Page 59 of The Reclusive Earl's Scandal
“I only wished to discuss my next plans with you,” she said quickly. “I understand you are betrothed...”
“Thank you, my lady, but I truly must leave. Please let me past, please.”
“Just one moment of your time,” she hissed quietly. “After you did not even have the decency to speak with me after we had several good moments and dances together.”
More expectation, more disappointment that he had caused, moreI am doing everything wrong. Heavens,Heavens, he needed to go. He was spiraling, and he had to leave.
“One moment, that is all you owe me.”
She reached for him, but Edward knocked her hand away, a sharp strike in his panic. “I said goodnight!”
The room fell silent, and he realized how loud he had yelled.
Edward’s heart stopped.
He did not dare look back, nor at Lady Catherine. He only raced up the stairs, wheezing and crumpled to his knees as soon as he was outside and away from the stares.
Chapter Eighteen
“I said goodnight!”
The shout rang out through the ballroom, silencing even the orchestra that played. The dances ground to a halt, guests turned to listen to the commotion, and Lord Billy looked over his shoulder, smirking.
Rebecca stared, shocked, as Edward ran away from Catherine after batting her hand away. Everybody had seen it. Now, her former friend had burst into tears loudly,dramatically, and Mary had hurried over to her.
“Goodness, Thornshire has not changed at all, has he?” Lord Billy muttered.
He turned back to her, laughing. He shook his head, as if amused yet not surprised, but the silence behind him fell too heavily. Rebecca’s chest tightened as she looked between Catherine and Edward. What happened? Who did she need to follow?
She went to excuse herself, but Lord Billy stepped directly in her path. “He always was easily provoked, though, was he not?”
“Lord Thornshire?” A frown tugged her features.
Lord Billy hummed. “Yes. Ah, then again, you two have not spoken in years, if rumour is to be believed.” He hesitated long enough for her to nod her confirmation. “After you two so cruelly abandoned me as part of your little childish friendship group...”
“We did not...”
“Thornshire grew up, and grew angry,” he finished, ignoring her protest. “This…” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, unbothered. “Is nothing new to me. It should not be new to anybody. The man keeps himself wound up as tight as a clock ready to chime. He is bound to lash out.” He inhaledsharply, looking at Rebecca with wide eyes as though something occurred to him. “Goodness, I do hope that is not what you have signed yourself up for if you do not know of his temperament.”
“Of course, I know of it,” she said quickly, smoothing over the concern that knotted uncomfortably in her stomach. Her eyes strayed to where Edward had disappeared from the ballroom, flushed and angry. “I must check...”
“Leave him be,” Lord Billy interrupted. “From my own experience, he needs to calm himself down. It is not very nice for him to leave you alone, though. Allow me to take up your time with a dance. Truly, you will not want to see this side of Thornshire, not until he recalls where he is. I have heard people describe it as he… he loses himself. Completely detaches, and everything normal is replaced by anger.”
Or fear and panic, Rebecca though, but didn’t voice, for what did she truly know? She had spoken with him so much, but he had kept as much close to his chest as she had, and they had only scratched the surface of what made him retreat from society.
Lord Billy watched her face. “Lady Rebecca, this is why he hid out in his country estate. He could not handle the consequences of his own, violent outbursts. A pitiful beast hides after he attacks, unable to deal with his guilt. A true man would face it, would apologise to poor Lady Catherine, but…” He sucked in a breath. “I only hope you understand who you are giving your life to.”
“I do,” Rebecca answered firmly, but she wondered if she truly did. People looked at her discreetly, judging her based on his outburst. She couldn’t help wondering if they whispered the same things that Lord Billy confronted her with. “I do not want to dance, but I do want to know what happened to him.”
If he wouldn’t tell her, if he would rather put on a facade than open up to his feelings, then she had to find out wherevershe could. At least that was what she hoped. Lord Billy and Edward had been friends once; surely he knew better than her.
“When we were adolescents,” Lord Billy began, “ah, probably no younger than fifteen, I would wager, Thornshire just… he turned. He started acting out, storming away from conversations, causing arguments and fights alike. I would steal his hat in jest, and he would snap at me for it. He would lash out at me, so I would trip him, and then I would be the one face-down in the mud, crying out for help. He was… he turned ruthless.”
Rebecca reared back. She couldn’t compose herself well enough to mask her surprise and distress from her face. Her lip curled.
“Ruthless?”
“The man is angry,” Lord Billy said simply. “He has never learned to control it. All I want to do is warn you, Lady Rebecca. He might not be as honest as you think. Asgoodas you think. Most men have their dark sides. Do not ignore his.”
