"I should be askingyouthat." There was a slight tremor in his voice, and she was allowed to see the anger in his eyes now. "I should be asking you why you have not yet destroyed Jasper's reputation."
Her world began to fall apart all over again. "Oh my God!" she breathed.
"Yes. I saw the list. It fell out of your reticule," he responded.
"Jasper, allow me to explain—"
"I have read all the explanations I need on that list, thank you."
"But—"
"But what, Natalie?" he interjected, looking at her with disbelief. Natalie had never seen anyone look like that before. He was...broken?
Quite as you felt ten years ago,her mind’s voice reminded her. It did not matter, because she did not care about his sins anymore. She wanted him back, and a quest for revenge had now cost her everything.
"You want me ruined, do you not? You have made that clear enough on your list. What more could you possibly have to say?"
He was right. She had nothing to say. Her defense would be that she had changed her mind because she had fallen in love with him, but he would not believe her. The stark truth was that she had once been determined to ruin him.
He reached for the door handle but stopped and turned to her. "Although…I am curious to know why you never followed through with your plan. Did I discover the truth before you could?"
"Jasper, please," Natalie tried again to make him see reason, but he would not listen.
"Were you leaving it until you were sure to inflict the most pain? You probably did not anticipate your vile plan being found, did you?"
"Vile plan?" Natalie bristled. “You have no right to speak of me in such a manner." The anger she had kept locked away from ten years ago broke free. He felt betrayed upon seeing her list, after forgetting what he had done to earn a place there.
"Indeed, I have no right." He surprised her with that statement. "I never had any right with you because everything was all a ruse to you, Natalie. There was never a moment of truth." The pain in his eyes returned, and without giving her a chance to respond, he opened the door and stalked out of the room.
When Natalie looked down at her hands, she found them shaking. She was trembling all over, and the journey to find a seat felt long and cruel. She fell into the chair, and her hands went up to cover her face. Shame, heartbreak, dishonor, she felt them all.
She was not sure how much time had passed when she finally gathered herself and wiped her silent tears. Rising, she decided to return to the ballroom to find her cousins so they could leave, or rather, so she could leave. Natalie could not bear the evening any longer.
George was in the ballroom hallway, and he was having an aggravated conversation with Oliver. "You should have thought of the consequences, you incompetent fool!" Oliver was saying to George.
"Watch your words, Ecklehill!" George warned, clearly trying to rein in his ire.
"Or what? Your ineptitude is no secret in society, Clifford," Oliver carried on taunting.
"What is going on?" Natalie stepped in. Oliver threw her a venomous glare before he returned his attention to George.
"You have failed in every manner. You have a sister and cousin you have been unable to marry off." Oliver gripped George’s coat lapels and pushed him against the wall. “You will give me what I demand!”
“Devil take you!” George groaned, and before Natalie could blink, George and Oliver were exchanging blows. Guests poured out of the ballroom and gathered around them, some gasping, some whispering, and others staring with both interest and shock. No one made to intervene, however, and Natalie sought an opening to help her cousin.
Oliver struggled and gasped for breath as George caught him in his middle. He rained insults upon Natalie and Hannah, which further enraged George, and he pinned him to the wall, mindlessly shoving his fist in Oliver’s face.
Natalie gripped his shoulders and tried to pull him back. “That is enough, George!” she cried. He pushed Oliver onto the floor, then turned to face her. “Oh, George!” His right eye was red from a blow, and his lip was cut and bleeding.
Natalie took his arm and tried to pull him away, but Oliver gained his feet and charged at him again. Their blows became more combative, and Natalie had to step away helplessly lest she got injured. Hannah found her, and they anxiously held each other’s hands. Phoebe appeared and tried to enter the fray, but Natalie stopped her.
“No, they will hurt you. I tried.” She felt a dull ache in her side as she said that, and she realized that she must have been hit when Oliver and George’s brawl resumed.
Phoebe ignored Natalie and tried again, but she pulled her away at the same time that George crashed into a side table, breaking the vase on it. Oliver, whose face was quickly swelling, took hold of her cousin’s collar, but then a commanding voice gave him pause.
“Damn you both!” Jasper bellowed as the crowd parted for him to reach them. “What is the meaning of this?” He disregarded George and turned to Oliver. “In my home? During my ball?”
Alexandra sidled up to Natalie then, saying, “I see you have animals in your family.”
