Page 27 of An Enchantress for an Earl

Chapter Ten

In the dimmest corner of the ballroom, tucked away almost behind the small orchestra, and sheltered by some drapes and a few rather sad looking potted plants, Lord Villeham and Lord Harmonton stood together, sipping drinks, and watching the activity in the room. Here, they were unlikely to be overheard, or even noticed – which was exactly as they wished it to be.

“Well Cater, it seems to be working. There are whispers, all suitably vague, but cloaked in the shape of scandal. I look forward to discovering what the old biddies invent to justify their ongoing horrified mutterings.”

“It had better work, Villeham. We need Merryfield and Westerhazy to be desperate enough to do our bidding, before we put about anything worse than mere hints of scandal. I assume that you have a fallback plan if this doesn’t get the results we want?”

“I… ah… you mean, apart from getting hold of something at their ‘demonstration’ to show my man?”

“Yes, apart from that. We both know that if they’ve got anything likely to be effective, then the chances of your man being able to defeat it will be slim.”

“Err, no, I don’t have another plan, not exactly.”

“Well, we’d best come up with one, hadn’t we? I’ve been watching Merryfield, looking for weaknesses. Westerhazy is too hard a direct target, so I think that Merryfield is still our best bet – Westerhazy has always been rather tolerant of his son’s idiosyncrasies. Did you notice what Merryfield did this evening?”

Villeham regarded Harmonton with a raised eyebrow.

“What he did?”

“Yes. Almost straight after getting here, he sought out Lady Violet Gardenbrook. Can’t say I blame him – she’s an attractive enough thing. He led her off to dance, and pretty much ignored everyone else.”

“Well, yes, I did notice him approach her – given that I was about to do so myself, and he cut in front of me.”

Harmonton laughed, a rather sour sound.

“Well, once you get over your sulk about that, consider what it might indicate.”

Villeham glared at Harmonton, but then narrowed his eyes in thought.

“What are you suggesting, Cater? Are you implying that you think Merryfield cares about her enough for her to be leverage?”

“Yes. Exactly that. To my eye, it looks like he cares about her – and I’ve seen no sign of him giving a damn about any other young woman, apart from protecting his sister. That has to be potentially useful, if the threat to the sister doesn’t work.”

Villeham nodded thoughtfully.

“Perhaps. But… what would we do?”

“Something rather more drastic than gossip would be required, I suspect. And we’d have to make damned sure that we weren’t anywhere near it, or traceable to it, if at all possible.”

“Definitely. Let’s give it until the demonstration, and see what happens as a result of the gossip about the sister – and more about Merryfield, which will ‘shockingly’ be discovered in a day or so’s time. In the meantime, I’ll consider your idea – and exactly what options we have for using it.”

“Good. Don’t fail me on this Villeham – both of our livelihoods and our families depend on it.”

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Violet stood with her mother, glad that, for once, she had not committed herself for this next dance. Lord Merryfield had left her rather hurriedly, and she found herself disappointed, after their somewhat intriguing conversation while dancing. Her eyes followed him, but he went out onto the terrace with his father, so she turned her attention back to her mother, just as Lady Fotheringhampton and Lady Gillieston hurried up, their manner one which suggested that they were quite bursting with new gossip to share.

Lady Fotheringhampton was the first to speak.

“My dear Duchess, have you heard the things that are being said this evening? Quite scandalous, and really not what one would expect at all!”

Lady Gillieston fixed her friend with a glare which would have quelled almost anyone else of the ton, but had little effect on Lady Fotheringhampton. She raised her chin, and sniffed disparagingly.

“Really my dear, you may be my oldest friend, but I simply cannot forgive you for paying any credence to this at all. My niece would never do anything scandalous!”

Violet watched as her mother blinked in mild confusion before venturing a question.

“Aaah, ladies, might you enlighten me? Which niece, Lady Gillieston? And what scandalous thing is she supposed to have done, Lady Fotheringhampton?”