Page 29 of The Duke's Scandal
“I doubt that,” Lady Amelia replied, a little more firmly now. “If you stay back from the Duke, if you refuse to acknowledge all that you feel, then there will not be any relief for you. Instead, there will be this constant agony and strife over all that you feel and all you wish to hide away. Then, mayhap some months or even years from now, you will find yourself with regret and sorrow over all that you stepped away from. You might think of these moments with a weighty sadness, one that you do not feel at present.”
Frowning, Isobella looked away, aware that Lady Amelia’s words were striking at her but having no desire to permit them to linger. “You think I will regret my decision?”
“When you think about what you might have had, if you had only let yourself begin to trust?” Lady Amelia nodded slowly. “Yes, I think you will. You have the hope of something wonderful here, Isobella. The Duke of Exeter clearly wants you to believe him, to trust that all that has been said of him isnottrue.”
“That is only so that he might restore his reputation.”
“Is it?” Lady Amelia smiled gently. “What if it is more than that? What if he wants his reputation restoredandwants you to think well of him? What if his desire to have you work in this situation is because of how he feels?”
This did nothing to comfort Isobella but instead sent a great and terrible fear through her. She did not dare think of what the Duke might feel. Gentlemen had told her of their feelings before, and it had come to naught but heartbreak.
“You are not a fool, regardless of what you decide to do,” Lady Amelia finished, releasing Isobella’s hand. “Believe me in that, my dear friend. None of your pain and sorrow from the past is your responsibility. Your feelings at present are not foolish either, however! It is quite natural to be drawn to a gentleman and,” she finished, with a warm smile, “the Duke of Exeter could be very different from the other gentlemen who injured you in such a way. He could be precisely what you have always hoped for.”
That was a hope that ignited Isobella’s heart, even though she did not wish it to do so. She wanted nothing more than to set the matter aside, to look at the Duke’s difficulties with a calm, unemotional heart, but it seemed to be impossible for her.
“Come.” Lady Amelia took Isobella’s arm again. “Let us go and speak with Lady Clara and see what she has to say. To think about your own heart at present will, I fear, only bring you a good deal more confusion and upset. This might be a way to take your mind from your own circumstances.”
Accepting her friend’s suggestion, Isobella began to walk again, making their way toward the large gathering of both gentlemen and ladies. Hyde Park was very busy indeed, with more carriages arriving nearly every minute. There would soon be very little space for them to continue driving around the grounds, meaning that some would come to a complete stop so that their occupants might step out to speak with their acquaintances.
“I am not certain we will be able to find her here,” Lady Amelia muttered, scowling. “There are so many others present, I fear we will struggle to spy her!”
“I think we will succeed.” Isobella offered her friend a small, wry smile. “We need only go to where there are a large group of ladies, for they will all be eager to hear what she has to say, no doubt.”
Lady Amelia’s scowl faded. “You are quite right. The gossip mongers will be rife with eagerness to hear more of what she has to say about the Duke. I am sure, then, that we will find her.”
Much to Isobella’s relief, it did not take more than a few minutes for them to spy Lady Clara. She was standing with a large group of ladies and a few gentlemen, all of whom were listening to her with rapt attention. Isobella and Lady Amelia sidled in amongst them, with Isobella seeking to stand opposite the lady so that she might see her expressions clearly.
“If it had not been so dark, then I am sure such a thingwould never have happened,” Lady Clara was saying, her hands clasped at her heart as she sighed heavily. “I would never have been discovered by the Duke, would never have been pulled into his arms without warning.”
A young lady near Isobella gasped, her eyes wide. “Is that what happened? He came out of the darkness and caught you?”
Lady Clara nodded. “It was precisely like that. I was standing with Lady Sara. We were talking together, saying that we should return when, to my great fright, someone caught my arm. The next moment, his arms were around me and his head lowered! Such was my fear, I closed my eyes in fright, twisting away from him as I cried for him to release me! How glad I am that Lady Sara was there for she too began to cry out.” She sighed again. “Once he realized I was not alone, he ran from me. It was deeply alarming.”
“I am sorry to hear that,” another lady said, as a few others murmured along with her. “The Duke of Exeter should be heartily ashamed of himself for such an action!”
“You were in the gardens when he found you?” Lady Amelia asked. She had stepped a short distance away from Isobella so that it did not look as though they were both determined to question Lady Clara thoroughly. “Yourself and Lady Sara?”
Lady Clara lifted her chin. “Yes. We had walked a short distance into the darker part of the gardens. I foolishly thought that it would be lit by lamps a little further along the way, but it was not.”
“Then might I ask how you knew it was the Duke?”
It was not Isobella who asked this, nor was it Lady Amelia. Instead, another young lady spoke up, though Isobella did not think that it was with the same hope as sheherself had to discover the truth. Rather, it sounded simply like a general question.
Lady Clara blinked. “Why, it was clear enough for me to see it was him.”
“You did say it was very dark, however,” Isobella said, quickly, as Lady Clara turned her attention towards her. “How could you have seen his face?”
“Because he was so near to me,” she said, quickly.
Lady Amelia glanced at Isobella and then looked back at Lady Clara. “You told us all only a few moments ago that his head was lowered towards you, that you closed your eyes and screamed,” she said, frowning. “How could you have seen his face if your eyes were closed, if you were pulling from him?”
There came a moment’s pause, and Isobella’s heart leapt up with a sense of triumph. Lady Clara was either mistaken in her assessment that it had been the Duke of Exeter,orshe was lying.
“I recognized his voice.” Lady Clara sniffed and then tossed her head. “I do not appreciate such questions, however. I know exactly what happened and – ”
“Yet you must be absolutely sure itwasthe Duke of Exeter,” Isobella said, breaking in. “To malign him without certainty puts you at great risk, Lady Clara.”
Lady Clara’s eyes rounded, color beginning to fade from her face. “Risk?”
