Page 47 of Duke of Diamonds
Fiona arched a brow in silent inquiry, her cup poised halfway to her lips.
“There has been a scandal concerning Canterlack,” Anna said, her voice lowering to a conspiratorial murmur. “He has ruined Miss Aldridge.”
Fiona’s hand tightened imperceptibly around her cup.
Miss Aldridge. The woman I saw him embracing in the gardens that night.
“What makes it worse,” Anna continued, setting her cup down with a decisive little clink, “is that he refused to show up at the duel site.”
“Duel?” Fiona echoed, blinking.
“Indeed. Miss Aldridge’s brother challenged him for dishonoring his sister. But Canterlack never appeared. Now society calls him a coward. The scandal sheets are rife with it.”
Fiona set her cup down carefully, feeling a strange hollowness settle in her chest.
How swiftly his true character is laid bare for all to see.“I try to see less of the columns these days,” she admitted, a touch sheepishly.
Better to spare herself the venom of the ton’s wagging tongues.
Anna gave a small nod of approval. “Most understandable.” Anna swirled the contents of her teacup thoughtfully. “As a matter of fact, I heard he was recently denied entrance at an event. Society now shuns him as the coward he is—a man who could not even do the honorable thing by the lady he ruined.”
Fiona sighed, setting her cup down with careful deliberation.
“None of it surprises me,” she said.
Aaron was always capable of such cowardice. I was merely blind to it before.
Despite everything—despite the betrayal, despite the scandal—Fiona found herself feeling a faint, reluctant pang of sympathy for Miss Aldridge.
No lady deserves such ruin. No matter her missteps.
Anna, perhaps sensing her thoughts, set her cup aside and leaned forward.
“In today’s column, Craton was praised for doing the honorable thing by you,” she said. “It was even remarked that he possesses the honor Canterlack so sorely lacks.”
Fiona lifted a brow, a faint, wry smile curving her lips.
How the tables have turned.
Anna reached out and squeezed her hand briefly.
“Despite everything, Fiona,” she said, “I am glad you are no longer tied to him.”
Fiona squeezed her friend’s hand in return, the warmth of the simple gesture settling more deeply in her chest than any spoken assurance could have.
By the time she took her leave, she felt lighter—as though the world outside the Copperton townhouse was not quite so heavy after all.
That lightness, however, evaporated the moment she stepped into Holden House.
She had scarcely handed her bonnet and gloves to the butler when she encountered her father striding from his study, the door swinging wide in his wake.
He stopped abruptly upon seeing her, his mouth twisting into a sneer.
“Have you no shame?” he spat, the words striking her like a slap.
Fiona stiffened, clasping her hands tightly before her to keep them from trembling.
“Still trotting about and showing your face in society,” he snarled, “after shaming me—and ruining my good name!”
