Page 98 of A Duke for Stealing
Harriet snickered.
“And pray tell, why is that?”
“Because, unlike you, I am going to keep my mouth shut,” Rose replied. “Even if what I have is the truth. So long as you take the offer I give you.”
“See, I know it would not do well for thetonto hear that you have returned,” Rose went on as Harriet opened her mouth to interrupt, “It would be even worse for you if they discovered why you returned, and the state in which you now live. A fine lady. Once waited on and coddled. Now forced to make her own food, launder her own clothes, and run her own errands. Are you going to try to interrupt me again?”
Though still glaring at Rose with pure hatred, Harriet shook her head.
“You are angry with me for ruining your wedding to the Duke of Stapleton,” Rose went on, her voice dripping with calm strength. “I can understand that. Now that I have grown to love him, I would be positively livid if someone tried to take the Duke from me.”
Harriet looked as if she were about to bite back with a retort, but with a single raised brow from Rose, she shut her mouth again.
“I suppose you were about to say thatyouloved him. That it wasIwho took him from you,” Rose continued. “Well, I suppose under different circumstances that would be true, but you see, I know better. I know because when you sequestered your friends into that library on that fated night, you were not clever enough to ensure that you were the only people within that room.”
Harriet’s eyes grew wide as the color drained from her face.
“You thought I stopped your wedding for my own selfish reasons,” Rose went on, “and I suppose that was a fair opinion. You had no idea that someone other than your friends knew your disgusting secret. But I did. And to me, Everett was not just some prize I could allow you to claim. You did not know we were friends. Of course, you did not. How could you? Someone like you is only absorbed with the most selfish of thoughts. So I stopped the wedding. I would not allow my friend to be had by such conniving practices.
“You knew?” Harriet whispered. “Everything?”
“I did,” Rose agreed. “As did Everett. Yet neither of us said a word, and would have never said a word, if you had not stooped so low as to try to ruin my reputation by spreading that vicious rumor.”
“No,” Harriet gasped, “Please tell me you have not told anyone the truth!”
Rose slowly studied Harriet’s figure, letting her eyes drag up and down the stained white dress she wore.
“No,” Rose confessed, after taking a moment to enjoy watching Harriet squirm. “Not yet, at least. We are letting that fate rest solely in your hands.”
“Tell me what I must do,” Harriet hurriedly replied.
“Do you confess you started that rumor about me?” Rose asked.
“Yes,” Harriet rushed to reply.
“Good, it is well that you did not try to lie. It would have only made matters worse,” Rose replied. “What you will do is set the record straight. I do not care that you do it. I do not care how difficult such a task is. You started this mess, and you will clean it.Immediately.”
“I-” Harriet stammered, “I do not know how.”
“How did you start the first rumor?” Rose asked.
Harriet blushed deeply, looking ashamed of herself for the first time since their conversation started.
“A small circle of friends know that I am here,” Harriet confessed. “They spread the rumor for me.”
“Well, there you have it,” Rose said with a shrug.
“It is not that simple!” Harriet burst out. “You know as well as I that rumors are far easier to spread than they are to withdraw.”
“You will figure it out,” Rose commanded, her tone stern. “You obviously have a way with fictional stories. You simply need to make another. State that you mistook the Duke for another at a masquerade ball. State that the person who spread the rumor was simply green with envy- although that would actually be true. Spread anything, as long as it mends my reputation and does not harm another’s.”
Harriet was trembling now, and she looked almost in tears as she gave Rose a weak nod.
“Now, now, no need for tears,” Rose chastised, tapping her parasol against the floor again, “There is a reward in this for you.”
Harriet’s eyes were glassy with unshed tears as she glanced back up at Rose.
“In exchange for solving this problem for the Duke and I- a problem thatyoucreated, I must point out, we are going to giving you a monthly stipend for your child. An envelope will be delivered with a few hundred pounds every first Thursday of the month from the moment your child is born until the day he or she reaches the age of seventeen or you remarry.”
