“Glenarvonhas raised many an eyebrow and set tongues to wagging all over London!” her aunt said, echoing Miranda’s words.
“Not just London,” her uncle added, giving a hint he cared for gossip a little more than he let on. “It’s a sensation in Dublin and Edinburgh, too.”
“The stir is just reaching us,” her aunt said. “I have told my husband we must get the Town papers again. We miss far too much.”
The parallel was not lost upon Miranda, nor on Philip. Experiencing his dagger-filled glance, she wished the floor would open and let her fall through. As it was, she shrank farther into her seat.
Hunching over her plate so she didn’t have to make eye contact with anyone else, Miranda hurried through her meal and excused herself before the dessert. No one objected since she’d been such poor company.
Choked by sorrow at how thoroughly she’d strayed from good sense, she buried her head under her pillow and didn’t get out of bed for the remainder of the evening.
When it was barely light outside and the house was still silent, she crept downstairs to retrieve her copy of the book Lady Harriet had sent, having not received Miranda’s letter in time to stop the publication.
After thinking about it, and watching Philip’s reaction, she had a feeling Lady Harriet would not have called off the printing anyway. Miranda had been bamboozled!
However, the book had vanished, and she sat on the sofa with only her aunt’s cats for company, feeling numb and more than a little afraid of what her father would say. If he’d sent Philip to fetch her upon seeing the mild few lines inThe Times, what would he say upon seeing her book?
Drawing her knees up under her, she could only pray he never got his hands on one of the limited copies. After all, Lady Harriet was in charge of dispensing them to members of theton. Why would a magistrate end up with one?
Feeling a little better, she decided to go along to the kitchen and make herself a cup of tea as if she were at home when she heard horse’s hooves. For an instant, she thought Aunt Lucinda might have returned early, but the sound was of a single rider, not a carriage. Pulling the curtain back, she looked out. To her astonishment, Philip, who was up and already fully dressed at this early hour, strode out to meet whomever had arrived.
After the man dismounted, their meeting was brief and then the rider went to the stables with his horse. When Philip turned toward the house, Miranda would swear he’d seen her at the window, and she hastily let the curtain fall back into place.
Sure enough, in less than two minutes, he found her in the parlor.
“The news from London is worse than I thought. It’s all anyone can talk about from the men’s clubs to the ladies’ salons. As my friend said, and I quote, ‘It’s beyond any previous scandal.’”
Philip paced the room. “And the book is not even available yet, except a few copies sent to choice recipients and then a handful of select quotations given to all the papers. Lady Harriet has had her revenge upon me and taken you and a number of others down as well.”
“I sent her a letter to stop the book, but I was too late,” Miranda disclosed, but then the import of his words struck her. “Why would she seek revenge against you?”
He looked away, looked back, blinked, then sighed.
“I had a brief dalliance with her once.”
“No!” Miranda said, not sure why it bothered her immensely. Yet thinking of the earl’s daughter’s beauty and assuredness, it definitely did. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“For the same reason I don’t discuss Miss Waltham or any other young lady. It’s not done.”
“If you had disclosed something about this, I might not have walked blindly into trouble. The entire island of Britain might not be privy to my Season’s gadabouts had I known the truth about the one person who was counseling me as to what a grand idea this was.”
Clenching her fists with frustration, Miranda added, “While being a gentleman regarding Lady Harriet, I assure you she was not behaving as a lady in the same honorable terms.”
“I understand that now,” he agreed. “But you should have known better.”
“In retrospect, yes, I should have. I should somehow have realized she was only creating a bond with me, a nobody, in order to penetrateyourshield. If I’d suspected such, I would have shown more caution. As you know, I am not entirely unaware of how the world works.” She was pacing the way she’d seen him do in the past. Stopping herself, she came to stand before him.
“Now the damage has been done, why don’t you break that irrational code of honor that allows you to behave like a rake while keeping as discreet as a priest and tell me why Lady Harriet sought her revenge through me?”
“Very well. She was displeased with the way our association concluded.”
Miranda’s imagination took flight immediately.
“Is that all you will tell me?”
He put his hand upon his hips and leaned down toward her. “She did not want it to end. Ask me why.”
Miranda swallowed. He was close enough she could count his eyelashes. “Why?”
