“Yes, there are many widowers and older gentlemen who might overlook a minor scandal which doesn’t get into print,” Magnus agreed. “Bath is full of them.”
Now Rose felt even more ill. Her family were hoping to exile her to Bath, far from her friends, and marry her off to some ailing old man…
“But what if the scandal sheets won’t cooperate?” her mother put in. “The ton has been quiet in recent months and they have little else to write about. Our money may not be enough to buy their silence.”
“In that case, I shall challenge the Duke of Ravenhill to a duel,” Edwin abruptly declared, face furious and arms behind his back.
The Duchess of Westvale’s already pale face turned ashen at this prospect.
“That would only make matters worse, Edwin,” warned his younger brother. “Even aside from the risk of injury to yourself, a duel blows the scandal into far greater proportions. Imagine the public interest it would draw, regardless of the outcome.”
“We cannot simply stand by and watch our sister’s name being dragged through the mud,” Edwin protested. “We must do something!”
“Damn it all!” Magnus swore in turn, uncensured by their mother. “If he had been a lesser person, or a different kind of man, we might have maneuvered him into a proposal. The Duke of Ravenhill, however, is our equal in rank and not of a character to yield to any external pressure.”
“Is there no chance of internal pressure?” the duchess asked her sons, although not with much hope. “You know this man better than I and seem convinced that he is so without moral sense that he would certainly ruin an innocent young lady rather than offer the honorable remedy. Is it definitely so?”
“Everyone knows he is a rake,” Rose said in a voice that was scarcely more than a whisper. “The whole party at Ashbourne Castle had stories to tell of Dorian Voss’s indecent behavior and I tried to avoid him. He cares nothing for marriage. I have no reason to think he would care what happens to me either.”
Already frightened and humiliated, Rose still did not want the kind of false hope her mother was raising. Marry Dorian Voss? From every angle, the idea seemed impossible. It was also a most undesirable rescue. Wasn’t it?
Before any further views could be ventured on the desirability or likelihood of such an outcome, the drawing room door opened and Ferguson, the family’s gray-haired and dignified butler entered with a card on a silver tray.
“Your Grace, Lord Carradon, the Duke of Ravenhill has called. He is aware of the Duke of Westvale’s condition and has askedto speak to you and Lord Carradon. Shall I show him in here? Or would you prefer another room?”
The duchess nodded for the butler to give the card to Edwin, whose face had darkened into a dangerous scowl at this unexpected news. Magnus came to his brother’s side and Rose saw that his hands were balled into fists.
Before anyone could answer Ferguson’s question, however, the Duke of Ravenhill himself strode into the drawing room without waiting to be shown anywhere. Even now, Rose immediately felt that heady sense of discomposure that this tall, too-handsome man always seemed to induce in her, and a peculiar rushing in her blood as though she were riding a fast horse or reading an exciting novel.
Although he must have traveled straight to Westvale Park from Ashbourne Castle this morning, Dorian Voss was smartly attired in a black suit and dark green silk waistcoat, his black hair brushed back neatly although its length brushed his collar.
In contrast, the Williams family were in some disarray after their own tempestuous journey and difficult discussions, with jacket buttons unfastened, stocks askew and hair awry. Edwin, Magnus and Rose still wore dusty travel clothes.
The duke bowed a greeting to the Duchess of Westvale and to Edwin, with smaller nods to Magnus and Rose herself. Following her mother’s example, Rose had risen to her feet and curtsied in return. Her brothers’ bows were as reserved and cold as their mother’s curtsey and their faces furious.
Regardless of such feelings, however, the rules of hospitality, the Duke of Ravenhill’s rank, and the sense of purpose he carried with him, all compelled the Williams family to receive him with at least the appearance of civility.
“Leave us,” the duke instructed Ferguson, as surely and easily as though he were in his own house rather than Westvale Park. “My business here is as private as it is urgent.”
While Edwin glowered at this presumption and looked likely to speak, Eugenia nodded to the butler and shook her head at her oldest son. Serious, but composed, Dorian Voss looked around the people in the room, his dark eyes missing no important detail and lingering inscrutably on Rose longer than anyone else.
“I am aware that last night’s indiscretion was widely witnessed and Lady Rose’s reputation is at stake,” he said with quiet authority and no preamble, addressing his words to both Rose’s mother and Edwin.
“Indiscretion?!” Edwin repeated angrily, having restrained himself as long as he could. “You have compromised my sister, Your Grace. Your lifestyle is well known and tolerated within acceptable limits. Never did I dream, however, that you were capable of harming an innocent young woman.”
“Lady Rose was not harmed last night, Lord Carradon,” replied the duke sharply. “Before I proceed, I would like to make certain things very clear. Neither your sister nor I are guilty of anything more than poor judgement. What you saw last nightwas the aftermath of an unfortunate error, for which I take full responsibility.”
Rose could smell that faint woody cologne again, or at least imagined she could, and the scent evoked the sensation of this man’s warm mouth on her throat in the spot now covered by her scarf. Did that embrace count as harm or not? In the Duke of Ravenhill’s world, their interaction had evidently been commonplace and Rose herself could not say that she felt harmed.
Yet, in her own world, that touch was a crime so terrible that both she and the Duke of Ravenhill had both instinctively hidden that single element of the story from Rose’s family, even in a situation that was already a crisis.
“Being alone with a man like you is harm enough for a young lady,” Edwin threw back at the duke, still looking as though he wished to fight the man.
The duchess intervened once more, as angry as Rose’s brothers, but with the greater control of age and wisdom.
“Even if we accept what you say, Your Grace, you must admit that there is the appearance of harm. Whatever happened, or did not happen, in the garden, Rose’s reputation is likely to be badly damaged. You must see that.”
“I do,” Dorian admitted, his voice grave and implacable. “I am very much aware that the world at large will accuse me of ruining this young lady’s reputation. It is not something that I haveever done, whatever you might believe, Lord Carradon. It is not something I am willing to do now."
