Marco’s gut knotted with anxiety as he lined up his own shot on the other cue ball and took it. Unfortunately, the angle was off, and he didn’t manage to sink the target ball, either.
“What don’t I know?”
Neville glanced across the room, eyeing the group of men in the corner, who were smoking and talking amongst themselves.He stepped closer to Marco, then, clearly not wishing to be overheard.
“You haven’t seenThe Society Reporterrecently?”
Marco snorted and shook his head.
“I don’t read gossip sheets. I’ve found that the best way to frustrate gossips is to ignore them completely.”
“In this case, you may very well want to give it a look. There was a bit of an incident at Lady Duncan’s Ball after you left so abruptly. It… well, it didn’t look good for Lady Eugenia, so much so — in fact — thatThe Society Reporterprinted a rather scathing article about it. Lady Eugenia was devastated.”
White-hot rage boiled up inside Marco. It took every ounce of self-control that he possessed to keep from snapping Lord Bellingham’s billiards cue in half over his knee.
“They named her?”
Neville shook his head.
“They didn’t have to. Everyone who was there knows exactly who they were referring to.”
Marco winced.
“What on Earth happened after I left?”
Just as Seabury opened his mouth to answer, Lord Greywood swaggered over to where they stood beside the billiards table.
“Are you going to stand around and talk all night, or are you going to play?”
“You’re welcome to play if you like. I need a drink anyway.”
Marco set aside his cue, poured himself a brandy, and downed it in a single slug. No wonder Lady Eugenia had seemed so stiff this afternoon. He needed to get his hands on a copy of the article which had upset her, so that he could assess whether he was in a position where he could do something to set the situation to rights.
That thought was interrupted when he overheard Greywood speaking to Seabury.
“You know, I couldn’t help overhearing that last bit of your conversation with Lord D’Asti.”
Lord Greywood took aim at the cue ball and struck it, successfully sinking the target ball on his very first try. Marco waited, wondering what would be said next.
Lord Rosebury straightened up and strode over to join Seabury and Greywood at the billiards table, stroking his beard thoughtfully.
“Lady Bellingham seems to have invited several young ladies who’ve been subjected to ridicule recently.”
Something about the gleam in Lord Rosebury’s eyes and the slightest hint of mockery in his voice grated on Marco’s nerves. His head spun and his stomach rolled tempestuously as the alcohol he’d belted back hit him all at once. He moved to join them, his lip curling with disgust and irritation.
I must put an end to this line of discussion, and quickly.
Not thinking all that clearly, Marco barked out a laugh and shook his head.
“Well, I must say that it seems a bit silly to me for anyone to get so upset by a foolish little gossip sheet. People would be muchbetter off just to ignore rumours entirely, rather than allowing them to cause so much unnecessary chaos and strife.”
The other men in the room all stared at Marco with raised eyebrows and wide eyes, as if no one could quite believe what he’d just said, then a cascade of varying reactions followed. Lord Seabury sucked in a surprised breath and pressed his lips together tightly, as if -- perhaps -- he wished that Marco had just kept his mouth shut. Lord Bellingham coughed uncomfortably and looked away, as if he didn’t quite know how to respond, or how their conversation had become so wildly out of hand that he had absolutely no idea what he might do to reel it back in, so he did nothing instead. Lord Rosebury watched everyone else in the room with keen interest. Lord Greywood stared directly at Marco, lifting his chin as he met Marco’s gaze.
“Of course, one cannot expect a fellow like Lord D’Asti to have any kind of consideration for the consequences that fall on women -- and sometimes men too -- because of rumours and gossip. After all, it’s no secret that he tried to leverage rumours to force Lord Seabury’s lovely wife into marrying him.”
The whole room went utterly still and silent, as if everyone had forgotten to breathe, save for Lord Greywood. He simply lined up another shot on the billiards table and sunk the target ball once again, as if to emphasise his point. Greywood was throwing down the gauntlet, though Marco wasn’t sure why. He was, however, more than up to the challenge of taking Lord Greywood on.
“I deeply regret that my past mistakes caused Lady Seabury distress, but I assure you that they are just that: in the past. You would do well to choose your next words carefully, Lord Greywood.”
