“Typical,” the round-faced lord scoffed. “Once a beast, always a beast.”
“Adrian…” Ophelia tried to find Adrian’s eyes, but he did not give them. He took a step back, his gaze searching through the crowd, fear passing across his face like she had never seen. “Adrian…” She took a step forward to take his hand.
“No!” Adrian yanked his hand back and held it to his chest. “Don’t…” Again, there was fear in his eyes. “Don’t.” He lookedaway with shame, his shoulders collapsed, and then he put down his head and charged from the room.
“Adrian!” she called after him.
He was gone in seconds, leaving her behind to the wolves. They gathered around her, they smirked and shook their heads and looked at her as if they were not in the least bit surprised.
Tears welled, her legs trembled, and Ophelia put her head down and rushed through the crowd and toward the exit. As she ran, she heard the conversation start back up, just as she heard her name on the lips of each and every single person.
If the circumstance slightly different, Ophelia might have taken some consolation in the fact that Adrian had stood up for her. After all, was it not proof that he cared for her and was willing to do whatever he must to keep her safe?
In another world, such a courageous act might have been proof that our marriage was right and that Adrian cared for me.
Sadly, Ophelia knew too well that such a reality was not the one that she lived in. All Adrian wanted to do was avoid a scandal, only to find himself in the center of a new one. She was the cause, their marriage was the foundation, and that was what Adrian was sure to focus on.
The path they walked, it fell away at their feet, and the way forward was dark and filled with sorrow, no happiness in sight.
“Adrian, will you please just talk to me!” Ophelia cried as Adrian stormed across the foyer. “Tell me what happened!”
The carriage ride home from the theater had been a most awkward thing. More than once, Ophelia had attempted to draw Adrian into a conversation, needing him to understand that she was on his side and did not blame him for what had happened. And more than once, the cold silence he had given her, the anger that stewed and festered in his body, was her response.
When they arrived home, Adrian fled the carriage without so much as looking at Ophelia. He then stormed down the driveway and charged inside, determined to leave her behind as if she did not exist.
Ophelia considered leaving him for the night, but she reasoned that would only make things worse. More than ever, Adrian needed to know that Ophelia was with him, and that whatever might happen, that would always be the case.
“Stop!” she screamed as loud as she could, just as he reached the base of the stairs. “Please, just stop!”
Adrian froze, one foot raised, his hand already on the railing. Body stiff, shoulders hunched, she did not need to see his face to know what he was thinking.
“They were speaking about me, weren’t they…” Slowly, carefully, she crossed the foyer. “That was why you…” She swallowed. “Why you did as you did.”
“The things they said of you, Ophelia,” he snarled into his chest without turning around. “I ought to have killed him for it.”
She laughed to try and diffuse the tension. “At least that might have provided a distraction from their gossiping.”
“It wasn’t gossip,” he hissed. “Accusations, spoken as fact. They said… he said…” His breathing rattled in his chest. “And it’s not just what they said, but that they thought it acceptable. Theywantedme to hear.”
“So what?” She was behind him, but she did not get too close. “Who cares what they say? Weren’t you saying earlier that rumors are just like meat thrown to wolves? That to refuse it will eventually see them grow bored? Let them talk.”
“This marriage… it was supposed to… the entire purpose…”
“Was for Harriet,” she spoke over him. “To protect her. That is what matters.”
“No,” he snarled, and she winced. “It was to protect us. We both have a past, Ophelia, one that I hoped would be forgotten in time.”
“Which it will be.”
He scoffed. “Maybe, once. But now…” A shake of the head, and still he did not turn around. “What I did tonight will be known throughout thetonby tomorrow, spoken about by every home in London.”
“I do not care,” she offered. “Let them talk –”
“You do not understand!” he roared, and she jumped. “I am not meant to… I should not care… what I did tonight, it will happen again. For as long as we are together, there will always be those who talk.”
Ophelia leaned back, sensing his meaning, but not daring to put a voice to it. Rather, she took a chance and closed the gap between herself and Adrian and rested a hand gently on his back. He stiffened at her touch and bucked her away.
“Don’t,” he said, the anger gone, replaced by shame and sadness. “Please, just… I need to think, Ophelia. About tonight, about…” The silence dragged on as he let that final comment linger.
