Chapter 17 A Second Season #2
The earl waited for her to expand on her words, but when she did not he continued in a threatening tone.
“Oh, my lady, I think that it is. Am I not still in England? It is illegal, is it not? To marry one’s dead sister’s husband?
” The earl leaned down so his mouth was very near her face.
He smelled of an awful cigar smoke. She turned her head to avoid his breath.
And suddenly remembered where she had seen him.
He was the man she’d nearly collided with weeks ago, while fleeing Michael at the Willoughby Ball.
And then she realized where she’d heard the name before! Lord Hawthorne. The Earl of Hawthorne was the man who’d hijacked Michael’s carriage!
This was not about her at all.
Lord Hawthorne was Michael’s political enemy.
He would do anything to discredit him. He’d proven this already, earlier this spring.
She’d found him familiar because he had been near the gazebo when Michael had kissed her.
She’d nearly run headlong into him when she’d fled. What did he know? What was he up to?
Lilly’s eyes darted around the ballroom.
Michael was a mere ten feet away from her.
But what could he do to help her? He danced with his betrothed.
Unlike Lord Hawthorne he took long confident steps, steering his partner adeptly around the other couples.
Lady Natalie, however, caught Lilly’s eyes.
There must have been something alarming in her expression for, after a moment of quick conversation with her partner, Michael looked over at her as well. His eyes narrowed.
And then the earl spoke to Lilly again. “You are a more interesting lady than you would have people believe. A lady with a past always is.”
This was not good. No, not good at all.
“Especially a past as incestuous as yours.”
At these words, Lilly’s head snapped back with a jerk. “I find your insinuations insulting, my lord. I’d advise you to change the subject now. You are being quite improper.” She spoke sternly.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” He shook his head in mock solemnity.
“What would Mr. Joseph Spencer think if he were to discover the lady he courted was from a family who believed themselves above the law? Your marriage to your brother-in-law was illegal. Worse than that, sinfully incestuous!” That word again.
Lilly held herself rigid and attempted to pull away from the earl’s grasp, but those spiderlike fingers had suddenly become vicelike.
He pulled her closer so that his face was very close.
“I suggest you tell the Duke of Cortland, your lover, that if he does not desist with his amendment, I will make things very difficult for you. Very difficult indeed.”
Whereupon, one booted foot stomped down upon her slippered toes. He released her at the same time. It was done easily, Lilly realized later. It merely looked like an embarrassing accident.
But in that instant, there was only pain.
Her slippers were satin, and the heel of a boot was hard, with sharp edges.
As agonizing pain shot through her foot, she was also suddenly free of his constricting grasp.
Lilly’s own attempt to pull herself away from him added to her momentum, leading her to fall quite humiliatingly onto the unforgiving parquet floor.
Wishing she could disappear to anywhere but there, she lay stunned, reeling from pain, embarrassment, and most of all, the earl’s words.
Other nearby dancers looked on in curiosity.
The earl tsked and stood nearby, feigning concern.
“Oh, my dear, I was under the impression you knew how to waltz!”
It took all of ten seconds before two other gentlemen, who had released their own partners, crouched down beside her. One of them was Viscount Danbury, whom she had come to know quite well that long-ago spring.
The other gentleman was Michael. They were joined by several others, and Hawthorne backed away slowly. “Oh, I say,” twittered the bystanders surrounding her.
Stunned, Lilly’s mind reeled as the earl’s words replayed themselves over and over in her mind. Incestuous. Above the law. The Duke of Cortland—your lover.
It took a moment for her to recover her bearings enough to actually hear Michael and Danbury speaking to her. “Take deep breaths, Lilly.” Michael’s voice was closest. With one arm behind her back, he helped her sit up.
“Are you injured, my lady?” Danbury asked, looking around and then adding, “What the devil happened?” He spoke to nobody in particular.
“She fell, must have tripped,” an unfamiliar voice offered.
Lilly tried to sit up on her own, but Michael refused to release her.
“I’ve got you, love,” he whispered in her ear, and then before she could move he had scooped her into his arms and was carrying her across the dance floor to the seating area where her aunt Eleanor looked on in concern.
Carefully placing Lilly on one of the sofas, he crouched down before her with a deep frown furrowing his brows.
Hawthorne had accused Michael of being her lover!
Surely seeing him address her with such attentiveness would reinforce the man’s claim.
She needed Michael to be far away from her.
He had called her love. He’d said those exact words to her once before, at the waterfall.
He had been her lover once, but this was no longer true. She needed him to go away! Now!
The caring in his eyes was nearly her undoing.
She pushed his hands away and looked at him with as much disdain as she could muster.
“I am fine, Your Grace. I need no further assistance,” and then, “Thank you.” The look in his eyes changed from concern to confusion.
She wished he were not so close to her. She wished she could look anywhere else but at him. His presence overwhelmed her.
“Lilly?” he said softly.
“Thank you, Your Grace.” She spoke harshly. And then she turned her head to the side so she would not see his eyes for even a second longer.
Lord Hawthorne stood across the room, leaning against a wall, appearing far too interested in the sight of Michael and Lilly together.
Incestuous, illegal, your lover…She had known it could not become public knowledge that she’d married Rose’s widower but had not considered the reality of what the ramifications would be if the truth were to be made public.
Could it truly ruin Glenda’s chances of making an advantageous match?
She was not certain, but worried that ladies had, indeed, been ruined by lesser transgressions.
And she could never ask Michael to give up on his amendment. She would not!
“Leave me be,” she ground out. Hawthorne was watching!