Page 84 of A Naughty Proposal for His Winter Countess
Mercifully, there was no mention of the sexual acts he and Harriet had done.
“Daniel?” Harriet's voice was thin and trembling. “Why are people looking at us?”
“Harriet—”
Before he could say a word, her eyes ran over the words on the paper in his hand, an agonized cry left her before she went as white as a sheet. She slapped a hand over her mouth, grabbed the tails of her dress in hand and ran. In the next breath, Daniel was after her.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Half-blind from her tears, Harriet dashed away from the room with mortification burning in her chest. She hadn't read all of what was on the paper, but she knew there had been enough to scar her reputation for the rest of her life.
She darted down the steps and dashed down the empty street, trying to get as far away from the room and the people there. There was no possible way she could recover and rebuild her name after that.
There was no place dark enough to cover her shame, and no place far enough for her to escape from degradation. It would probably be best for her and everyone if the Earth just swallowed her whole.
She ran until she found a tight nook shoved between two buildings and huddled into the tightest space she could fit it. It didn’t matter that snow had made the walls icy cold. Pressing her face in her knees, the tears flowed like a torrent. Her chest was tight while her heart felt swollen twice its size, pressing against her heaving lungs.
The only thing flashing behind her eyes was her life, shattering to splinters. She was going to lose everything—her reputation was shattered and soon, she would lose Daniel. Her sisters would never look her in the eye again. Lily would distance herself as well because affiliation with a harlot was not an attractive look for someone looking for a husband.
In one fell swoop, she had losteverything. The chance to live a normal life, to have close friends and associates to lean on. The chance to feel true love, the opportunity to move away from the spotted history she already had. All those had crumpled the second those papers had fluttered from the ceiling.
Now, as she began to get her breath under control, Harriet knew that she would probably have to go away for a while to let the scandal die down.
She couldn't imagine what was going through the minds of the people back at the assembly hall. Worst of all, her name would be splashed across every scandal page in England.
Everyone who knew her, would be laughing at her expense. Those tormenters from school would treasure her downfall more than if someone handed them all the gold in the world.
Her life was going to be a cautionary tale to debutantes worldwide.
Covering her ears with both hands, she barely stopped herself from screaming. She felt a hand brush hers and she instinctively jerked away. No one should touch her; she was abhorrent.
“Please, Harriet, I need you to come out,” Daniel coaxed her. “Please, come out of there.”
“W…what's the point?” Harriet choked, “My life is over.”
“No, it isn't,” Daniel objected. “We can explain this. I'm sure we can find a way to make it all go away.”
“The only way for that to happen is if I go away!” she cried miserably.
She heard a soft thump; Daniel was sitting on the rough brick ground and leaning against the wall. “I'm not leaving, Sweetheart. If you decide to stay to dawn, I'm going to be right here.”
Harriet pressed her head back on the cold wall behind her, staring through the cracks between the buildings to the dark sky.
“How…how could this have happened? Why would someone do this to us?” Harriet asked emptily. “What did I do to deserve this?”
“I suppose this blackguard delivered on his promise,” Daniel replied. “He told us to break the engagement, and since we did not, he did it for us.”
Shaking her head, Harriet bitterly said, “You'll go on unscathed; I'll be printed as a harlot.”
“No, I won't,” Daniel replied. “I'll be there with you through it all.”
She laughed hollowly, “If you think they'll let us marry after this scandal, you're a fool,” Harriet replied.
“I'm no stranger to a scandal, Harriet. I've suffered two already and to this point, I don't give a whit. People will always have something to say because their lives are empty and they thrive on the suffering of others.”
“You don't understand,” Harriet cried, “this will never escape me. Two decades from now, my name will still be on people's lips.”
“I think you overestimate the lifespan of a scandal, Harriet,” Daniel tried to reassure her, “There will be another, more libelous act that will draw attention from this. I assure you.”
