Chapter 21 #2
“No one, will make you marry ‘im!” Céleste cried. “I swear it. Nor anyone you don’t want to.”
Georgiana swallowed as a swell of emotion seemed to clog her throat. “It isn’t as easy as that, Céleste. If he decides to ruin me, you will be tainted by association.”
She looked up and met Lord Falmouth’s eye, knowing what a burden she could become to them, how badly she could hurt their reputations.
They would be well shot of her no matter if they still wished they could help.
But she knew the earl would be honest with her.
He was a kind man under that severe exterior, but he never varnished the truth.
“Do you need me to leave this house, my lord?”
Céleste gave a cry of protest and she was more relieved than she cared to consider when she saw real shock in Lord Falmouth’s eyes. “Good God, no!” he replied, looking genuinely aghast at the idea. “As if we would turn you out? Don’t even think it.”
She let out a breath, closing her eyes and covering her mouth with her hand as the relief washed over her. Céleste clung to her hand and a moment later she opened her eyes to see Falmouth standing over her, pressing a glass into her free hand.
“Brandy,” he said, his voice soft. “It will make you feel better.”
She accepted the glass, aware of Céleste’s hand still holding hers.
It was a comfort to know she wasn’t alone in this.
She had friends still, and if the worst happened, she could go back to her aunt and uncle and live quietly.
An old maid. That thought had never sounded quite as bleak as it did at this moment.
“Georgiana.” She looked up again as the brandy began to heat a little puddle of warmth in her stomach.
“I have dealt with the baron for the time being,” Falmouth said, something in his eyes that made her believe the baron might not have left the house in quite the same state he’d arrived in.
“But a man like that won’t be silenced forever.
It may be that ... more severe measures are called for. ”
She felt a shiver roll down her back and suddenly wondered what it was about the earl that made her believe he could be a truly dangerous man.
“I need you to tell me immediately if he approaches you again, or contacts you in another way, by letter or via a third party. I will not let him hurt you, do you understand?” His voice was implacable, and she could only nod her agreement.
“I ...” she began, hearing her voice break. “I don’t know how I can ever thank you ... for everything.”
“Nonsense,” he said, brusque now and clearly uncomfortable with the possible threat of tears imminent. “And if that bastard Sindalton upsets you again you need only say the word. I’ll bloody kill him!”
“Alex!” Céleste exclaimed, glaring at him.
“I’m sorry, Céleste. But after what he did to you ...” He paused and glanced at Georgiana and away again. “The man is not to be trusted, surely you can see that?”
He stared at his wife, his usually stern face by now a mixture of regret and defiance as Georgiana felt her stomach clench.
After what he’d done to Céleste?
What else didn’t she know?
“If you’ll excuse me,” he said.
She looked up as he nodded to her and sent his wife an apologetic glance before leaving them alone.
“Merde!” Céleste exclaimed with a huff of annoyance.
“Just like a man, cause a scene and leave me to explain it. Typical!” She turned back to Georgiana and gave a crooked smile.
“It really isn’t as bad as it sounds, and .
.. and I truly think ‘e was trying to ‘elp me, you see? But Alex, ‘e is still very angry.”
Georgiana finished the brandy and set the glass carefully down on the big oak desk.
“So, the man who I believed was the Marquess of Beaumont is in fact the Duke of Sindalton. He’s lied to me about who he is.
He very nearly seduced me and made me fall in love with him before leaving me alone.
And then he nearly ruins me by making a scene at Almack’s when he must know how precarious my position is.
He is the son of the man who murdered my father and ruined my mother,” she continued with her voice rising steadily as hysteria threatened to overtake her, but her heart was breaking.
“And now ...” she said, staring at Céleste with her eyes shining. “And now ... what?” she demanded. “Please just tell me and get it over with so I can put him out of my head for good.”
“Oh, ma puce,” Céleste cried, and in a flurry of silken skirts she sank to the floor at the side of Georgiana’s chair and pulled her into an embrace.
“I don’t know why he did the things he did, Georgiana.
But I don’t think he was trying to ruin you at Almack’s.
Did you not see the shock in his eyes? I think he was every bit as stunned as you were. ”
She shook her head so that golden ringlets danced about her face.
“I believe ‘e is a good man, Georgiana. The truth is the duke was going to offer for me. Oh, don’t look so appalled, ‘e didn’t love me, I promise you, nor did I care for ‘im. The duke knew I was in love with Alex. But ‘e also believed, as I did at the time, that Alex didn’t care for me, that he would only ever make me his mistress, not a wife. I think Sindalton wanted to show me the kind of man Alex was, so he paid for one of Alex’s old mistresses to come here late one night and cause a scene.”
Georgiana gasped, horrified by the idea he had almost destroyed one of the happiest marriages she’d ever encountered. Céleste smiled at her and shrugged.
“I ran away because of it,” she admitted. “Which I see is foolish now. One should never run away from a problem. You must face it. If I’d done that I could ‘ave saved us both a lot of pain.”
She held Georgiana’s hand to her cheek and smiled.
“Alors, you see, that is why Alex hates the duke so much.
But I truly believe he was trying to protect me.
You should talk to ‘im, Georgiana. Find out the truth first. Oui?
Before you decide based on things you believe . .. when you ‘ave no certainty.”
Georgiana let out a strangled laugh, totally bewildered by now. She didn’t know what she was supposed to believe.
“You must be certain,” Céleste insisted, her blue eyes more serious that Georgiana had ever seen them.
“People do foolish, cruel and stupid things sometimes, Chérie.
But that does not make them monsters. It makes them human.
If ‘e made a mistake ... if ‘e cares for you ... wouldn’t you want to know that, Oui?”