"Of course I know them. Haven't I just been telling you that I come to this party regularly?"
"You said that, but I know that you've been away from London for many years. I suppose it's not clear to me which friendships you've maintained."
"Well, I confess I haven't seen Lord or Lady Worthington since I've been away from the city," James told her. "But I'm eager to reconnect with them. And, of course, they are both very excited to meet you."
"You mean they're excited to decide for themselves whether the rumors they've heard about me are true or not." Victoria gritted her teeth.
There was no point in lying to her. "I suppose that's true," James agreed. "And aren't you excited to show them?"
"I don't know that excited is the word for it," Victoria said. "Most people don't need to go around reassuring everyone that they aren't guilty of violent crimes."
"And neither will you once this season is over," James said. He was pleased to see her show some concern for her reputation for once. It was definitely a change from the young lady he had met the first day he had come home, who had insisted that she cared not at all for what other people thought of her.
But the fact that she had begun to care about this meant that his responsibility toward her had increased. He had to ensure that her reputation was repaired. He could not let her down now.
She was depending on him.
CHAPTER 20
"Will you be all right on your own if I go off and speak to some old business associates for a while?" James asked Victoria.
She nodded. "Of course."
The truth was that she didn't really want to be on her own at the party. The crowd was making her nervous, heightening her awareness of just how long it had been since she had been out in public like this. She was already looking forward with great eagerness to the moment when James would say that they could go home. She knew that she was handling the pressure of the ball as well as could be expected, but that didn't mean she was enjoying herself.
But the best thing to do was probably to allow James to socialize with whomever he felt the need to socialize with. If he could do that, maybe he would feel ready to leave, and then they could go home and put the night behind them.
It wasn't until he had walked away that another benefit of his absence occurred to her.
Left standing on her own, she looked around the room and her eye immediately went to Benjamin, the gentleman who had had addressed them moments ago. He was standing alone with a drink in his hand, and as she watched, he turned his attention toward her and smiled at her.
Victoria smiled back.
He started across the room in her direction.
Victoria felt a surge of anxiety—the idea of being on her own with any man was frightening after everything she'd been through. The fact that she had been able to adjust to time alone with James every day felt like nothing short of a miracle.
But then, she and Benjamin wouldn't be alone if he came over here, would they? There were people all around, people who would bear witness to anything that happened between the two of them. And she could easily walk away if things became unpleasant.
Benjamin had reached her. "Good evening again," he said, raising his glass to her. "Can I get you a drink?"
"I'm not thirsty, thank you." Victoria wanted to keep her mind clear tonight.
He nodded. "Very well," he said. "Are you enjoying the festivities?"
She settled on an answer that was vague enough not to be dishonest. "It was kind of Lord and Lady Worthington to invite me."
"Oh, I'm not sure kindness had anything to do with it," Benjamin said with a laugh. "You must know that everyone is eager to see the mysterious Dowager Duchess of Stormwell out of her seclusion. You're the talk of the party."
"I did know that, but I try not to think about it," Victoria sighed.
"Forgive me for bringing it up, then," Benjamin said. "I suppose I don't know how I would respond if it was me everyone was talking about. I tend to think that I would like the attention! But then, people respond differently to things."
"You might not like it very much if the only reason you were given attention was that people thought you guilty of a monstrous crime," she pointed out.
"Right again. Well, rest assured I don't believe you had anything to do with his death," Benjamin said. "I'm sure he just drank himself into an early grave. And if you ask me, it's rather foolish that no one else has thought about things in those terms. Everyone knows that the Duke of Stormwell was a drunk."
"Do they?"
