Chapter 5
Cora awoke the next day with a pained groan as her wonderful dreams were cruelly snatched away from her and replaced with the dismal memories of the previous night.
She rolled over in bed and squeezed her eyes shut, massaging her temples as though she might be able to squeeze out of the offending recollections by doing so.
Alas, no such luck.
After attempting this for several more minutes, more to put off facing the day than anything else, Cora abandoned all hope and hauled herself out of bed. Her maid knocked on the door gently a moment later, and Cora said, “Come in.”
Tabitha entered, and Cora was not overly pleased to note that the girl already appeared to be wincing as though bracing herself to give Cora some rather dreadful news.
“From your expression,” Cora remarked dourly, “one can suppose that you have heard of last night’s regrettable events?”
Tabitha nodded meekly. “I’m so terribly sorry to hear it, my lady. That must have been positively appalling for you!”
“To put it mildly,” Cora sighed sadly. “It was wretched, Tabby. Thoroughly gruesome. I was reluctant to attend Lady Hepplewhite’s silly soiree to begin with…
I knew I would humiliate myself somehow.
I simply imagined it would be after I had opened my mouth to speak rather than before.
And why? Because I stupidly allowed myself to be talked into wearing that absurd gown, with a hem low enough to trip over!
How do the other ladies sashay about in such things without falling on their faces? ”
“I’m afraid I’d have no way of knowing, my lady. I own two sets of clothes, one of which I am currently attired in, and the other I wear to worship on Sundays.”
Cora realized that the question had been an insensitive one. Of course a servant girl wouldn’t be able to speak intelligently about these things.
Then again, she wondered, who actually could speak “intelligently” of such drivel?
“Perhaps you will get better at it as the season continues,” Tabitha went on hopefully, “and have more practice walking in dresses such as those?”
“Oh, what’s the use, Tabby?” Cora shot back, frustrated beyond measure.
“I never had any interest at all in participating in this sort of idiotic pageantry, and now it hardly matters because I’d only make an even greater fool of myself by showing up to more of these events.
No, this was my first and last foray into society, mark my words.
I cannot believe I agreed to it in the first place.
For the rest of the season, I shall remain here in the comfort of my home, reading and fervently hoping that the rest of the world forgets my existence. ”
“There’s slim chance of that, I’m afraid,” Matilda commented casually, standing in the doorway.
“What on earth do you mean?” Cora looked up at her, confused and unhappy, waiting to hear what new horror awaited her. “It was embarrassing in the extreme, yes, but surely not such a blunder as to remain at the forefront of anyone’s mind?”
“You may ask for yourself,” her sister-in-law replied with a small smile. “You have several visitors waiting for you downstairs. Specifically, Lady Hester Marblethorpe, Lady Serena Dalrymple, and Lady Agatha Harker.”
“What?!” Cora hissed, unable to believe her ears. “Why the devil would any of them come here to see me this morning, let alone all of them at once?”
“My guess? Morbid curiosity.” Matilda stepped into the room, her expression a mixture of amusement and sympathy.
“Oh, please don’t misunderstand: They are here under the pretense of concern, bless them, but all they truly want is to hear your side of the thing before they run back to their friends and recount it to them… laughing all the while, no doubt.”
“Then send them away!” Cora moaned.
Matilda crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow.
“Surely you cannot believe that is an option. They have paid a call and asked for you, and sending them away would be awfully impolite. Scandalously so, really, after last night’s spectacle.
People might imagine the entire thing has prompted you to become some sort of sequestered madwoman. ”
“Let them! They already hold a low enough opinion of me. Why should I concern myself with making it worse when I can simply refuse to see them?”
Matilda sighed, sitting on the bed next to Cora.
“It will not only reflect poorly on you, Cora, but on your brother as well…and me, too, come to think of it. We shall be punished in our social circles for your transgression, and despite my sympathy for your plight, that simply will not do. No, better to go out and face them and try to sound as reasonable as possible in doing so. It’ll be the most expeditious method of getting the entire thing over with. ”
“This entire affair is positively beastly!” Cora protested.
“What’s more, it’s entirely your fault! You were the one who persuaded me to attend the soiree against my better judgment!
‘Treat it as something fun,’ you told me!
Make it into a lark, a caprice, with no expectations attached at all!
Well, see how it has turned out for me? Do you see what you have done? ”
Matilda chuckled quietly. “Harry is wrong about many things, but he’s rather accurate in describing you as a thoroughly dramatic sort, isn’t he?
One would think you were being condemned to the gallows instead of simply repairing a bit of minor damage to your reputation!
These girls are easily distracted, and I have no doubt that once their curiosity is sated, they will find some new source of amusement soon enough.
If you refuse to see them, though, that will certainly prolong the whole matter!
So get dressed, compose yourself, and come down at once! ”
“And if I do not?”
Matilda threw up her hands and stood. “I am only trying to help you, Cora, but I cannot force you to do anything. If you want to remain up here and make things infinitely worse, then suit yourself.”
She started toward the door, but at the last moment, Cora’s voice stopped her: “Are you quite certain that this is the best thing for me to ensure that the thing is laid to rest soon?”
“I would never mislead you in that regard, Cora,” Matilda assured her. “Our friendship is dear to me, as you well know.”
