He couldn’t help but be amused by his uncle’s concern. “Don’t worry. I’ll act with my usual caution.”
“I am not even sure you ought to go to London at all,” his uncle said anxiously.
“I promised her I wouldn’t let the gossip ruin her life. I owe her at least that much.”
That was the only reason he was hurrying off to London. It had nothing to do with the new emptiness of Charnwood Hall or how he missed having embroidery needles pop up where he least expected them. It was certainly not because he ached to see her and hold her again, to reassure himself that she still cared for him.
“I suppose you are right.” With alarming solemnity, Uncle Lew stood and set his shoulders. “Very well, I will see to matters here at Charnwood while you are gone. You can count on me.”
“To drain my store of good brandy and borrow all my cravats, perhaps,” Sebastian joked. “But the thought of you managing my estate sends a chill through me, Uncle. So I beg of you to leave
that
to my steward.”
Fortunately that put the twinkle back in his uncle’s eyes. “Oh, go on and run off to London then, you ungrateful scamp, before I decide to thrash the insolence out of you.”
“As if you could.” With a grin, Sebastian turned toward the side door.
“Sebastian?” his uncle said.
“Yes?”
“Be careful. I should not like to have to claim your body the way I claimed your father’s.”
He managed a reassuring smile. “Don’t be absurd. I’m not foolish enough to get myself killed. Besides, I’m a crack shot, remember?”
“So was your father.”
With that sobering reminder ringing in his ears, Sebastian left.
London
Reputation is often got without merit and lost without fault.
English proverb written on a list once mounted on the Templemore schoolroom wall
J
uliet sighed when she entered Lord Feathering’s palatial mansion for her first ball since her return.
It wasn’t that she disliked balls. She’d always enjoyed the dancing part, if she could find a partner who didn’t tromp on the slippers she’d embroidered herself. And she did like seeing how a hostess transformed the ordinary into the sublime with a sprig of laurel here and a whimsical paper lantern there. She even relished the insistent buzz of conversation overlaying every event like a chorus of crickets.
But only when it didn’t concern
her.
And that seemed to be the only topic of conversation since her return three
days ago. Her dreadful fall from grace. Apparently, two weeks away from the city had been just enough time to let the gossip take hold and spread like a noxious weed.
Yet she refused to stop attending social affairs until the invitations, most of which had been issued and accepted long ago, petered out. It didn’t matter how much Griff and Rosalind protested. It didn’t matter that last night’s dinner party at Lady Ipswich’s had been utter disaster—a gauntlet of whispers and snide remarks and lewd advances that had nearly brought her to tears.
None of it dissuaded her from attending. Because if these small-minded prattlers thought to drive her from society with their vile contempt, they were in for a surprise. She intended to brazen it out. Hiding from the gossip would merely convince them of its veracity; she could only squelch it by appearing in public and acting as if it were all nonsense.
Fortunately, she’d become quite good at acting, thanks to her time spent trying to unmask Sebastian.
Sebastian. Who’d sworn to put an end to the gossip, then abandoned her as usual. Who’d made love to her with sweet excess, then coolly refused to speak the truth to her family, even when it meant her going off to London without him.
She blinked back tears for at least the fiftieth time since she’d left Shropshire. Drat that wretch! She wouldn’t think about him tonight. Everything was awful enough as it was.
With Rosalind and Griff at her side, she walked into the ballroom with head held high. Lady Merrington gave her the cut direct, and she didn’t flinch. Juliet didn’t like the fussy old marchioness anyway.
Lord Kinsley muttered to his friends and cast her indecent looks, but she merely stared him down until he flushed and turned his back to her. No doubt he’d embellished the rumors by claiming he’d found her fast or some such disgusting thing. Let him say what he wished. She didn’t want to associate with any companions of his anyway.
Her resolve faltered only when she passed three girls she’d once called friends, who darted condescending looks her way. Of course, they were standing with their very strict mamas. Even so, their whispers were loud enough for her to catch snatches of “the bold creature” and “how shameful” and “is it true that—”
She hurried past before she could hear more.
That
hurt; she couldn’t deny it. But she’d die before she let anybody see how much.
