Page 65 of How to Start a Scandal

And perhaps that was because the second option was even more frightening: telling Seth the truth about Lord Fordson. Because it wasn’t just that she was no longer a virgin. It was that she had been so swiftly won over, that she’d capitulated to his fake charm with such ease.

Unlike the ladies whom she had written about in such poor light, Violet truly was pathetic. And now she understood just how much.

Chapter Eighteen

Seth opened the double doors of the sitting room to find Lady Dalton perched rigidly at the edge of the blue velvet sofa.

His mother turned to him. ‘I was told you wished to see me.’ She smoothed her black skirts. ‘I’ve already rung for tea. It should arrive momentarily.’

Seth sat down beside her and offered her the small box.

She regarded the parcel, but didn’t take it. ‘What is this?’

‘A gift.’ He grinned in anticipation.

For the first time in his life, she would be pleased with him. He passed the box to her and anxiously bounced his knee.

A hesitant smile touched her lips. ‘A gift?’ Her fingers hovered over the seam of the box in preparation to pull it apart.

Seth leaned closer, eager to see the surprise on her face. ‘I put a considerable amount of effort into obtaining this. I believe you’ll be quite surprised.’

She drew the top away, revealing the ruby bracelet nestled in a bed of white silk. The colour drained from her face as she stared down at the lost piece of jewellery. Stark tendons stood out against her slender throat from the high black collar of her mourning gown.

Seth’s elation melted into confusion. ‘It’s your mother’s bracelet.’

She turned slowly to him, her eyes aflame with emotion. ‘How could you?’

‘How could I?’ Seth stammered. ‘I went to great expense and effort to procure your mother’s bracelet. I intend to have all your gems tracked down and repurchased. I thought...’ He shook his head, baffled and angry. Yet again he’d managed to make a mess of things.

She crushed the lid back on the top of the box. ‘Do you have any idea what you’ve done?’

‘No.’ The final thread of his patience pulled taut and broke beneath the immense pressure. ‘I don’t know what I’ve done. I haven’t a clue what I’ve possibly done to displease you after a lifetime of always causing you so much unhappiness. I’ve never been perfect like William. I’ll never be perfect like him.’

‘Don’t even speak of him,’ his mother snapped. ‘You have dredged up the past to lay yet more scandal at our feet. I had become reconciled to these items being lost. A worthy sacrifice to salvage our good name.’

Seth got to his feet. ‘What the devil are you talking about?’

He had gone too far. As he always had. Only this time he didn’t care.

His mother rose from the sofa, tears bright in her eyes. ‘William was always the one who caused unrest.’

Seth startled at her words. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘He needed constant praise or he became a beast of a child.’ Colour rose in his mother’s cheeks. ‘He was in line to be the next Earl. We couldn’t have him react in such a manner in public. Not an earl’s heir.’

Seth stared at her incredulously. Was he hearing correctly?

‘You never required the constant reassurance he did,’ Lady Dalton said. ‘You were such a good child. Well mannered, intelligent. Until you got older and discovered drink and ladies.’ She gave a cry of displeasure and put a hand to her chest as though merely thinking of it caused a sharp pain. ‘At that point, I didn’t know what to do with you and was too embroiled with your brother’s scandals.’

‘William had scandals?’ Seth pressed.

His mother exhaled a heavy sigh. ‘Mr Pattinson was well aware of those scandals. He threatened to let word of them drip out one at a time if we did not comply with his wishes.’

‘And what were those?’

‘Mr Pattinson wished to have the jewels and be left in peace.’ His mother’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I hadn’t meant to alert anyone, truly. But when I went to collect all the jewellery...’

‘It was noticed,’ Seth surmised.