Page 60 of Three Weeks with a Princess
After tonight’s events, however, that was likely to change.
Gillian grinned at her husband. “You don’t want to go down because you’re afraid of facing your mother.”
“Can you blame me?” Leverton asked.
“I don’t,” said Lia. “She’s terrifying.”
Gillian wrinkled her nose. “She is rather, isn’t she?”
“I think we’d best remain up here until Lord Lendale returns,” Dominic said. “We need to discuss with him how we’re going to manage the reaction to our little incident—and manage his mother.”
Leverton started pacing again. “Little incident? Ha.”
Dominic looked the soul of patience. “As far as I can tell, no one was killed, blackmailed, kidnapped, robbed, or found in a compromising position. By our family’s standards, tonight’s events were decidedly mild.”
“That is certainly true.” Gillian pointed a warning finger at her husband. “And I absolutely forbid you to be rude to Jack. It’s not his fault his mother is so dreary.”
Leverton wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to see Jack. Lia was so mortified that she wished she could open a window and slide down the drainpipe before he arrived.
Of course, after tonight it would probably be a moot point. Jack would never wish to see her again after such a total humiliation. He’d been right about everything all along and they should have listened to him.
Sheshould have listened to him.
“Lady John is not a bad person,” she said. “She’s had an unhappy and difficult life in many respects and I can’t fault her desire to protect her family.”
“She has a rather odd way of doing it,” Gillian said. “Causing a major scene at a ball is more likely to add to one’s troubles rather than diminish them. Trust me on that point.”
“She must be feeling desperate,” Lia said.
“Lady John sees you as a threat to her son,” Dominic said quietly.
She nodded. “Exactly. I believe she wanted to trigger a scandal to force Jack to make a choice. He is so loyal to his mother and sister, he would not want to subject them to more gossip and ugliness because of me.”
“That’s rich,” Gillian said. “She triggered the blasted scandal and yet you’re the one who has to face the consequences. I should have thrown her out on her ear before she got anywhere near you.”
Chloe grimaced. “There’s a horrible sort of logic to her actions. We’re trying to put the best face on it, but most people will see Lady John as the injured party. I fear the effect on Lia could be quite profound.”
Dominic reached over and took her hand. “We’ve faced worse odds, my dear.”
“Indeed we have,” Gillian said stoutly. “Just look at me.”
“Yes, but your family lineage is impeccable,” Lia said.
Dominic shook his head. “Nonetheless, I think—”
Chloe interrupted by placing a gently restraining hand on his arm. “Why don’t we allow Lia to tell us what she wants? We’ve not given her much chance to do so, have we?”
“Ugh, we’re an awful lot, aren’t we?” said Gillian. “Sorry, Cuz. My family used to order me about all the time and I hated it.”
“It turned out fairly well for you,” Leverton said with some exasperation.
“Yes, but not because I listened to all of you but because eventually you all listened tome,” she retorted.
He looked disgruntled but didn’t contradict her.
“You’ve all been lovely,” Lia said, giving her cousin a reassuring pat on the knee. “It’s just that . . .”
“It’s just that we’ve not been listening to you,” Dominic finished wryly. “Even worse, we’ve been ordering you about.”
