him bring Miss Little in. Miss Beasley was sobbing loudly as they laid the limp form of her friend down on the grass.

“Let me in,” Evie said, as people crowded around. “Move back, I said!” she snapped, and then she was there, crouched on the opposite side of the still form.

“Raise her legs!” someone cried. “The water will run from her mouth.”

“Do not raise her legs!” Evie roared. “I read a card that the Royal Humane Society created on how to save a person from drowning,” she added.

“What shall we do?” Anthony asked.

“I need to breathe into her mouth,” she said.

“Everyone, move back!” Prudence yelled. “My sister needs room.”

He watched Evie take a deep breath and then release it like she did before firing an arrow from her bow.

“P-put your hand under her neck please, and lift it slightly, my lord.”

He did as she asked. Evie then opened Miss Little’s mouth and appeared to give her breath.

“I say, what is she doing to poor Miss Little?” he heard someone ask, shocked.

“No, I’ve heard about this. A man was saved after he fell into the Thames and stopped breathing by someone doing what Miss Spencer is.”

While the debate raged above them, Evie continued to breathe life back into Miss Little. Anthony wasn’t sure if the woman was too far gone or if Evie’s efforts would work, but in that moment he had never in his life been so awed by another human as he was by Evangeline Spencer.

Evie lifted her head, and he watched Miss Little’s chest rise and fall.

“I can’t tell if she’s breathing, Anthony.” Her words were desperate.

“She is breathing, Evie. Now we must roll her to her side,” Anthony said, and between them they maneuvered Miss Little, who instantly started coughing and spluttering up water.

“Dear Lord, Jessica!” Mrs. Little appeared with two other ladies. Anthony watched Evie rise, and the women dropped to take her place.

“She is breathing, Mrs. Little, but spent some time in the water,” Anthony said.

“You saved her, my lord,” someone said.

“I brought her in, but it was Miss Spencer who saved her,” Anthony said looking around for Evie, but he couldn’t see her in the crowd that had formed.

Regaining his feet, he searched but still couldn’t find her.

“If you are looking for Miss Spencer, Lord Hamilton, she asked Miss Prudence Spencer and Mr. Landon to take her home,” Lady Howe said.

She’d left before he could speak to her. Before he could assure himself she was all right.

“What you both did was extremely brave, my lord. Allow me to thank you.”

The acknowledgments came then, and Anthony felt as uncomfortable as the people delivering them. He was nobody’s hero, and these people knew that, but were willing to overlook the man he was for what he’d just done.

But it was not he who was the true hero this day. It was Evie, and she’d left before he could tell her that.