“Oh, my dear friend, do not tell me that you are developing an attachment to the Count D’Asti,” Lydia cooed.
“Whyever not?”
Eugenia stiffened, drawing herself up to her full height, though she was still shorter than her friend by several inches. She bit her lip, already regretting the question before Lydia even had the chance to answer her. Lydia looped an arm through Eugenia’s, tugging her back towards the refreshment table, away from Edward and Georgiana. She lowered her voice only slightly, in a scandalised mock-whisper.
“I have it on good authority that the only so-called ‘emergency’ drawing Lord D’Asti away from London is that his creditors are closing in, set to carry him off for his failure to repay them. He is most assuredly running from them, and it would not do at all for someone of your standing to find herself entangled with such a dishonourable cad.”
“Dishonourable?” Eugenia sputtered, pulling her arm free of Lydia’s grip. She balled her hands into tight fists at her sides, and a hot, angry flush crept up her throat and blazed in her cheeks. When she spoke, her voice was far shriller than she’d intended. “Lord D’Asti wouldneverdo something so cowardly and dishonourable. Shame on you for insinuating such a thing, Lydia!”
“Shame on me?” Lydia blinked, wide-eyed, and laid a hand against her heart, the very picture of sincerity. “My dear Eugenia, I am only trying to keep your best interests at heart, as a friend should. Think of your reputation! But wait… you soundterribly sure of him. I do hope that you are not so close that you might be considered compromised. Why, you’d be ruined!”
Eugenia wanted to argue, to continue defending Lord D’Asti, but anything she was thinking of saying died on her lips. There were so many people, and they were standing so close, and all of them were staring at Eugenia. Whispers erupted from every direction, and Eugenia nearly whimpered, tears stinging her eyes. Biting her lip to hide its trembling, Eugenia spun away from Lydia and rushed over to Edward and Georgiana.
“Take me home, please.”
CHAPTER TWO
THISTLEWAYTE HALL
Eugenia tried,for at least the tenth time, to read the same paragraph, only for the words to once again fail to pierce the fog clouding her mind. Ever since Lydia had made that disparaging remark about the Count D’Asti at Lady Duncan’s Ball and – on pure instinct that entirely lacked good sense – Eugenia had defended him with the ferocity of an Amazon warrior, she found herself all but incapable of coherent thought. Even Shakespeare, whose work Eugenia deeply enjoyed, could not hold her attention, nor offer her any respite from her own thoughts. Every time she closed her eyes, she could hear the whispers hissing their way through Lady Duncan’s ballroom. Even now, Eugenia could still feel the weight of every judgmental gaze in the room bearing down on her, and her cheeks burned mercilessly with the residual humiliation that had haunted her every moment since that fateful ball on the Ides of March. Just as she adjusted the book and started reading once more, the library doors banged open and four of Eugenia’s sisters burstinto the room. Eugenia winced at the sudden onslaught of noise and movement.
“Don’t youdare,Millicent—”
Matilda lunged for a piece of paper that Millicent had clutched in her hands, her cheeks ruddy and blue eyes blazing with unbridled fury.
“She deserves to know!”
The twins, Marjory and Millicent, had spoken in unison, as they so often did. Eugenia watched, transfixed, as Millicent passed the piece of paper to Marjory, who darted out of Matilda’s reach.
“Don’t! You’re only going to make things worse!” Octavia shouted over the din, her voice quavering.
Eugenia’s stomach cramped and she pressed a hand against it as her sisters closed in on her quiet corner of the library, screeching and snapping at each other like a murder of crows. Marjory all but ran to Eugenia, panting and trying to catch her breath by the time she skidded to a stop, mere inches from the window seat Eugenia had been trying to read in.
“You should see this.”
Marjory thrust the paper at Eugenia.
“No, you shouldn’t!” Matilda hissed, but she wasn’t close enough to stop the paper from passing from one sister’s hand to the other.
Eugenia’s stomach flip-flopped uncomfortably as she took the paper and read the title.The Society Reporter.Despite her love of reading, Eugenia usually avoided reading scandal sheets. If the twins – who wereThe Society Reporter’s most avid readers– thought she should read it, that could only mean one thing. Her hands trembled as she lifted the page, and she took a deep breath, forcing her hands to still so that she could see the words on the page.
A Society Darling’s Tragic Fall from Grace
Lady Duncan’s recent Ball is the talk of theton, but for all the wrong reasons. One of society’s wealthiest and most eligible young ladies, who shall not be named, made quite the spectacle of herself. When one of the young lady’s friends expressed concerns about the character of the man courting the society darling in question, the young lady leapt to her suitor’s defence.
While it is understandable that one might wish to protect the reputation of the suitor who has managed to capture one’s attention, the young lady should have been more concerned with protecting her own reputation. She protested her friend’s claims so vehemently that we have no choice but to conclude that the two shared a much deeper — and perhaps more inappropriate — connection than we might have otherwise thought.
One cannot help suspecting that the so-called Society Darling is ruined. It is also noteworthy that both the former Darling and her not-so-suitable suitor have been conspicuously absent from London since the incident, which seems to support our suspicions about the two.
Eugenia pressed a hand over her mouth to muffle the sob which tried to claw its way out of her. Though they had not named her directly, everyone who had attended Lady Duncan’s Ball would know exactly whoThe Society Reporterwas referring to. And she could only imagine what Edward might think when he readit, let alone her father, or — heaven forbid — Count D’Asti. She was ruined. Her reputation was in tatters, and she didn’t have anyone to blame but herself for allowing all of those people at Lady Duncan’s Ball to see how much she already cared for Lord D’Asti.
Eugenia mustered up her courage and forced herself to continue reading:
We can only speculate as to why a young lady might be so desperate for attention that she would risk her own reputation – and possibly ruin – in order to gain it, but we suspect there is more to this than meets the eye.
Eugenia balled the scandal sheet up, clenching the crumpled wad of paper in her fist until her knuckles turned bright white.
“I can’t return to London for another Season, not after this. I have made a fool of myself, and nowThe Society Reporterhas ensured that I am a laughingstock and shall be a spinster, as well.” Hot tears spilled down Eugenia’s cheeks. She stared up at the library’s ceiling, her hands clenched into tight fists at her sides, as she struggled to hold herself together. “What must Lord D’Asti think?”