“Then you may as well let them know that I will be down to see them shortly,” Cora sulked.
This appeared to brighten Matilda’s mood considerably, and she left the room so that Tabby could finish preparing Cora to greet the day.
The gallows, Cora thought glumly. That’s exactly how I feel…as though I am about to be hanged, and publicly, no less. Still, Matilda does know far more about such matters than I do, and I do not believe she would deliberately mislead me given how kind she generally is toward me.
“Do try not to fret, my lady,” Tabitha suggested. “These people hold no genuine power over you, and in the scheme of things, their disapproval matters little.”
Cora desperately wished she could believe that.
When she considered her nerves to be properly steeled against the forthcoming inquisition, Cora went down to the drawing room where Matilda was doing her best to entertain the three women.
Cora was almost surprised that more of them hadn’t arrived in the interim, gathering like carrion birds over a carcass.
Then again, she imagined that wouldn’t be proper enough for them. No, the others would be hanging back, waiting to receive a report from these three before coming to call themselves.
Cora was beginning to feel like some caged animal in a menagerie, a peculiar exhibit that others could gawk at and comment on freely without a care for how it made her feel.
“There you are!” Agatha crowed. “We’ve all been so eager to see you!”
“Yes, we’ve been awfully worried about you, you know,” Hester chimed in. “After you ran out of Lady Hepplewhite’s parlor, we thought you might have dashed into the street and been run down by a carriage or some other dreadful thing!”
“No, although that would have substantially shortened my period of embarrassment,” Cora replied, forcing a smile.
“Now why should you be embarrassed, my dear?” Serena asked. “It was entirely the dress’s fault, not your own! Why, you should have the seamstress flogged for leaving the hem so low! Anyone would have tripped over it!”
“It was certainly no reason for you to flee the party like a thief caught in the act,” Hester informed her. “We believed you’d taken leave of your senses entirely!”
“Indeed,” Agatha added. “Hester very nearly ran after you to make sure you were all right.”
She was not inclined to do any such thing, you shameless liar, Cora thought angrily. She has no concern for my well-being whatsoever any more than the rest of you do. Besides, then her behavior would have been seen as equally scandalous, and she is far too clever to allow that to happen.
Aloud, Cora said, “Well, it was immensely kind of the three of you to come and look in on me, but I assure you I am well. The near-fall did not harm anything but my dignity, and I am well on the way to recovering from that.”
Or rather, I might have been if you three harpies hadn’t decided to visit this morning.
“You may go about the rest of your day without fretting over me,” she continued, “and if you happen to run into anyone else from the soiree, please do let them know that I am perfectly fine.” She fervently prayed that would be enough to dismiss them.
She ought to have known better.
“Oh, but what of that Scotsman who rescued you from your fall?” Agatha inquired playfully. “He showed a tremendous familiarity with you!”
“Or a desire for one, at least,” Serena quipped.
Cora felt her face begin to turn bright red. “He simply came to my aid in my time of need, nothing more. Clearly, he did not realize that according to custom, he ought to have let me fall rather than putting his hands on me.”
She had meant it sardonically, but the three women nodded in utter seriousness.
“Manhandled by a foreigner!” Hester breathed, her eyes wide. “And a Scottish one, at that! I hope you washed the dress thoroughly when you returned home!”
“Or better still, burned it,” Agatha joked, turning to the others. “Heavens, can you imagine? Those big, rough, clumsy hands all over one’s body? It’s nearly enough to make a lady swoon!”
The three of them turned their attention back to Cora expectantly, and it wasn’t difficult for her to see what they intended by it.
They were hoping that she might protest, that she would defend the man from their slurs or speak of how his hands were not rough at all so that they could take that back to their friends as proof that she was infatuated with the Scotsman.
She could only imagine the uproar that would cause in polite society.
She had no intention of supplying them with such ammunition to use against her.
“Frankly, it all happened so quickly that I barely had time to give it a moment’s thought,” Cora answered. “And speaking of barely having any time…”
Cora meant to use that segue as an opportunity to rid herself of these inquisitive ladies, but just then, the head footman of the household—Gerald, an older fellow with wispy white hair and a croaking voice—stepped into the room. “Cameron Wallace is here to call upon you, my lady.”
Cora frowned. “Who?”
“It’s him!” Serena giggled. “The Scotsman has come to claim his prize!”
Cora’s heart plummeted just as her body had the night before. Could it truly be him? If so, what on earth was he doing here? Why would he not send a missive in advance to let her know he intended to show up, as most gentlemen would?
Ah, but he wasn’t most gentlemen, was he? He was, in fact, entirely unfamiliar with the customs of the upper class. She supposed she should be more charitable than to blame him for that, given her own woeful situation.
Still, she found herself resenting it. It would only make things harder for her with these women and with their friends as well. Now they would have far more to gossip about when it came to Cora and the Scottish fellow.
She felt herself dying inside. “Very well,” she said, trying not to cringe. “Please admit him.”
Gerald nodded and withdrew, and a moment later, Cameron stepped into the room.
He was so tall that he nearly had to duck to get through the doorway without hitting his head.
His massive frame seemed barely contained by the fine English clothes he wore.
They were of the highest quality, but on him, they still looked rather like a costume than his natural raiment.
“Good morning to you, Lady Cora,” he intoned with a twinkle in his green eyes.