The Fallen Woman (A Regency Romance) (15 page)

Lord Randall and Andrew continued down the hallway, their voices drifting away. She could have listened awhile longer, but she didn’t want to hear any more.

Sobbing, Mary fell to her knees.

Chapter Seventeen

Mary tried to compose herself before she brought the flowers to Leona, but she couldn’t hide her red-rimmed eyes. She kept her eyes on the floor, hoping her mistress wouldn’t take notice.

“Where would you like me to put the vase, miss?” Mary asked, her voice a bit raspy.

“Over by the window would be nice,” Leona replied. She had been reading a book, but her maid's rasping voice made her look up. “Is something wrong?”

“No, my lady, not at all.”

“Are you sure, Mary?” Leona closed her book and scooted toward the end of her bed, closer to her maid. “Mary… look at me for a moment.”

Mary placed the vase on the windowsill, but she kept her eyes on the ground. “I’m alright, ma’am. Please don’t concern yourself with my affairs. I know you already have so much to worry about.”

“Mary…” Leona entreated her, “You’ve been crying, haven’t you?”

Mary lifted her head and nodded. “Just a bit, ma’am.”
Leona nearly gasped when she saw the redness in Mary’s eyes, not to mention her cheeks. “Oh, dear… why are you so upset?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Nothing?!” Leona drew a sharp breath when she spoke. “You can talk to me, Mary. If I have the luxury of prattling on and on about my problems to you, I should afford you that same luxury, don’t you think?”

With a sniffle, Mary insisted, “But I don’t have any problems. Honest!”

“Don’t be silly. It’s obvious you’ve been crying. Are you sure you don’t want to tell me the reason?” Leona patted the edge of her bed, encouraging her maid to join her.

Mary seemed wary about sitting on Leona’s bed, as if fearful the blankets would catch her dress on fire. When she took her seat, she lowered her eyes. “I… overheard something.”

“What?”

“They were saying something about me.”

“Who?”

“Lord Randall and his friend…” Mary swallowed hard. “Mr. Lamb.”

“What were they saying? It wasn’t anything bad, was it? If they were rude to you, I would have to confront them! As your friend, any insult to you is an insult to me!”

“It wasn’t Lord Randall, miss. It was Mr. Lamb.”

“He said something to hurt your feelings?” When Leona saw Mary’s weak nod, she wondered if she should ask for details. She didn't want to make Mary repeat anything that was bad enough to make her cry.

“I don’t know if I should say any more, miss.”

“If my husband’s friend is saying improper things where he could be easily overheard, then I most certainly want to know!” Leona exclaimed. “I won’t tolerate that sort of behavior here. I’m the viscountess, am I not? I won’t tolerate bad behavior by any of Tristan’s friends!”

No matter how much she disliked him, Mary didn’t want to paint Andrew Lamb in a bad light. However, her loyalties were with Leona. If her mistress wanted to know, she felt obligated to tell her. “He said there weren’t any maids worth bedding. He said… he would have to cover his eyes to… to be with me. He said I was ghastly.”

“He said
what?
”

“You’re not really asking me to repeat it, are you?” Mary asked, her voice nearly a whisper.

“No, of course. You don’t have to repeat it, Mary. I heard you.” Leona rose from the bed with her hands on her hips, looking surprisingly menacing for a girl of diminutive size. “I just can’t believe my ears! I have to make him apologize!”

“No, please!” Mary gasped. “Don’t say anything! Mr. Lamb doesn’t even know I overheard! I’m sure he wouldn’t have said something like that if he knew I was listening.”

“But-!” Leona could feel her blood boiling. She couldn’t remember the last time she heard anything that made her so angry. Mary was the sweetest person she had ever known, and Andrew Lamb was a wicked man for saying something so cruel, even if he hadn’t meant for it to be overheard.

“Please, my lady. You have no idea how mortified I would be…”

“I can’t let Tristan's friends say things like that. He needs to know how upset I am!” Leona exclaimed. “At least allow me to speak with my husband. I’ll let him handle the matter.”

