The earl held up his hand, putting it firmly on Albert’s shoulder.
“Where are you off to?” he asked. His tone was even, but there was an edge to his voice that normally would have irritated Albert. Under those circumstances, however, Albert would not let it get to him.
“I’m leaving,” he said, stepping back to move around his father the other way.
The earl stepped to block his path.
“That much is clear, Albert,” he said. “I mean where do you think you’re going?”
Albert looked at his father, wondering if the earl could see the distress and panic on his son’s face, or if he even cared.
“Back to the countryside,” he said.
He didn’t realize that he had been speaking more loudly until several of the people behind his father stopped talking and started staring at him. He noticed then that he had drawn a considerable amount of attention. But Albert no longer cared. He felt as though he would lose his grip on the last bit of his composure any second.
The earl stood up as straight as he could, giving Albert the most warning glare he dared while they had such a large, and growing, audience.
“You better rethink what you’re planning to do, Albert,” he said. His voice was barely above a hiss now, but Albert wouldn’t be frightened. He would get away from that ball, from Cordelia, and he didn’t care how far he had to go to do it. Or what the consequences would be when he got there. He looked at his father once more, not saying a word. Then, he stepped widely around the earl so that he couldn’t reasonably stop Albert without causing an even bigger scene than they already were.
With his head down, Albert headed for the first open door he saw, ignoring all the staring eyes and judgmental whispers that greeted him along the way. Then, he hastily made his way to his waiting carriage, his whole body trembling as he fell into the coach’s seat.
“To the Smith townhouse,” he bellowed to the driver. “At once.”
***
Martha watched Lord Billington rush from the ballroom, completely speechless. She noticed that Lady Cordelia watched him, as well, looking surprised and confused. A few people standing near her approached her, seemingly asking if she was all right. Martha stared in shock. The ton knew well that she was the one who was courting Lord Billington. The scandal sheets proved that they knew. So, why was everyone flocking to Lady Cordelia in the aftermath of Lord Billington’s dramatic exit?
Not all of them were more focused on Lady Cordelia, however. She turned back toward her mother, feeling helpless and frustrated, only to find several pairs of eyes staring right through her. And none of them looked away when they noticed that she saw them. The expressions ranged from sneers to pity. But even the pitying eyes looked as though they were laughing at her, as well.
She tried to shake away the thoughts and tell herself that she was just being paranoid. The guests were murmuring about Lord Billington’s scene, but she hadn’t been anywhere near him when it happened. If they were looking at her, it was likely only to see how she would react to it. And she almost convinced herself that was the case, until one group of ladies nearby started talking.
“It’s to be expected,” one of them said. “Lady Cordelia is so beautiful.”
The women murmured their agreements.
“The poor little wallflower could never compete with such beauty,” another of them said. “Everyone could see the way he was looking at her as they talked.”
Martha shook her head, wanting to defend both herself and the viscount. To her, he hadn’t looked interested in Lady Cordelia. He looked like he wanted to do just what he did, and run away. But she had still been so shocked by what Mr. Barnes had told her, and by seeing Lord Billington and Lady Cordelia together, that she might have misread his expression. Still, she didn’t think that anyone who wasn’t even standing near them should be speaking about them.
The gossip began buzzing louder as the people who had checked in on Lady Cordelia came forward. There were two gentlemen and three ladies, and they gave some of the guests knowing looks.
“Lady Cordelia blames herself,” one of the men said. “She said that she came on too strong, even with their history.”
Martha looked down at the ground, trying to keep the room from spinning.
“Oh, nonsense,” said the other man. “If anything, it was her sheer loveliness that overwhelmed Lord Billington. There is nothing plain about Lady Cordelia, to be sure.”
Martha’s eyes filled with tears, but she fought to hold them back.This is all too much,she thought, her heart pounding and her cheeks burning.I can’t handle this anymore.
As though reading her mind, or sensing her distress, her mother reached over and wrapped her arm around Martha’s waist.
“Do you want to leave, darling?” she asked.
Martha looked at her mother with a trembling lip and nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak. But she didn’t need to. Her mother held her close to her, barging through the clusters of gossipers and making a beeline for Martha’s father. He didn’t say a word as he ushered his wife and daughter out of the ballroom, but Martha thought he looked ashamed. She just hoped that it wasn’t because of his plain, wallflower daughter.
Martha managed to fight back her tears during the entire carriage ride. Neither of her parents said a word, and she was grateful for the silence. She didn’t even know what to think about what had transpired that evening, let alone what to say. And she couldn’t bring herself to hear anything her parents had to say until she had worked through her feelings. She loved her parents, but she desperately wanted to be alone.
Her tears remained within her control until she threw herself on her bed. Then, she began to sob, releasing what felt like two lifetimes worth of tears and sadness. She cried until her chest ached, her ribs throbbed, and her head was pounding. Her pillow was saturated with her tears by the time her tears were reduced to nothing but dry, soft hiccups, and she felt numb as opposed to better. She didn’t bother dressing for bed. She was sure that, after that exhausting incident, she’d be asleep in no time.
