Page 17 of A Bride for the Forbidden Duke
But then she remembered her duty to her mama. And deep down, she wished somebody would ask her to dance. Realistically, she knew not every man was like those terrible ones. She did not evenknowif the Duke was terrible, only that he was rude and impatient.
Yet nobody approached her, and Veronica hovered, feeling rather lonely.
She waited several more moments, and it was only when she felt the cunning eyes of Miss Garland as she was twirled onto the floor that Veronica gave up hope and backed away.
The drinks stand was mostly empty, and she realized she would not feel too crowded there. She had already had one glass but desired another, if only to have something to do that did not make her look so awfully lonely.
Drifting her way over to the beverage stand, she picked up another glass and overheard voices behind her.
“Did you hear about the Earl of Grantham?” a low voice asked.
They didn’t seem to know Veronica was right there. Still, they did not care to lower their voices regardless but maintained a level of discretion.
“He left his family questioning and destitute, but if only they knew the truth!”
Veronica stilled.The truth?
“Indeed,” a female voice giggled. “They have nary two coins to rub together, and yet the Earl has left his life behind, pockets heavy, having made lots of money since his departure. I believe he is in America now! What ascandal. Perhaps we should let the gossip sheets know.”
“That would be something,” the gentleman laughed.
Veronica did not dare turn around. She kept her eyes fiercely ahead, even as her lower lip trembled with emotion.
“Do you think the author pays well for the stories?”
They descended into more laughter.
“I wonder what poor woman has married the Earl,” they continued. “For rumor has it he has started his own family, far away from thetonand the suffocating life that the Granthams clearly gave him. Poor boy, he always did feel the need to live in his father’s shadow.”
Veronica’s eyes pricked with tears.
Was any of this true? She certainly had heard enough of her brother’s grousing that she knew it was true about living in their father’s shadow but so much so that he had left them for America? For a newfamily? Did she have a sister-in-law and nephews and nieces she did not know about?
Had he truly forgotten all about Veronica and her mother? He’d promised to take care of them after their father’s death. Yet… here they were, left behind, abandoned, with no fortune to speak of.
Her chest heaved with unshed tears and an ache starting in her clavicle, and she pressed a hand to her collarbone, trying to stifle her emotion.
She could not be seen crying.
Setting her drink down on the table, Veronica rushed out, past the gossipers, out of the ballroom, and right into the garden. She had visited Evelina enough times to know the pathways to take to the townhouse’s entrance from the side. Perhaps she could wait there.
I will be disappointing Mama, she realized, even as she could not quite slow herself down.I should stay and fix my composure. If I stay out here, it is another day that my mother must fall into the whims of Lord Barwicke.
“Lady Veronica! Lady Veronica, please slow down!”
Veronica froze. The very voice she had not wanted to hear beckoned her to stop.
And she did, for her tears quickly turned to anger, and she whirled around, finding Lord Barwicke staring at her from a short distance away.
He was highlighted by the ballroom’s harsh lighting as he strode towards her.
She felt stalked—but not quite in the alluring way the Duke had made her feel. No, she felttrapped, fearful.
“Lady Veronica, I could not help overhearing the gossip in there,” he said to her. “Your mother is beside herself. Come, let me comfort you both and take you both home.”
“No!” Veronica shouted. “No, you must leave me alone.”
“I am concerned for you, Veronica. You are a young woman alone in a garden. You should be chaperoned.”