Mary wished she had made up some sort of lie, or not owned up to the fact that she’d been crying. She hated to be the center of the attention—she didn’t think Leona would get so distraught about it. “You don’t need my permission. If you want to talk to Lord Randall, then… it’s not as if I can stop you.”

“But I wouldn’t want to do anything to upset you, Mary. Would speaking to my husband upset you?”

“I suppose not?” She hoped Leona would pick up on the reluctance in her voice.

“Even if Lord Randall ends up talking to Andrew about it?”

Mary thought it was highly unlikely that Lord Randall would confront his friend over a maid’s hurt feelings, so she shook her head.

“Well, then… I’m going to go to his room,” Leona said. “Mary, please don’t trouble yourself with working for the rest of the day. Just… get some rest.”

“Oh, but--”

Mary wanted to explain that she didn’t mind working—it got her mind off her troubles.

But it was too late. Leona was already gone.

* * *

“Lord Randall!” Leona pounded on Tristan’s door. “Lord Randall, are you in there? Lord Randall?”

After a few seconds of frantic knocking, the door opened. “Yes, I’m in here. Why in heaven’s name did you have you knock so much? Sometimes it takes me more than a moment to get to the door. I’m not as young as I used to be, not to mention--”

Ignoring his sarcasm, Leona interrupted, “I need to speak to you on a matter of utmost importance! Well… it’s important to me! I don’t know how important it will be to you.”

“Anything that’s important to you is important to me as well. What’s wrong?”

“Do you mind if I come in?”

“Of course not. That’s a silly question.” He moved away from the doorway, allowing her inside.

When she stepped into his room, Leona was momentarily speechless. The last time she was in his bedroom, she tried to seduce him—and made a muddle of it. She wondered how he would react if she seduced him again. When she looked over at Lord Randall, she nearly forgot her reason for coming.

“So…” He closed the door and stood in front of her. “What did you want to speak to me about?”

“It’s about your friend,” Leona began, “I’m not sure I approve of his behavior!”

“Andrew?”

“Yes, Andrew.”

Tristan’s eyebrows simultaneously shot up. “Well… this is a first. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a female complain about Andrew. Women usually fawn over him. Has he done something to offend you?”

“Not to me,” Leona explained, “to… someone else.”

“To whom?”

“To Mary. She overheard him saying something very rude!”

Tristan had a good memory, so he knew exactly what words might have hurt the girl’s feelings. Andrew could be very thoughtless at times; nevertheless, Tristan felt obligated to defend his friend. “She was eavesdropping?”

“Yes.” Leona shrugged. “Regardless, I think an apology is necessary!”

“I’m sorry he said that.”

“No… don't apologize to
me
.
He
owes
her
an apology!”

“Right.” Tristan crossed the room and stood by the window, looking down at the garden below. He had never been in this position before: having to side with his friend or his wife. “I’m sure you’re right, but Andrew’s a very proud man. I think it will be difficult to get him to admit his error.”

“Be that as it may, I think you should talk to him,” Leona said. “If he’s a gentleman, he should set aside his pride and apologize for his thoughtless remark! Mary was crying, you know. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her cry!”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Andrew
can
be a fool at times.” He turned to look at Leona, and he was undone. How could he possibly side with Andrew when he was looking at Leona and her sad, blue eyes? As adorable as she was, Leona would defeat him every time. “I’ll go to him right now.”

“Good,” Leona said with a nod. “I just hope Mary won’t be angry with me…”

“Why would she be angry with you?”

“Well…” Leona took a deep breath. “She thinks an apology would be mortifying.”

“If I’m remembering Andrew’s words correctly, the poor woman’s already been mortified. I just hope we can undo the damage. She should be glad she has you to defend her, Leona. You have a very big heart.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

“Thank you,
Tristan
,” he corrected her with a smile. “When will you ever get it right?”

