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“I am sure she will need the three of you to consult on the color and fabric of cushions and curtains. It sounds like you will be enthralled by all things house related for the entire day.”
“You trivialize, Your Grace, but such things are important in making a house a home. Besides, you forgot about the rugs.”
“Ah, how could I have left out the rugs? Do let Lucinda know that my gardener will be at her service should she need advice setting up her flower beds.”
“I certainly will.”
He read his paper for a few minutes while Rose ate her breakfast, but when he growled and slammed it down, she jumped in her seat.
“Your brother needs a bullet in his head.”
Dread descended. “Whatever has he done now?”
“He has told a journalist of his intent to take you to court. That he has had no recourse but to declare you unfit to live independently from him.”
Her eyes stung, but she blinked back the tears that had suddenly appeared at the mere mention of her brother’s cruelty. “I am not surprised. Maximum exposure is how he will discredit me, I suppose. He will want rumors to abound about me, and the ton will no doubt eat it up and spit me out. All without finding out if it is true.”
“He says that you are staying with us because you are sponging off our good will. Damn his eyes.” He threw the paper aside. “I will make it known that he is lying and that we will prove it in court.”
She felt nothing but sadness when she spoke. “It won’t matter, not in the end. He means to destroy any chance I may have had at happiness. No man will want to marry me, even when we win the court case. The damage will have been done, and he knows that.”
“That may be true for a while, but the ton is fickle; they will move on to the next scandal soon enough. Eventually, they will not even remember the particulars.”
“The particulars do not matter. They will remember I was the source of a scandal and that will be enough. I am afraid I may not even get a position as a governess or companion now.”
“Take heart, Rose. It may not be as bad as all that.”
She ignored his attempts at comforting words as the realization of her situation fully dawned on her, and panic rose within her, making her breaths shallow. “I will have to change my name,” she said, gasping for air and looking at her half empty plate. “And live a lie for the rest of my days. I will be banished to some isolated corner of England. I will be surrounded by sheep and…and bad weather.”
“No, you will not. If your brother thinks this will only touch you, he will be wrong. The stench of court will linger on him as well.”
Oh, lord! “I will stink of court?”
He frowned at her, but her eyes were soft. “That is what you got out of that?”
At that moment Marianne and her mother walked in, and both stopped in the doorway as they saw Edward drag Rose into his arms.
“What have you done?” his mother accused.
“Nothing. Cecil has gone to the papers.”
Marianne rushed to the paper on the table and picked it up. “That…bastard.”
“Marianne!” her mother said in an admonishing tone and took the paper up herself. “Oh, my dear Rose. I am afraid Marianne is right.”
Rose realized she was still in Edward’s arms and stepped away. “I cannot stay here,” Rose said. The pressure of trying not to cry was making her feel like a megrim might be coming on, and really, she just wanted to hide under the covers of her bed. She thought she could handle this, but now it was real. Now people would be looking at her as if she had no sense in her head.
“I know it feels grim right now,” Edward said, “but you do not want him to win by hiding away. You must go and see Lucinda today and drink tea and coo over William. It will be good for you.”
“I will not be good company today.”
“It does not matter. You will be among friends. We all understand how devastating this is.” Marianne took Rose’s hand in hers. “Let us look after you.”
“I will think about it, but really, I do not want to bring scandal to your door.”
“We have weathered scandal before, my dear. We can handle another,” the dowager said as she guided Rose from the room.
Rose looked over her shoulder at Edward, standing in the now empty room. His face was bleak, his mouth set. She knew he was plotting Cecil’s demise in his head. He must have some feelings for her, other than physical. Lord knows she did for him, and acknowledging that made her want to cry even more. Whatever he had planned for the day was no doubt about to change, and it was her fault.
