Page 5 of The Slipper Scandal
He did not dignify her pique with a response. “If you remain outside, it will only make matters worse.”
“For whom? I have no great reputation in town to guard.”
He glanced at the house. “Neither do I, now. That is rather the point.”
She gave a small, unamused laugh. “Then I see no problem.”
Her response was not what he had expected.
“It is a Twelfth Night ball,” he said, keeping his voice even. “It ispossibleno one will care.”
Miss Bennet considered this. “Do you believe that?”
Darcy hesitated. “You are a maiden. I believe it is unlikely.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Unlikely?”
He exhaled, adjusting his stance. “Yes. Lord Ellington and his obsequious idiots are rather adept at spinning a tale. If you do not return to the ballroom and show by your appearance that you have not been ravished, the speculation will only grow worse.”
“I fail to see how,” she said coolly.
“If you remain absent,” he explained, “the gossips will create and disseminate themostscandalous version of events. A young woman disappearing into the garden, only to be followed by a gentleman, and then not returning at all? If you do not reappear, they will assume the worst—that you are no longer fit to be seen. If we enter together looking precisely as we did when we stepped out, it will at least take a bit of the heat out of any slander they may have invented.”
Miss Bennet’s lips parted slightly, her brows drawing together as the weight of his words settled. “So, you would have me stroll back into the ballroom on your arm and pretend nothing has happened?”
“That is precisely what I would have you do.”
She studied him. “And if I refuse?”
His mouth tightened. “Then you will endure weeks or even months of sordid speculation.”
She let out a slow breath, eyes flickering towards the house. “And you will escape any recrimination at all.”
“I will undoubtedly suffer less, but my reputation will still be tarnished.”
Miss Bennet crossed her arms over her chest. “I do not care what they say of me.”
Darcy almost smiled. He could not understand why her stubbornness pleased him. “Perhaps not,” he allowed. “But I do not imagine you wish to endure theconsequencesof their talk. It might be well enough for you, but we must think of theAbernathys and your own family. Do you have any sisters still at home, Miss Bennet?”
She did not respond, but the quick press of her lips suggested he had struck his mark.
He lifted a brow. “Shall I escort you inside?”
Her glare could have felled a lesser man.
Luckily for her, he was not a lesser man.
“Very well,” she muttered at last. “But if anyone so much as raises an eyebrow, I will inform them that you lured me outside with poetic declarations and a promise to elope.”
His dry amusement flickered. “That should do wonders for our reputations.”
She sighed, adjusting her gloves with unnecessary force. “If they are hopelessly damaged anyway, I might as well enjoy it.” She shot him a resigned glance. “At least the story would be romantic.”
What a peculiar thing to say. He glanced at her. “Would it?”
She studied him for a long moment, then sighed. “Very well. I shall return with you. But I fully expect to regret it.”
Despite Lord Ellington’s accusation, Darcy was an honest man. He could do nothing but tell her the truth. “You probably will.”
