“Word of the engagement has already spread,” Elias said, cutting through Bridget’s ruminations. “I suppose that we ought to be grateful for that. You will not have to endure anyone mocking you for being unable to find suitors.”
“I am certain they will find some reason to mock me, regardless,” Bridget said, her eyes sweeping over the crowd in search of her betrothed.
She did not see him. A heaviness lifted from her shoulders. Maybe she would be allowed a little enjoyment before he arrived and insisted on her behaving properly for him.
Elias sighed and cast her a weary look. Bridget’s heart clenched in sympathy, for her brother looked suddenly much older than he ought to. “The scandal will be averted now that you are to marry,” he said. “I am certain that some of the young ladies will be appropriately congratulatory.”
Bridget spied the cluster of young ladies, all of whom she had once considered her friends. Several of them looked directly at her, their mouths hidden behind fans and gloved hands. They were spreading gossip, no doubt.
Bridget cleared her throat. She imagined that she was Samuel Richardson’s heroine Clarissa Harlowe, who had shown the most remarkable fortitude and strength of will even in the most wretched circumstances.
“You should join your friends,” Bridget said. “I do not need to hang on you all night. That is little better than being a wallflower.”
His Grace’s mocking words about how her siblings always protected and indulged her too much rang in her mind. In truth,staying with Elias might beworsethan being a wallflower. At least, there was a little tragic dignity in the latter.
Elias’s expression softened. “If you need me—if the ball becomes more than you wish to endure—you need only come fetch me. I will return you home at once.”
Of course, he would.
“I do not need you,” Bridget said. “Thank you for the offer.”
She pulled herself away from him and forced her feet to move to the edge of the ballroom, trying her hardest not to hear the whispers that rose in an orchestra around her.
“I can scarcely believe that he chose to marry her!”
“The Duke of Wheelton deserves someone better than Lady Bridget!”
She rolled back her shoulders and took a glass of lemonade, hoping that if she held something, she would not fidget with her hands. If the other ladies chose to join her, Bridget would greet them with grace and dignity. She would not even allude to their betrayal, and she would leave the ball with everyone saying how kind and thoughtful she was, how utterly resolute.
And then, her eyes met those of Lady Susan, and Bridget inwardly groaned. Lady Susan’s smile widened, and she began to cross the ballroom floor, cutting a path towards her. Bridget’sfingers curled so tightly around the glass of lemonade that her knuckles ached. The impulse to flee rose within her, but she was not—and never had been—a coward.
“Lady Bridget,” Lady Susan said.
Bridget forced a smile. “Lady Susan. I would like to say it is a pleasure, but we both know that would be a lie.”
“You are the only person in thetonwho does not find my company to be a pleasure,” Lady Susan said, sighing dramatically. “Perhaps you are singularly lacking in taste.”
“Or perhaps you merely have an inflated opinion of yourself,” Bridget said. “Pride cometh before the fall, you know.”
“You would know,” Lady Susan replied. “Even now, you are too prideful for a ruined woman. Do you truly believe yourself worthy of marrying aduke?”
“Entirely,” Bridget said, waving a flippant hand. “However, I wonder if you may honestly say the same about yourself.”
“Of course, you do,” Lady Susan said snidely. “You wish to make me feel worse about myself because you know that you are undeniably lacking in the charms that come so easily to me.”
Bridget laughed. “Is that truly what you believe? All other evidence seems to indicate thatyouare jealous ofme. After all, you felt the need to shove me into that lake, and you have madeyour distaste for me abundantly clear. “Why do you persist in cornering me and speaking of my affairs with others when my mere existence vexes you so greatly?”
Lady Susan’s face reddened. “I only seek to protect innocent men who might be persuaded into some foolishness by you.”
“Oh, yes,” Bridget said, eyes widening in mock surprise. “I am so very threatening to the virtue of men.Please.”
“Well, you have entrapped the Duke of Wheelton,” Lady Susan continued viciously. “At least, that is what all the gossip claims.”
Bridget’s face warmed. Was that truly said the current gossip that was circulating around the room?
“If that is true,” Bridget said, her voice shaking. “I imagine it is becauseyouare spreading the gossip. We both know that I did not entrap the Duke. He chose to marry me because of you—because you pushed me in the lake—so if you have some problem with the match, you have only yourself to blame!”
Lady Susan gasped and put a hand to her chest, as though Bridget’s entirely accurate assessment of the situation was the most scandalous rumor she had heard all morning. “You overstep, Lady Bridget!”
