Page 36 of The Uncompromising Marquess
Joseph, aware that Lord Cheswick was doing what he could now to salvage his reputation, grimaced. “That is not what I heard. Indeed, I was encouraged to never accept a vowel from you again!”
“And you gavemea vowel last evening!” A gentleman that Joseph did not recognize pushed himself to the fore, glaring at Lord Cheswick. “You said you would pay it within a few days!”
“I intend to!” Lord Cheswick exclaimed, only for another gentleman to step forward, declaring the very same thing as the previous. Then there came another and another until the room seemed filled with voices, all declaring that Lord Cheswick owed them coin. Folding his arms over his chest, Joseph smiled grimly. His task had been completed, his hope fulfilled and now, he prayed, Lord Grangemouth would do the only thing required of him.
He did not have to pray for long.
“I declare that there isnoconnection between Lord Cheswick and my daughter, Lady Florence!” Lord Grangemouth declared, his loud voice crashing over the top of the others and catching the attention of all present. “Lord Cheswick intended to marry my daughter, as you have all heard, but I, hear and now, refuse him utterly.” With narrowed eyes, he turned on Lord Cheswick. “You are to stay far from my daughterandfrom my wife and I,” he said, angrily. “You have deceived me and I, in my foolishness and in my eager hope to find Florence a husband, gave in far too quickly.” A quick glance towards Lady Grangemouth spoke of his disappointment, making the lady in question bow her head. “You shall not marry Florence, you shall have no connection to her or to us. I never wish to set eyes upon you again!”
“I think it would be best if you were to take your leave, Lord Cheswick.” A commanding voice filled the room and Joseph turned, seeing their host stepping forward. “You are no longer wanted here.”
Lord Cheswick’s face, which had been very red indeed, now began to pale. He stared back at the gentleman, only to turn his gaze towards Joseph. Holding it, Joseph let one eyebrow liftgently, his lip curling as Lord Cheswick’s mouth opened in a snarl.
“This is allyourdoing,” he hissed, as Joseph nodded in agreement. “You, who are the most judgmental, the most critical ofallgentlemen here in London – if not in all of England – and you wanted to ruin me, did you not? You take great pleasure in ruining the happiness of so many, it had to be my turn, yes?”
With a shake of his head, Joseph cleared his throat, fully aware that near every eye was on him. “While I will not deny that I am someone who has been far too disparaging and much too interested in fault-finding, it is not because of such traits that I came here this evening.” He lifted his chin a fraction and narrowed his eyes. “It is because you are a scoundrel, Lord Cheswick. It is because you lie and cheat and manipulate those around you to get whatever it is you want – and I was not about to permit you to take Lady Florence.”
Lord Cheswick’s jaw tightened.
“You lied to Lord Grangemouth, pretending that you were not insolvent and that you would change dramatically so you might be worthy of his daughter.” He drew himself up, anger beginning to ball in his stomach. “You manipulated the situation at my Christmas ball, did you not?”
Lady Florence caught her breath in a gasp and, for the first time in some minutes, Joseph let himself look at her. Her eyes were rounded with astonishment, tears glistening there but Joseph did not stop his explanation, returning his gaze to Lord Cheswick.
“You knew that I was showing an interest in Lady Florence, even if my words to others stated quite the opposite. That was a foolishness on my part, uncertain of my own feelings and determined to hide what I felt from my friends and acquaintances. All the same, you were quite determined to make certain I would not continue on with my interest in the lady,for you had settled on her as your chosen bride, seeing her as a solution to your lack of funds.”
“You… youwereinterested in Florence?”
Joseph’s stomach tightened at the shock in Lady Grangemouth’s voice. “Can you truly think that so surprising, Lady Grangemouth?”
The lady only blinked and Joseph continued on, knowing he had the room’s attention.
“When the cake was knocked to the floor, everyone in the room began to blame Lady Florence, for she was the one who stumbled into it. But it was not her fault, was it?” Hearing a few murmurs begin to run around the room, Joseph glanced at a few of those present, seeing their wide eyes staring back at him. “She was pushed, deliberately, so that she fell forward and into my servant. It was a cruel act, meant to not only have the entirety of thetonlaughing at her but also ensuring that there would be no other gentlemen interested in furthering their acquaintance with her- myself included. That meant thatyouwould have a clear path towards her. With her parents despairing and thetonlaughing at her, there would be nothing to hold you back from her.”
Lord Cheswick closed his eyes as Joseph stood tall, looking back at the gentleman and seeing him shrink in front of him. The room was quickly in uproar, murmurs building to loud exclamations and, when Joseph finally pulled his gaze away from Lord Cheswick and looked to Lady Florence, she was being held tightly by her cousin, tears staining her cheeks.
It had not been said to him outright, of course, but he had been quite sure that Lord Cheswick had done something to involve Lady Florence’s accident at his ball. There had been too many single threads for him to ignore, for Lord Cheswick had not only appeared at the ball without invitation, but he had shown a distinct lack of concern over her accident when hehad spoken to Joseph himself about the matter. Indeed, he had stated outright that he was quite certain Joseph would not think to consider the lady again, given what had happened and the smile on his face as he had said those words had niggled away at Joseph’s mind.
Now, given Lord Cheswick’s complete lack of defense, Joseph knew without doubt that he had been correct. It had been a risk to declare it as truth but the truth, it had been. Satisfied, he let out a slow breath as Lord Cheswick spun on his heel and began to push through the crowd, screaming at them all to move out of his way.
“How dreadful,” he heard someone say behind him, turning to see two older ladies standing together, one being Lady Abernyte. “Thank you, Lord Applegate, for what you did.”
“But of course,” Joseph replied, recognizing the one who had spoken as Lady Venables. “I was very glad to have opportunity to reveal the truth.”
“Indeed.” Lady Abernyte’s eyes were thoughtful as they searched his face. “You came to Lady Florence’s defense, it seems.”
Joseph nodded. “I had no choice. My heart and my conscience would not permit me to simply stand by and watch Lord Cheswick act in such a terrible way towards not only Lady Florence, but also to Lord Grangemouth.”
The lady nodded, her brow furrowing. “I was wrong, I must admit. It does not give me a good deal of pleasure to say that aloud but when it comes to Lady Florence and the cake debacle, I was quite mistaken.”
A hint of a smile tugged at Joseph’s lips but he forced it down. It would not be good for him to delight in Lady Abernyte’s words, even if he very much wanted to. “You are very good, Lady Abernyte.”
She gave him a tight-lipped smile. “Yes, I am.”
Lady Venables reached out one hand and touched Joseph’s sleeve. “Are you going to pursue Lady Florence now that Lord Cheswick is no longer courting her?”
Glancing over his shoulder, Joseph frowned as he saw Lady Florence being led out of the room by her father. Her head turned and for a split second, their eyes met before she stepped out of the door.
“I – ” Joseph flattened his lips, deeply frustrated that he would not be able to speak to Lady Florence this evening. He had thought that Lord Grangemouth would want a word with him, had expected that, after this conversation he could go directly to her, but now he was to be denied that opportunity. A pain stung at his heart as his frown deepened, a desire to go after her driving into his heart.