Rosalind’s hand caught her elbow. “Listen, dear heart, you needn’t stay if you don’t want to.”
Juliet shrugged off her sister’s hand. “Oh no, they won’t banish me so easily as that. Better to face it now. I won’t have them thinking me a coward, or worse yet, embarrassed to have my ‘sin’ found out.” An elderly knight who wouldn’t have dared to approach her a month ago cast her a leering grin, and she glowered at him until his grin disappeared. “It’s all right, Rosalind. I can handle it.”
“Well, I’m putting an end to it tonight,” Griff growled. “I’m told that Montfort is here somewhere. I should have guessed he was the one to start the rumors. But I truly expected a duke to behave better.”
Before leaving for Shropshire, Griff had written to Daniel at Swan Park to mention the problem with the gossip and that they were headed off to put a stop to it. Upon their return to London, they’d found a letter waiting from Daniel. Griff wouldn’t say what it contained, but apparently it had been enough to convince him that Montfort was guilty.
“Be very careful how you approach the duke,” Rosalind told her husband. “If you’re not entirely sure he’s the culprit—”
“I’m sure,” Griff retorted.
“He
was
very nasty when I refused his offer of marriage,” Juliet said grimly. “But you’ll have trouble proving his culpability. In society, he’s regarded as quite the ami
able gentleman, which means he’s as sneaky as he is malicious. And even if you prove that he started the gossip, what can you do about it?”
“You just leave Montfort to me” was all he would say before he strode off across the ballroom.
“I hope he doesn’t do anything rash,” Juliet murmured.
“I hope not, either,” Rosalind said. “But let him do what he can. He’s taken it as his mission to avenge the wrongs done to you. Since your kidnapper isn’t around for him to visit his vengeance upon, he’ll bludgeon Montfort instead.”
“Montfort could use some bludgeoning,” Juliet retorted. “But frankly, I don’t hold much hope Griff can influence his grace. Montfort has too much money and power for his own good. Not to mention that he takes enjoyment from watching others squirm. Which is why I won’t give him the satisfaction.” She would pretend to be entirely unaffected, even if she had to do it with clenched teeth.
She saw Lord Havering hastening toward her and braced herself for whatever he might say. He’d always been nice, but now no one’s behavior toward her was certain.
He reached them all out of breath and stammered, “Have you heard the latest news? It’s all anybody’s talking about!” Juliet drew herself up, fully prepared to give him a verbal thumping for repeating the gossip about her to her face, but before she could speak, he added, “The Pirate Lord has struck again! And this time he’s gone too far. He’s taken captive an entire shipload of English convict women!”
“Are you sure?” Rosalind said, wide-eyed with excitement. “An entire ship?”
“Not the ship, mind you, just the women. And nobody can figure out why.” He leaned forward, clearly delighted to be the one to tell them this latest
on dit.
“What’s more, Lord Blackmore’s stepsister, Miss Willis, was aboard when the pirates attacked. She’s a reformer, you know. Anyway, Blackmore is livid! They say he’s been at the docks all afternoon. Supposedly Miss Willis wasn’t taken
with the other women, but nobody’s seen her since the convict ship returned to England without its passengers. And there are rumors—”
“Which are probably false,” Juliet put in sternly. This was too close to her own situation for comfort. “Really, my lord, you shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”
He let his gaze rest warmly on her. “I don’t, Lady Juliet. There are
some
things about
some
young ladies that I wouldn’t believe even if Prinny himself said them.” His meaningful pause touched her. “But this information comes directly from one of the Navy Board’s commissioners. The only part in doubt is whether Miss Willis was taken, and that’ll become known soon enough, I s’pose.”
“That poor girl!” Rosalind remarked. “To be taken by pirates…it’s ghastly.”
That’s when it hit Juliet. Morgan was with the Pirate Lord. He might even be part of this. Poor Sebastian, he would be crushed.
Her heart sank. And if there’d been any small chance before that he would come for her before his brother returned, it was dashed by this news. Unlike Lord Winthrop, Lord Blackmore had a great deal of political power. He wouldn’t rest until the Pirate Lord was vanquished, along with the unlucky members of the villain’s crew. Like Sebastian’s hapless brother.
