Page 33 of In Compromise with the Earl
“I do not make it a habit to lie, Lady Pandora,” Oswald said directly. “Now, if you will excuse me.”
He stood and tugged his dinner jacked down, nodded finally and nearly made it to the threshold when the matchmaker added. “You are only chasing heartbreak if you keep angling for Aphrodite, My Lord.”
“I’m not,” Oswald said coldly. “What happened tonight was pure coincidence.”
“I shall be verifying that,” she said.
“Please do, good night,” Oswald left for his chamber.
He knew he had skimmed over the truth a little, telling Lady Pandora pinpoints of truths, but how would she react to knowing the Duke’s true actions? He had said his piece and left the young lady with her reputation intact; it was up to Aphrodite to tell the rest.
* * *
Morning found Aphrodite in the stables, readying her horse for a ride when Lady Pandora came in, her friend’s face fixed with authority. “Aphrodite, you must tell me what happened last night.”
She kept brushing her horse. “I am sure that when you interrogated Lord Tennesley he told you what happened.”
“He gave me an abridged story,” Lady Pandora said. “And I want to know the truth.”
“Duke Strathmore asked me to walk with him to the garden,” Aphrodite said. “His Grace tried to force a kiss on me, I refused. Lord Tennesley came a few moments later and reminded us that we were needed in the Manor.”
“His Grace did what?” Lady Pandora said. “And did Lord Tennesley knows that?”
“Yes.”
“They why…” Lady Pandora said, “Why didn’t he say that?”
“Because he is a gentleman and was protecting my honor?” Aphrodite put the brush on a ledge before placing the saddle on. “With what he has been through, I doubt he’s going to scandalize anyone. Anyway, what will you do about Duke Strathmore?”
Lady Pandora’s lips twisted. “He is one of your pairings—”
“Which means you will not do a thing about it,” Aphrodite rolled her eyes while fixing a girth.
“Do not put words in my mouth,” Lady Pandora said tightly. “I will have a discussion with him. Untoward advances are not accepted here.”
“But you will not be expelling him,” Aphrodite concluded. “Your image and my father’s threats are staying your hand.”
“Why are you refusing such a perfect match?” Lady Pandora asked. “I cannot think of why any lady would refuse a Duke, especially a young one like him. The others are past their prime.”
She stopped in her motions of fixing the saddle. “He is just not suited for me. That’s all.”
“I need more than that,” Lady Pandora said. “I would wager your father needs more than that as well.”
Huffing, Aphrodite said, “When we first met, all he could do was brag about his wealth, status, connections. How he could sail out to the ends of the earth with no problem, or how he could buy an isle in the West Indies with one percent of his earnings.”
“His pride made him insufferable and then—then I heard the rumors. About the women he dallied with and left because they could not hold his amusement any longer. Why in Heaven’s name would I want to be shackled to a man like that?”
“Is it his pride, or is it his rumored womanizing—”
“They are not rumors.”
“That stops you from even giving the man a chance?” Lady Pandora asked. “Perhaps he has reformed himself?”
“And the sun will turn green,” Aphrodite scoffed. “His attempted kiss proves that.”
“Disgust seems utterly inappropriate considering that you, of all people, should know that rumors color people in hateful hues,” Lady Pandora said calmly. “You met last season. Don’t you think its warranted for you to, at least, let the man explain himself or prove himself to you?”
Her friend’s sound words stuck themselves right in the middle of Aphrodite’s chest and the umbrage she had carried for Jameson that night began to dull. It was true—she should know better; but what she had been told about the man did not seem fabricated at all.
