Page 17 of Her Infuriating Duke

Even once she did that, she still couldn’t make herself move.

Every time she thought of her cousin or that man, she wanted nothing more than to run from the party back home, lock herself in her bedroom, and tell her mother everything.

Not that her mother would have been able to do much to stop Simon either.

No, the only way out of this was to convince Thomas that he didn’t want her, and the only way to do that was to get back out there.

Squaring her shoulders, she took a deep breath and pushed into the hall.

She was surprised when she joined the party that Christopher was already here. She must have been gone longer than she thought.

Glancing around the room, she scanned the crowd before her gaze made it back to him. She wondered briefly if she should go speak to him, but she shook the thought from her head as fast as if formed.

It wouldn’t be smart to approach him. Given their plan, she should keep her distance unless she wanted to risk something going wrong.

Still, perhaps it would be better for them to be seen together leading up to the scandal. It would seem like less of a shock to people.

Not to mention he was probably some of the better company here after all, and?—

Amber shook her head.

What was she thinking?

She could hardly stand Christopher. He was so full of himself that Amber had no desire to talk to him. If she didn’t need his help for her plan, she would never have spoken to him in her life.

All she should be focusing on is making sure no one noticed anything amiss.

Thankfully, it seemed no one had. As far as Amber could tell, if anyone had noticed her absence, they kept it to themselves. More likely, she thought bitterly to herself, no one had noticed at all.

And why would they?

Aside from Simon and Thomas, who would bother keeping an eye on an unmarried woman of no real status or fortune who wasn’t out? She was hardly the most interesting person there, and she would hardly say she was friends with any of the guests.

The closest thing would probably be Mary, and even then, the woman took on a role more akin to an older sister, making sure Amber kept out of trouble here and there more than anything else when they did see each other which wasn’t often.

All that together meant they were hardly what Amber would call close.

She knew she should be relieved that no one noticed her absence, and in a sense, she was, but there was also something so isolating about realizing that no one would notice if she just vanished.

Mixed feelings warring in her heart, Amber slinked along the wall before taking a seat on one of the sofas. Perhaps she could get through the rest of the evening without being bothered. After all, as far as she could tell, both Simon and Lord Gillion were nowhere to be seen.

But to her surprise, she wasn’t there long before Felicity came over with a bright smile on her face.

“I was wondering where you ran off to,” she said. “Come to think of it, you aren’t the only one I haven’t been able to find for a bit.

A beat of horror went through her at what the other woman was implying. “Lady Felicity, I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re implying. I didn’t run off anywhere. I was just sitting here. I can be a bit of a wallflower.”

She hummed, a bright smile on her face. “Forgive me. I wasn’t meaning to imply anything. I’m sorry if it sounded like I was.”

Amber found herself relaxing at the sheer amount of sincerity in her voice. “It’s all right. I’m sure it was just a simple miscommunication.”

She seemed to light up even brighter at that. “I’m so glad! Have you been having a nice evening?”

“It’s been all right. What about yourself? I don’t think I’ve seen you here before. It doesn’t seem like you know too many people.”

“I don’t, but that’s part of what makes it fun, isn’t it?”

Amber tried not to grimace at the sheer force of her excitement. “I suppose.

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