* * *

He should have anticipated Andrew’s reaction. It didn’t take long for his mood to change from fair to foul.

“Are you serious? You don’t really think I’ve done something wrong, do you? You honestly think I owe her an apology?”

“Yes, I do,” Tristan said with a sigh. “You should think about what you said.”

“I never meant for her to hear it!” Andrew shrieked. “Besides… she’s only a maid! I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“She’s still a woman, and a human being. You’ve hurt her feelings, Andrew. Need I remind you how cruel your words were? If I were you, I would feel terrible knowing someone heard me say such a thing!”

Andrew looked around the room with fury in his eyes. If Tristan wasn’t standing right in front of him, he would have punched a wall or kicked a chair—anything to relieve his frustration. He’d already ripped off his cravat and tossed it across the room. “I know, Tristan. I know I was cruel… but I didn’t mean for her to hear it! Maybe she shouldn't listen to someone else’s conversations so intently? Maids shouldn’t be eavesdropping and spreading gossip like that!”

“I don’t think she intended to eavesdrop
or
spread gossip. She just happened to overhear you, and her feelings were hurt. Naturally, she would want to talk to someone about it.”

“You’re defending her?”

“In this case, I am.”

“Am I really at fault… for injuring some girl’s pride, even though I didn’t mean to?”

“Injured her pride? I’d say that’s an understatement,” Tristan responded coldly. “You said she was ghastly, Andrew. You said she was so unattractive, you couldn’t bear to look at her if you were to--”

“You don’t have to remind me! I know what I said!” Andrew shouted at his friend. In truth, he felt awful for raising his voice at Tristan, considering the status of his friend’s health. And he felt even worse for having insulted Mary who, not long ago, had blushed at his compliments more than any woman had. Even though she wasn’t pretty—or even handsome—there was something about her that interested him. He would have enjoyed flirting with her, but now he had ruined all chances of that. “I… I feel awful, alright? I don’t know if I can apologize, though. It would injure
my
pride!”

“I don’t know how you do it, Andrew.”

“Do what?”

“I don’t know how you manage to be the perfect friend, and yet… you always find ways to lose my respect.”

“I’ve lost your respect? Because of something I said to a
maid
?”

“Not exactly.” Tristan headed for the door. There was nothing more he could say. Andrew would either apologize—or he wouldn’t. There was no forcing Andrew Lamb. He was the sort of man who always did what he wanted, regardless of what others thought.

“So
why
have I lost your respect? Do you care to explain yourself before you leave?”

“You think about yourself before you think about anyone else. You’ve made a woman cry, and yet you refuse to admit you’ve done anything wrong. You’d just as soon ignore anything that doesn’t benefit you in some way.”

Andrew let out an enormous sigh. He wasn’t accustomed to being lectured, unless it was by a jealous husband. Or a jilted lover. “If you’ve come to kick me out of your house, Tristan… by all means… do so. If you don’t want me here, I’ll go.”

“Of course I don’t want you to go.”

“I’ll apologize to her! I will!” he vowed. “At least… I’ll try to. I can’t guarantee she’ll listen.”

“I’m glad you decided to come around, Andrew. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to retire to my room. All this bickering’s made me exhausted.”

Chapter Eighteen

The next day, Leona hovered outside Tristan’s bedroom for nearly ten minutes. She didn’t know why she always hesitated to speak to him. It wasn’t as if she felt awkward around him anymore. In fact, she’d been feeling more comfortable around him than any man she could remember, her father included. Nevertheless, there was something about him that made her… nervous.

Maybe it was the fact that she was trying to decide between seducing him or inviting him to breakfast. Those were very different ways to begin the day, to be sure. Leona kept studying herself in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom, wondering if her “condition” was showing. Every time she thought of her predicament, she felt dizzy. In her head, she tried to imagine telling Tristan the truth. Every time she did, she nearly passed out. She didn’t want him to hate her, but she was afraid it would come to that. Either Tristan would hate her, or she would hate herself for lying to him.