Before her mother had gone a few yards, Lady Varley approached from the other direction.
“What do you want?” Foxford asked, surprising Purity by his impoliteness.
While she disliked the way Lord and Lady Varley had come upon them and made insinuations, there was no need to have an adversarial relationship after the damage had been done.
Purity took a step forward, practically blocking Foxford.
“Did you enjoy the concert, my lady?” she asked in order to bring them back into the realm of civility.
“I did,” Lady Varley said, then she fell silent, taking Purity’s measure. Like a rival!
“Surely, you are not alone,” Purity continued when nothing more was said into the awkward pause.
“Varley is roundabout somewhere,” she said, dismissing any concern with a shrug. “All the evening’s chatter is of your engagement. You two make quite the pair.”
Purity glanced back at Foxford, whose expression was unsmiling and unusually severe.
“Why, thank you,” Purity said for both of them.
“Just as Foxford and I did at one time,” Lady Varley continued. “I think he even brought me here once.”
“Emilia,” Foxford warned, his tone like a low growl.
Emilia!Purity was doubly shocked, both by Lady Varley’s bold statement and by Foxford’s unforgiveable use of the lady’s given name.In public! And not even of his own family member!
Her next thought — that the two were well matched — flitted unbidden through her brain. But Lady Varley was in his past, and Purity was not so naïve as to misunderstand the woman’s motives. She still wanted Foxford! He had come back from the Continent, and Lady Varley was miffed she could no longer have an association with him now that she was married.
“I hope you don’t make such statements in front of your husband,” Purity chastised. “Unless you don’t mind hurting the man to whom you owe your utmost loyalty.”
Probably expecting more of a reaction, Lady Varley simply rolled her eyes, made a noise of disgust, and walked away.
“She is a bit of a nuisance, isn’t she?” Purity remarked.
Foxford let out a bark of laughter. “Thank God, kitten. I thought you might take her seriously, which wouldn’t do at all. She was trying to throw you decidedly off-kilter.”
“She did not succeed. I feel sorry for her,” she said.
“Feel sorry for whom?” her mother asked, returning in time to hear her last remark.
“No one important,” Purity said, hoping that was the case.
“Not at all,” Foxford agreed.
Chapter Nineteen
“Dammit!” Matthew slammed the late-afternoon edition ofThe Timesonto his dining room table with such force his teacup clattered sideways in its saucer, spilling the contents. Throwing his napkin atop the mess to blot the worst of it, he rose to his feet and was halfway to the door when he stopped.
What could he do about the vicious slander?It was printed. The damage was done! Thrashing Varley within an inch of his life or confronting his shrew of a wife would do no good.
He was supposed to meet Quinn and their friends at Café de l'Europe next to the Haymarket Theatre later that evening. When he did, he would face a group of men who had all read an exaggerated tale of what Lord and Lady Varley happened upon at Syon Park. In the interim of a week, they had embellished it beyond all recognition. One would think he and Purity had been discovered naked as needles writhing on the grass. Their engagement would be tainted.
Worse, it would distress Purity no end. Matthew’s fury was growing by the minute.
He couldn’t simply sit still and stew for hours. Changing swiftly, he headed to the pugilist’s club and worked his body and his anger out upon a few hapless sparring partners. No facerswere allowed, but each time he planted a punch to the other man’s gut, he imagined Varley was the recipient.
Finally, aching and sweaty, he went home to soak in a tub and get ready for his celebratory engagement dinner. And if any of the other gentlemen brought upThe Times, he would smile and tell them to go to hell.
But he wanted to speak with Quinn alone first. Across Mayfair at his friend’s residence on Cavendish Square, he rapped on the door impatiently.
