Page 28 of Sinful Persuasion of a Lady in the Making
Chapter Ten
“Icannot believe you have drawn so much attention to yourself,” Luke said, exasperated, as he flopped onto the seat in the coach. “At your first-ever ball!”
“All right, Luke,” Alison said, touching his knee. “She wasn’t to know.”
“Know what?”
Jenny was hot with rage, and perhaps a twinge of sadness. He had demanded she dance with lords at a ball, and then became angry when she did so!
Luke huffed loudly, seemingly finding the idea of telling his sister too much to bear. But he told her, all the same.
“LordHartwood—not that he deserves that title—is not a good man.”
“What do you mean?” Jenny asked, urgent and with a sense of dread. “Why would he not deserve the title?”
“He has no respect for his position, Jenny,” Alison said in a much gentler and more rousing voice. “That’s all Luke means. The way he behaves—”
“The way he behaves is nothing short of despicable,” Luke spat. He had rested his elbow on the window frame, the fist at the end of his arm resting upon his temple and his eyes screwed shut.
“But he seemed so different,” Jenny said, a seed of doubt beginning to bloom within her.
He was different, wasn’t he? Or was he just like all the other noblemen? Not to be trusted?
“Of course he would,” Luke said, raising a hand in the air. “You were the only one foolish enough to talk to him—let alone dance with him! He probably couldn’t believe his luck!”
“No,” Jenny said firmly, certain again. “It wasn’t like that. Not at all. He was kind.”
She sat opposite her brother and sister-in-law. Alison looked softly at her and with a maternal sympathy that was both loving and reproachful at the same time. Luke, though, all he could do was rage, his anger palpitating through the small space in the carriage.
“You thought the gossip about you was bad before,” Luke said, shooting her a warning glance. “Well it’s going to get a lot worse, now. Believe me, Jenny. That you danced withhimin the presence of all those people will certainly get around, and it will further besmirch your reputation.”
“Besmirch?” she asked incredulous. “That is a big, hard word. You really are becoming the man you always wanted to be.”
“But it’s an apt one,” he said. “And yes, I am not ashamed of my new position, unlike you, clearly.”
Alison shot him a glance and he closed his mouth, turning away from them. Jenny looked at her sister-in-law, pleading with her eyes.
“Lord Hartwood has somewhat of a history,” Alison explained, looking briefly to her husband and begging him with her eyes to calm down.
“What history?” Jenny asked. “How am I to even begin to understand what you are saying if you do not explain yourselves?”
Her tears had dried, leaving the skin on her cheeks feeling tight, but she didn’t wipe them away. She wanted a reminder of the feeling, at least until she no longer had to argue her point. Doubt she may have, but she knew in her heart that Lord Hartwood was a good and kind man.
“His parents died when he was but a boy,” Alison explained.
Jenny furrowed her brow, confused. Lots of people’s parents died in unfortunate circumstances. They didn’t all become lepers to society.
“And?” she asked, shaking her head in confusion. “What has that to do with anything?”
“His sister blames him for their death, or so I’m told,” Alison continued. “There have been rumors—”
“But that’s utter nonsense! Whatever happened was not his fault, I am sure of it. Especially if he was, as you said,but a boy.”
“Of course I agree,” Alison said. “Anyone would, were they not so close to the situation. Lady Diana is hurt, that is all, and she has lashed out where she feels she can.”
“It is not his parents’ death that is the problem,” Luke snapped, but then he turned his head to look out of the window, and he muttered. “I don’t think you understand the implications.”
“You’re right, I don’t understand,” Jenny said, exasperated at their avoidance. Alison took a deep breath.
