Page 51 of A Virgin to Tempt the Duke

“Thank you,” she said.

“Go rest.”

And with that, she went.

Rachel arrived a little after eleven. Anna heard the carriage and then the door and then Rachel’s footsteps, which were always quick and slightly uneven, and she was already sitting up when the knock came.

“Come in.”

Rachel came in, still in her evening dress, her hair undone from whatever arrangement it had been put up in and now simply pinned back. She looked at Anna, took in her face, came across the room and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Thomas told me enough to know it was bad,” she said. “Tell me.”

So, Anna told her.

She told it plainly and in order, the way she had trained herself to tell things. The crash of the door, Simmons on the floor, the entrance hall. Standing her ground. The things Birchall had said. The things she had said back. Frederick through the door.

Rachel listened without interrupting, which was one of the things about her that Anna had needed more than she couldaccount for tonight. She simply listened, with her hands in her lap and her eyes on Anna’s face and all the warmth of someone who understood that the most useful thing to do right now was to witness.

When Anna finished, Rachel was quiet for a moment.

“He hurt Simmons,” she said. It came out very flat.

“Frederick has sent for the physician.”

“Good.” She was quiet again. Then she said, “Anna. You stood there alone.”

“I was not entirely alone. The footmen…”

“You sent the footmen away.”

“I didn’t want the neighbors involved.” She looked at her hands. “I didn’t want a scene. I didn’t want anyone to call a constable. I thought… Well, I thought if I kept it contained, until someone came…” She stopped.

“You were very brave,” Rachel said. “You are a marvel.”

“Trust me, I was frightened.” She said it plainly, because it was Rachel. “I was very frightened.”

“I know.” Rachel reached out and took her hand. “I know you were. And you did it anyway.”

The lamp was low. Somewhere below, the house was settling back into its usual order. The physician would come, Simmons would be seen to, and Mrs. Hale would see to everything else as she always did. Then the hall would be quiet and ordinary by morning.

Somewhere, Lord Birchall’s carriage in London was driving him away from this house and from her, and Barnes would have a letter tomorrow morning.

“Rachel,” Anna said.

“Mm.”

“Your brother…” She did not know how to finish the sentence. She was not entirely sure what she meant to ask.

Rachel looked at her. The lamplight made her face difficult to read, which might have been convenient. She simply said, “I know.”

They sat together in the quiet, and neither of them said anything else about it, and that was, Anna found, exactly right.

CHAPTER 20

They were in the parlor when Frederick came downstairs.

Lady Oldbarrow was in the chair near the fire with her wrap still over her shoulders and the air of someone who had decided not to leave until she was satisfied on certain points. Thomas was standing by the window, which was his position when a room did not yet have a clear resolution. They both turned when Frederick came in.