Abandoned to the Prodigal - Mary Lancaster Page 0,12
Gun at him later. You are clearly much better off not marrying such a man. What I don’t understand is why anyone could even be expected to believe this drivel.”
“Because enough of it is true,” she said ruefully. “The Alfords knew I was summoned to the princess. We all were, apart from Hazel, who was starting her scheduled duty. None of us knew the princess had left that morning, so we just hid from the vulgar party going on downstairs.”
“Did you not wonder why she didn’t send for you?”
“We thought she was…” Juliet blushed, “…saying goodbye to a friend from whom she was about to part. We all thought we’d been chosen to accompany her abroad and were so excited about it. I suppose we didn’t properly consider the rest of the situation. As soon as we discovered Her Highness wasn’t there, we fled, hoping our families would be able to douse any suspicion of scandal. I thought Lady Alford would… I never imagined Jeremy… It’s this rag of Oily George’s! The Alfords had already seen it, and they rarely rise before eleven.”
Daniel frowned. “And when did you reach their house?”
“About seven, I suppose.”
“So, between that evening and seven the next day, someone had seen you at the party, reported it to this rag, who then printed it among the rest of their nonsense, and delivered it to your betrothed in such a way that he rose from his bed to read it?”
“It doesn’t seem very believable,” she allowed. “Besides which, we were never in the midst of the party. We never even entered the drawing room, just locked ourselves in the room next to the princess’s, ready to guard her if we needed to.”
“I think someone has set out to hurt you,” Daniel said grimly. “You or one of the other ladies listed here.”
“But who would do such a thing?”
“Some jealous lady of the princess’s?”
“They had no reason to be jealous. I was to have been married next month and meant to leave her service then. Even if I had been abroad at the time.”
He gave an apologetic half-smile. “Jeremy? To give him an excuse to throw you over for some other lady?”
“What other lady?” she said bluntly. “I’m an earl’s daughter, and I come with a sizeable dowry. I don’t see how he could do much better, and the man I saw yesterday is certainly not capable of the kind of grand passion that might make him oblivious of worldly advantages.”
“Perhaps someone with a grudge against your family, then.”
Her eyes widened. “Surely not Lord Myerly?”
Daniel’s smile was crooked. “He might give you the cut direct, but I can’t see him going after you in such a vicious, underhand way. After all, like me, you are an innocent party in his quarrels. Does your father have other enemies?”
“Probably,” she said ruefully. “He has dabbled in politics, and he has not always lived well. He gambled away a large part of his fortune and then won it back by ruining someone else entirely. Or so the story goes.”
“Who did he ruin?”
“I have no idea. It was just a vague story. And one my mother was never terribly keen on discussing. In any case, this was years and years ago. It would be a very patient revenge.”
“The best vengeance always is. Or so I’m told.”
Juliet considered that until Mrs. Burton and the maid reappeared with coffee and toast.
“Bless you, Mrs. Burton,” Juliet said gratefully, and when the coffee was poured and they were alone again, she said, “I’ll talk to my family.” After a moment, she added, “I’m glad to have a friend in the neighborhood. Despite my family, I’m bound to be persona non grata, at least until we can prove this is lies.”
“Happy to help if I can, but I’m afraid I don’t really add to a lady’s good reputation.”
“I don’t believe I care,” she said stoutly. “Reputations can as easily lie one way as the other. People may call you a rakehell, although I’ve no idea if they do or not, but you have been a perfect gentleman and a good friend to me on this journey.”
There was a strange expression in his eyes before his lashes dropped down.
“There must have been a scandal,” she observed, “if your parents ran away together. How did your mother deal with it?”
He shrugged. “She didn’t really have to. She went abroad immediately with my father and followed the drum. It was only after he died that she began to flirt again