Mr. Lennox reached for my arm, his eyes pleading as he stepped sideways and boxed me out of the circle the four of us had created. “Please, Anna,” he whispered.
“Don’t you dare,” I snapped back, seething. The library had suddenly gone still. Hushed. “There is nothing you can say. No amount of roses will change my opinion of you.”
“I understand why you’re upset.” He spoke low enough for only the two of us, but he still glanced over his shoulder to where Graham and that woman were conversing all too happily. “But please understand the engagement would never have happened regardless of whether we’d met. It was a sham—a ploy to help a family friend have more opportunities.Shecried off!”
“At your behest,” I said, raising a trembling finger. My breath shook as I spoke. “I know your uncle paid her off. I know your funds are dwindling. And I am not interested in becoming your purse.”
His jaw clenched as he spun his cane in hand. “That is not the whole of it. I truly care for you.”
I scoffed. “If you cared for me, you would never have lied.”
He threw up a hand as thoughIwas the one being unreasonable. “You are a woman. You have no idea the trials of men in our society. What secrets we must keep. What we cannot tell you for fear of ruining your polite sensibilities.”
“I could’ve borne it, I assure you.” I hated the thickness in my throat, how weak and shaky my limbs felt despite the rising anger in my chest. I felt like a rope pulled tight enough to snap.
“Let me prove myself—”
“No, for heaven’s sake,” I cried. I could not bear his attempts to reconcile for one more moment.
“Anna,” he said, reaching for me.
“My answer is and will always be, no.”
Graham cleared his throat. He’d been watching. Several pairs of eyes had been. If the whispers hadn’t yet come, they undoubtedly would now.
I licked my lips and touched my hair, forcing a smile. “So pleasant to see you, Mr. Lennox. If you’ll excuse me. My host and I have quite a full schedule this afternoon.”
He bowed, frowning, shoulders tensed. “Of course. I do hope to see you again before my departure.”
“What a pleasure,” Graham said to Mr. Lennox, but he was frowning. Then he bowed to Miss Ryan.
Blindly, I let my feet carry me around a table, then another, trailing whispers with every step.
“Did you see how distraught he is?”one woman asked.
Then, another, “The way she spoke to him—how impolite!”
“I heard her father paid for his silence.” That lie stopped me in my tracks. It was entirely unfounded! I’d yet to tell Papa a thing! “Apparently poor Mr. Lennox proposed, then cried off when he learned of her true character.”
I looked up, eyes blurry, in a desperate search to match that ugly voice with a face, but a hand rested on my arm and tugged me backward.
“Come, Anna,” Graham said gently. “Come away from here.”
ChapterSixteen
Anna
Graham directed me around tables, then veered right to a quiet, secluded corner. He discreetly handed me his handkerchief, and I faced the wall, wrapping my arms around my middle and desperately trying to compose myself.
“Pay them no mind,” Graham said. “Their tongues are constantly wagging, yet they know nothing of what they speak.”
I buried my face in my hands. I’d thought everything would be well if only I’d removed myself from London, and yet Mr. Lennox and all his lies had followed me here.
I needed Papa. I had no idea how to navigate gossip when my name was at the center. They’d said such terrible things. Was I simply to grin and bear it?
“Maybe they do know.” I dropped my hands. “Perhaps I am as awful as they say.”
“Well, then, I feel much better about having thrown you into the sea.”
