“I have to say, Harlow, I wasn’t too happy with my wife when I heard she’d added you to the invitation list,” Lord Richmond said, glaring at him. “Your behavior tonight serves to uphold my opinion that you do not belong here.”
“Are you objecting to my presence in your house, my lord?” Maxwell replied, lifting his gaze to the ceiling. “Or just in this indecorous off-limits parlor of yours?”
Richmond sputtered. “How dare you question me, you insolent—”
“Mr. Harlow has done nothing wrong, Lord Richmond,” Louisa cried. “This is all a misunderstanding. You see, I came in here because—
“Before anything else is said, Miss Northcott, you need to go and find your father and tell him what has happened.” The resonance in Maxwell’s voice sounded like a warning. “Trust me. You must also tell him that I shall be speaking with him shortly.”
“My father? Why? What do you mean?” She glanced wildly from Maxwell to Lord Richmond and back again. “Nothinghashappened. Please let me explain. This is all my faul—”
“I agree, it is a misunderstanding,” Maxwell replied gently, “but your father must be made aware of it without delay. Just do as I ask, please.”
“What on earth is going on?”
The question, to Louisa’s utter dismay, came from Sybella Chessington, who appeared on the threshold but, with obvious intent, did not set foot in the room. Instead, she glanced down at her toes as if standing on the edge of a precipice.
“What is this, Maxwell?” Sybella demanded. “Why are you in here? Has something happened?”
“It is simply a misunderstanding, my dear, nothing more,” he replied, “I came in here to wait while you were refreshing yourself.”
Louisa gave Maxwell a sharp look as understanding dawned. Of course. No one knew that Sybella had been in the room just minutes before, nor was she ever likely to admit it, given the risqué decor. Even if the truth were told, it would serve no other purpose than to add fuel to a fire already smoldering.
No matter how it came to be, the fact remained. Louisa Northcott had been discovered alone with Maxwell Harlow in a room scandalous on its own merit. Fear churned in her stomach. Dear God, what had she done?
“This is all my fault,” she whispered, hoping Maxwell would hear her.
Richmond cleared his throat. “I regret to inform you, Miss Chessington, that I discovered Mr. Harlow and Miss Northcott in here together, alone. Lord Milnthorpe bore witness also.”
“I did indeed, sorry to say,” Milnthorpe replied.
“Alone? In here?” Sybella’s hand flew to her throat as she glanced, briefly, at the ceiling. “Oh, Maxwell, please tell me this isn’t true.”
“I’m afraid it is,” Maxwell replied, “though the circumstances are entirely random.”
Miss Chessington glared at Louisa. “Then what is shedoinghere?”
“It was a misunderstanding, Miss Chessington,” Louisa replied, grasping at a final, feeble straw. “I mistakenly thought this was the retiring room and didn’t realize it was otherwise occupied.”
“That is a lie, Miss Northcott.” The familiar figure of Lady Henrietta Chivers, the Duke of Whinfell’s daughter, appeared beside Sybella. “You came into the retiring room a little while ago. I saw you with my own eyes. You stayed but a moment and then left. So, you cannot have mistaken this room for it at all.”
Miss Chessington let out a soft cry and pressed a hand to her mouth.
Richmond’s nostrils flared. “Is this true, Miss Northcott?”
Louisa met the man’s gaze. “Well… yes, my lord, it is. But the reason I left the retiring room is because I found the atmosphere to be utterlystifling.” She threw a scathing glance at Lady Henrietta. “So, I sought out a more agreeable retreat.”
“Then why did you lie just now?” Lord Richmond demanded. “And why did you not leave immediately upon learning of Mr. Harlow’s presence? And why was the door closed?”
“Because I…” Louisa swallowed over the tightness in the throat and looked to Maxwell for support.
Lady Henrietta scoffed and snapped her fan open, a smug gleam in her eyes.
“As I explained, Miss Northcott did not see me at first,” Maxwell said, “because I was seated on the settee.”
“Yet when we entered, you were both onthisside of the settee,” Milnthorpe said. “And we saw no sign of either of you making haste to leave.”
“I rose to my feet when I realized someone had entered, as courtesy demands,” Maxell replied. “The fault lies entirely with me, my lords. I was remiss in taking the time to share a brief conversation with Miss Northcott. That is all.”
