Falling for the Marquess - Julianne MacLean Page 0,23
wall. “No, I suppose I am not as reserved as most of the people here tonight, and I can certainly feel the chill. Perhaps we should take a turn about the room. I forgot that lingering in private corners with unmarried ladies is frowned upon.”
He offered his arm to Miss Wilson and she laughed. “You certainly have been out of circulation if you’d forgotten something as fundamental as that.”
“I have indeed.”
They walked through the crowd, nodding politely to people as they passed.
“I heard about your court scandal three years ago,” she said quietly, when they were out of earshot of other guests.
Seger felt his eyebrows lift. “My word. Don’t you know how to talk about the weather with gentlemen you’ve only just met?”
She touched his arm with the closed fan that hung on a string from her wrist. “Yes, but you and I have met before and I’d like to think that we’ve moved beyond small talk. Pretending to be prim and proper would feel hypocritical. Besides, I’ve already discussed the weather at least fifty times tonight, and your scarlet past is much more interesting.”
A smile touched his lips. “I suppose my scarlet past is the subject matter of most conversations here tonight. Were you shocked to hear about it?”
“I was, but I’m over it now. You see, I didn’t learn of it tonight. I learned of it from my sister a week ago, after she asked her husband about you.”
Seger glanced at the duke across the room. “And he knew everything? I’m surprised he invited me into his home.” He gazed down at Miss Wilson with a devious smile. “He doesn’t know what happened between us that first night under the stairs, does he? Perhaps that was his motivation to bring me here—to either squash me like an insect or force me to propose.”
She laughed again. “No, my lord. My brother-in-law is a very open-minded man. He was on the fringe of good society himself at one time. He believes there is more to a person than what first appears on the surface. He believes in second chances. That is why he invited you.”
“Do you believe that, too?”
“Of course. People are not all good or all bad. They are more complicated than that, but we seem to have strayed off topic. I was hoping you would tell me about what happened three years ago and why you felt you could not re-enter society.”
He shook his head in disbelief. It felt odd to discuss such scandalous topics in a setting like this, but Miss Wilson, he supposed, was not like other debutantes. She was not like any other woman he’d ever met, to be honest.
Nevertheless, she seemed genuinely eager to hear about it, and far be it for him to disappoint a lady.
“It’s not that I felt I couldn’t re-enter,” he said. “I simply did not wish to. It was my choice, and I believe my lack of penitence exasperated certain self-righteous people who would have liked to see me beg.”
“So, it was your pride that kept you out? You would not apologize?”
“Partly. But mostly, the scandal was more of a final straw. I had been displeased with society for a long time before that. As I told you before, I never wished to be a part of the Marriage Mart.” He was surprised he was telling her all this. It was not why he had come there. He had intended to enjoy a lighter, more frivolous encounter.
“You don’t ever intend to look for a wife?” she asked.
He felt his shoulders stiffen. “Not among society in this manner, when everything is a mad scramble for position. I admit I am jaded. When it comes to marriage, I will take my chances with fate.”
She seemed to accept that.
“But don’t you wish to hear about the actual scandal, my dear, or at least my side of it?” He wanted to steer her away from the deeper, more ancient issues regarding his lifestyle choices.
She looked him directly in the eyes. “Yes, I would like to hear your side.”
They moved to a vacant sofa in the corner and sat down. “First, tell me what you heard, and I will tell you if it’s truth or fiction.”
Keeping her voice low, she explained what she knew—that he had been called as a witness in a divorce case in court, to prove a lady’s adultery.
Seger leaned back. “All true.”
Miss Wilson’s voice lost its confident coquetry. She suddenly sounded like an innocent child. “So, you were the lady’s