“But youcan’tdeal with this! Don’t yousee?” Damnation. Tears were threatening again, at the worst possible moment.
He closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. “Don’t,” he said huskily. “Don’t cry. I’ll find a way to make all right.”
“How?”she wailed, but she was encompassed in strong arms, her head resting on his broad shoulder, his bodywarm along her whole length. She’d never been held like this since she’d been a girl, comforted by her father. Her mother’s hugs had always been awkward unless they were seated. Those gentlemen she’d flirted with and kissed had never been so familiar.
She could stay like this forever. She realized he might appreciate a little comfort from her, and tightened her arms. A moment later he gently separated them, but he looked into her eyes as if assessing her condition.
She smiled for him. “Don’t worry. I don’t have the nature for tragedy. I will survive, even this.”
“I hope for better for you.” He gave her his handkerchief and she wiped her eyes. “Please put aside any guilt over this, Ariana.” His use of her name and the way he said it caught her breath. “We can’t go through life striving to never offend anyone, especially those who deserve it.”
“I think the sermonizers would say we should.”
“Then I’ll go to hell. But it will be a little less hellish if the same sin sends you there, too.”
He left then and Ariana stared after him in a daze.
That had almost been a way of expressing eternal togetherness, but it could also have been a proclamation of...love? She clutched the white handkerchief as if it were precious.
But then she saw that those odd words could as much be a warning as a promise. Hadn’t she thought for herself that marriage to Kynaston would be a kind of hell? A drowning person would climb into any boat, but sometimes it might be wiser to drown.
It was time to prepare for their departure, but she put the handkerchief in her pocket.
She and Ethel began to pack trunks, but then she received a letter from Peake.
My dear Lady Ariana,
I cannot express my shock at the scurrilous image that has been created from an innocent incident.
I must confess that I might have been the source of gossip. When we spoke, I said I hadn’t mentioned your being in the cellars with Lord Kynaston, for I couldn’t imagine doing so, but I have since recollected that Lord Hatchard remarked on seeing you emerge and demanded, in a humorous way, why you were so privileged and he was not. I can’t imagine Hatchard using the information in any malicious way, but talk can spread.
For that reason, and as the incident occurred in my house, I intend to do my utmost to correct the situation.
I am recruiting the Curious Creatures and various others to point out how impossibly absurd the cartoon is, and this evening I will allow any of them who wish to inspect the cellars.They will have to brave the mob that has gathered here, but I have informed the magistrates, who have offered troops to keep the peace if the gathering turns unpleasant. I don’t wish to disperse them, because I hope that seeing the bon ton arrive will erode their belief that this is a house of sin.
Be assured, dear lady, that I will do everything in my power to correct this great injustice.
Your servant,
Edgar Peake
“Poor man,” Ariana said. “It will do no good, but at least he can do something, whereas I can only run.”She looked at the half-filled trunk and rebelled. “Stop. I won’t run away.” But then she sat with a sigh. “But what can I do?”
“Fortune favors the brave,” Ethel said, which might have been true but was of no practical use.
“Of course! I must attend Peake’s event. That will make the point more strongly.” In her excitement she rose with some energy.
“Maybe, but how are you to get there? That lot outside will tear you apart.”
“They can’t be angry withme.”
“A day out in the cold with nothing to show for it? Then there’s the hawkers selling them mulled ale.”
Not just a mob, but a drunken one? “You told me to be brave.”
“But he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.”
“Stop it!” Ariana sat to think. “Norris went to Lady Cawle’s to speak to Kynaston. I could join forces with them there.”
