A frown rippled across Mr. Braddock’s face as though he didn’t understand Levi’s odd focus on the family’s history.
“How did she become Miss Rowe?” Levi gestured to Helena, who’d subtly shuffled away from him and hovered near her brother.
“Rowe?” Mr. Braddock shook his head. “Her name is Braddock, too. Eveline Braddock.”
Ice spread through Levi’s body, beginning in his heart and seeping into the surrounding organs, freezing him from the inside. The words of the first newspaper article floated through his mind.
“Eveline Braddock,” he repeated, his gaze flicking to Miss Rowe—correction, Miss Braddock. “Did your sister happen to suffer from a failed engagement as well?”
“By her choice.” Mr. Braddock glanced at his sister as though he couldn’t fathom why this conversation was necessary. “She claimed the gentleman was unsuitable.”
Levi’s hands clenched. “And did she return the ring he presented to her?”
“You have a lot of questions for someone who seems to know more about the situation than he should.” Mr. Braddock stepped forward, raising his chin. “What business do you have with my sister?”
“Absolutely none.” Levi strode around Mr. Braddock, yanked his greatcoat and hat from the rack, jerked open the door, and nearly collided with Miss Webb.
“Your Grace!” she said, stepping backward into Miss Fernsby-Webb. “Are you leaving?”
“Yes.” He pushed past them, then spun, knowing he owed them more courtesy than that. “I’ve learned some distressing information.”
“Which was?” Miss Webb’s gaze slid over Mr. Braddock, moving from his scuffed shoes to his wind-blown hair in silent inspection.
“Both newspaper articles written about Miss Rowe were true, with the exception of one tiny detail.” Levi shoved his arms into his coat’s sleeves. “They printed her name incorrectly.”
Miss Webb’s eyes rounded. “What name should it have read?”
“Eveline Braddock, and that man,”—Levi indicated Mr. Braddock—“is her brother.”
Miss Fernsby-Webb leaned around her sister and glared at Miss Braddock. “You lied to us from the moment we met. Was anything you said the truth?”
Standing mute in the center of the foyer, Miss Braddock kept her eyes on the floor and slowly shook her head from side to side.
“I’ve heard enough,” Levi snarled, jamming his hat onto his head. “Miss Webb, I’ll advise Roxburghe that you and your sister require alternative lodgings prior to the wedding.”
Miss Braddock stepped forward. “Levi?—”
He cut her off with a glare. “Do not address me as though we are intimate friends. I’m your superior in every way.”
Her face crumbled, tears springing to her eyes. With a sob, she turned and raced up the staircase. The slam of her chamber door echoed through the house.
Mr. Braddock’s head swiveled between Levi and the staircase. “I do believe my arrival may have caused more damage than intended.”
“Why are you here?” Levi seethed.
“Eveline sent for me.” Mr. Braddock pointed the crushed missive at Levi. “Why are you here?”
“I’m not.” Turning, Levi stepped off the doorstep and strode down the snow-covered pathway toward the street.
He didn’t look back at the house. Head down, he trudged to his coach, climbed in, and banged on the wall. Leaning his forehead against the window’s cool glass, Levi sighed, then punched the wall, expelling a vulgar swear word, followed by a string of the foulest concoction he could imagine.
It didn’t ease the stone weighing down his stomach.
She lied.
The words circled around his head like buzzards, suffocating him in the carriage’s shrinking cabin. He needed to walk.
Banging on the coach wall, Levi directed Mr. Spencer to pull over. However, Levi opened the door before the coach stopped and leaped from the cabin. Stumbling, he struggled to maintain his balance, flinging his arms out to prevent himself from falling.
