Chapter Nineteen #3
Rose, who stood next to her, answered him. “What we know is that someone has told the ton about Georgie’s being ruined before she married.”
“Sister, since you heard the rumor directly, did anyone mention who the culprit was?”
Rose looked at Arabella and Felicity, and they both shook their heads.
Lord Harewood looked at the others. “Did anyone else hear anything on that front?”
Both Ellie and Dory shook their heads. Lord Ferncroft confirmed it. “We have not heard the rumor yet, so we cannot say.”
Georgiana didn’t consider it a rumor, since it was the truth, but that seemed unimportant.
“Brother, Georgie knows who spread the rumor, and now that I’ve thought upon it, I believe I do too.”
Georgina turned to Rose. “You do?”
“Yes. It has to be Lord Ashfield.”
Lord Harewood frowned. “That doesn’t make sense, since he’s the culprit.”
“Actually, Lord Harewood, it does.” Georgina looked at Arabella and Rose, who nodded at her to continue.
“When I came to visit Rose last, I walked the last block, too anxious to wait for traffic to clear. I’d barely taken ten steps when I bumped into Lord Ashfield.
When he saw it was me, he suggested we continue our relationship, at which point I told him in no uncertain terms that I was married, and happily so.
I even made it clear that I was much happier with my husband than I’d been with him. ”
A groan came from Lord Ferncroft. “You insulted his manhood.” A look passed between him and Lord Harewood. “Continue.”
Obviously, she’d somehow overstepped, but she certainly didn’t feel she had.
“That’s when Lord Ashfield grabbed my arm and told me I’d be sorry I spoke to him like that, and then he called me a…
a name. I was frightened, so I freed myself from his grasp and walked away with my footman as fast as I could. ”
Lord Harewood raised his brows. “And what did your husband think of that when you told him?”
She stared at the man for a moment as realization struck. “I didn’t have a chance to tell him. We had weightier matters to discuss.”
“More than your reputation?” Felicity stared at Georgina as if she’d just turned into a cuckoo bird.
She answered without hesitation. “Yes.” Though now all she’d done might be undone.
Lord Harewood looked at her. “I agree with you that it must have been Lord Ashfield who spread the rumor, since only you were mentioned. This way he has his revenge without sullying his own name.”
“Not that his reputation would be hurt by it. You men all think your conquests are to be admired.”
“Rose.” Ellie’s stern voice from across the room had Rose shrugging, but she kept quiet. “Lord Harewood, what do you suggest we do now?”
“I’m not sure.”
At that, Georgina felt her spirits sag. She’d had little hope, but since Lord Harewood was rather intelligent—because he had to be to keep up with Dory’s wandering thought process—to hear he was as stymied as she was less than encouraging.
“The solution is simple.”
At Lady Arabella’s announcement, they all turned to her.
She rolled her wheeled chair across the room and positioned herself next to Rose. “We simply call it a lie spread by Lord Ashfield. As long as Lord Durham supports that, no one would be the wiser, and Ashfield would look bad for trying to besmirch Georgie’s good name.”
Georgina frowned. “But it isn’t a lie.”
Arabella waved Rose out of her way and turned to face Georgina. “Have you told anyone the truth?”
Georgina shook her head.
“So you kept the secret all this time.”
“I did.” Her chest tightened as she remembered her husband didn’t believe her.
Rose stepped next to Arabella. “And you’ve told people the story we made up about how you and your husband met and courted, right?”
“I have.”
Arabella raised her arms. “There you are. Now you simply tell people that the rumor is a lie as well.”
Felicity shook her head. “No, Georgie won’t have to tell anyone that because no one will dare ask her. We must tell people.”
Everyone in the room nodded.
Could the answer really be so simple? Georgina looked about, expecting someone to contradict it.
“There’s only one problem.”
At Dory’s pronouncement, Georgina felt her heart skip a beat. “Please tell us.” She sounded frantic even to her own ears.
“Your husband doesn’t believe that you didn’t reveal the truth. If he talks to anyone, he’ll give it away. You must tell him right now.”
As she thought of talking to him, Georgina found her anger coming back. “He won’t listen to me.”
Lord Ferncroft frowned. “Why not?”
How could she explain it to a man?
As it was, she didn’t have to. Every woman in the room looked at him as if he were a molting starling. Then Ellie took her husband’s hand. “Not all men are as willing to listen to what an intelligent woman has to say.”
He nodded and looked at Lord Harewood. “I suggest we make a visit to Lord Durham forthwith.”
The two men immediately left the room, and all the ladies started talking to each other.
Georgina felt immensely grateful, but even now that they had a plan, as they always did for her, she found her spirits flagging.
Even if it all worked out, could she ever forgive Philip for his accusations?
That he didn’t believe she’d kept the secret was somewhat understandable. She’d never kept one before.
But that he’d married her to punish himself…