No, Sebastian wouldn’t risk anything for her now. Not after this.
“Lady Juliet?” Lord Havering asked anxiously. “Are you all right? You look very pale. It must greatly vex gentle creatures like yourselves to hear of such awful villains.”
Bending near enough for her to smell his nasty-smelling hair oil, he took her hand and chafed it between his. “May I fetch you some punch? You look like you might faint.”
Rosalind was eyeing her curiously, too, so Juliet forced the frown from her face. “No, I’m fine. I was merely thinking of what those women must be suffering.”
“I tell you, if I had a ship,” he said stoutly, “I’d be out there at once and after the brigand. I would, I swear.”
She suppressed her smile. “Of course you would.” But only if somebody were holding a gun to his head.
The present dance ended, and their conversation was momentarily interrupted by applause. Then Lord Havering turned to her with a hopeful smile. “If you’re sure you’re well, perhaps you’d stand up with me for this next one?”
The poor sweet dear. He might not be the cleverest man, but at least he had the courage to be seen dancing with her. At least
he
did not let things like duty and responsibility stand in the way of his feelings for a young lady.
So although she could never return them, she held out her hand to let him lead her to the floor. She ignored the people who whispered as she passed by. Let the others disdain her if they wished; she would stay above it all. She would dance and laugh and pretend to be the pure virgin she wasn’t. She would smile until her face hurt, and if nobody smiled back, she’d keep on smiling anyway.
Most of all, she would try not to dwell on the treacherous Sebastian Blakely, who’d landed her in this muddle in the first place.
The treacherous Sebastian Blakely had come to London to clean up his muddle. Which had mushroomed this afternoon at the Navy Board when they’d told him the latest about that blasted pirate. But it wasn’t the muddle with his brother that concerned him just now; it was the muddle with Juliet. That was what had brought him to this ball.
That, and the fact that he wanted to see her. It was the only reason he stood in Feathering’s blasted ballroom, scanning the crowd of unfamiliar faces and cursing the crush. She must be here somewhere. Knighton’s servants had been so certain of her destination that he’d come without an invitation. Which had clearly been an idiotic idea, since she was nowhere to be found.
By thunder, how he hated these silly affairs, with their prancing fops and overdressed females lacking the good sense to stay at home by a warm fire. There was a reason he hadn’t moved in London society since right after the kidnapping.
He’d been looking for her then, too. He’d stood in the private theater box and sought out her slender form with all the ravenous craving of a drooling hound. As he was doing now, God help him.
Suddenly, he spotted her, dancing with a handsome gentleman who set Sebastian’s teeth on edge. He didn’t like how the man gazed down into the lovely face kissed by candlelight. He disapproved entirely of her gown—some shimmering silky thing that showed far too much of her creamy shoulders above her dainty, lace-edged bodice. And he most assuredly did not like how the man caught her waist possessively in the turns, as if he had the right to skim his hand adoringly over her eloquent curves.
Devil take it, how Sebastian burned to stride across the ballroom and snatch her from her partner. But that was unwise. First he must find out who’d started the rumors about her, which would be harder to do once his connection to her became known.
Although the gossip clearly hadn’t affected her as much as he’d feared. Why else would she be dancing with what appeared to be a respectable gentleman?
Unless the man wasn’t respectable after all. He scowled. Who
was
the blasted ass daring to dance with her? Glancing about, he saw some young men clustered nearby. “Excuse me,” he asked the nearest one. “Who’s that fellow with Lady Juliet Laverick?”
The man gave him a once-over, but apparently found Sebastian’s immaculate and rich attire satisfactory. “That’s Lord Havering.”
The bird-witted chap? “I thought she refused his offer of marriage,” Sebastian said as casually as he could manage.
The man lifted an eyebrow. “She did. But he must have decided that his chances with the lady have improved now that no one else will have her.”
Blast, there was that gossip again. It was time to do what he’d come for. “Why won’t anyone have her?” he asked, feigning ignorance. “She seems pretty enough.”
Too pretty for the likes of you fools.