Lydia collapsed onto the bed, a forlorn figure. Rose sank beside her. The two of them had been friends before they were sisters, and there was perhaps nobody in the world who Lydia would have preferred to be with at this moment.
There was her mother, of course, but that was impossible.
There was Charlotte too, but Lydia’s elder sister could be pragmatic at times and always looked for solutions when sometimes, Lydia only wanted reassurance.
Rose put her arm around Lydia’s shoulders and held her tight.
“I’m so sorry that this happened, Lydia.”
Lydia took heaving breaths, and her shoulders shuddered. It was a long time before she calmed enough to be able to speak.
“I do not understand. I did everything right, and now… now, I am ruined.”
“You don’t know that. People might understand the truth.”
“The truth.” Lydia laughed bitterly and shook her head. “When have they ever been concerned with the truth? They will see the scene and come to the obvious conclusion that the baby was conceived out of wedlock in some torrid affair. I am a ruined woman. What man would want to be associated with someone who has such a mark against them?”
Rose paused, for she knew all too well that a scandal like this was more than enough to cast a woman into exile and ruin any chance of a fine marriage.
“I’m sure we can get this straightened out. People know that you are not that type of woman, and you never even met the Duke of Nightford before tonight. I know it seems dire now, but it is not the end of the matter.”
“You are kind, Rose, but there is no point trying to convince me that this is anything other than a catastrophe. You know what thetonis like. We have both lived in it for long enough.”
“What were you even doing in the room?”
“I was searching for Grandmother. Then I heard the baby crying and could not leave it alone. When His Grace appeared, we argued about whose baby it was. He didn’t seem to know either.”
“Really? Then I wonder whose it is.”
“He must have something to do with it. Why else would it have been in his room?”
“Well, someone must have left the child there. The baby’s mother must be out there, somewhere.”
“Perhaps… although if so, then why did she not come forward? Perhaps she is dead. There are too many strands to this story and the only one people care about is the one involving me. I will be cast aside from theton. I will never get my happy ending.” Lydia bowed her head and began weeping again.
Rose made comforting noises and attempted to sooth Lydia in the same way that Lydia had tried to soothe the baby, but the future she wanted had been taken from her. There could be no happy conclusion for her now. Everyone would see her as a woman of ill repute. This was the kind of association that never left a woman, and no gentleman would ever be happy with the prospect of marrying her.
This was a tragedy indeed, but unlike the titular characters inRomeo and Juliet, she didn’t even get to experience love.
Chapter Five
Victor glared at the guests. He bellowed at the servants to come and usher them away from his bedchamber and back down the hall, herding them like sheep. The members of the peerage were speaking excitedly about what happened. Victor felt sick. This was exactly the kind of thing he wanted to prevent, but because of that irresponsible woman, he had suddenly been thrust into a scandal that had nothing to do with him.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I regret that the evening must end earlier than intended. My staff will see you to your carriages,” Victor said, following the crowd to make sure that they left the house. He entered the hall and clapped his hands. He moved to where the string quarter was playing and swiped his hands through the air. The music faded.
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, the party has come to an abrupt end,” he declared although he could see that the rumors were already spreading like a plague. He cringed at the way people looked at him, as though they knew something about himthat he had tried to keep secret, even though he had never tried to hide anything about his own affairs.
Part of him wanted to explain the situation, but sometimes the more someone explained something, the less convincing it seemed. The best thing to do was send them away so that he could concentrate and deal with this matter.
“Please make your way outside with as much haste as possible,” he said. The crowd shifted like a tide. They did not seem to mind the interruption of their joy, and he assumed this was due to the nature of the gossip. Thetonthrived on such things. It lived to tear people down. Victor gnawed on the inside of his lip, his teeth digging so deep that he started to taste blood over his tongue.
Soon enough, the hall was empty. Victor thought that Harry might have been there, ready to gloat, but he seemed to have disappeared.
The baby’s cries were softer now that he had put distance between them, but Victor could still hear them, as if something within himself had become attuned to that sound. It made him uncomfortable in a way that he had never been before, as though something was incontrovertibly wrong in the universe, and it was his duty to make it right.
But for now, the maid was dealing with the child. Victor needed to discover whose baby this was. Since Lady Lydia was adamant that it was not hers, then whose was it? He was not entirely sure if he could trust her, especially because she seemed to inherentlyknow what to do with the child. But if it were her child, would she have been willing to leave the baby in his care?
He gathered the maids and servants together.
