Living London - By Kristin Vayden Page 0,52

my words. "Basically he said that he never meant to put me in a compromising position, was sorry he did, he had to leave in the morning, and would fix it when he returned. Whatever that means," I mumbled at the end.

"Odd."

"Yes." I slouched in the chair, thankful Libby had shown mercy on me in my pitiful state and left my corset strangely loose.

"Do you think…?" She sat lost in her thought for a moment.

"Think what?" I asked, no longer caring.

"Do you think that maybe…maybe he was afraid you'd think he put you in a compromising position to take advantage of you and render you unmarriageable for anyone else? Securing your fortune?"

"I doubt it."

"Hmmm… something's not right." Her eyes squinted as if she were trying to work out a difficult math problem.

"No, nothing is right. Everything is miserable. Not only did I act like a fool with Morgan, practically throwing myself at him, but he doesn't even want me. And to make it worse, the entirety of London knows about it." I was in full pity-party mode.

"That doesn't make sense either. Who would have told them?"

"Oh, I know who told them." I spoke angrily. "Arynna. She all but told me last night that she was going to. I was just too naive or stupid to put the pieces together and stop her."

"Arynna? She did this? What did she say to you?" Amelia asked, eyes wide.

"Just that she knew, saw me come in with Morgan, heard he was leaving and sent me off with an 'I'll fix this.'" I put my fingers up in quotation marks, not caring that Amelia had no clue as to what I was doing. "And that she'd joyfully tell everyone about my ruin and she hoped I'd have a nice evening because it would be the last one I'd have. Yes, I believe that about sums it up." I was so angry I wanted to beat something. Or someone, preferably Arynna.

"No! What a… a…"Amelia sputtered, clearly unable to come up with a name horrible enough. I honestly couldn't think of one either. 'Witch with a b' seemed far too tame.

"I know," I mumbled, putting my face in my hands. "What am I going to do, Amelia? I'm officially ruined! No one cares that it's a lie — or at least mostly a lie. I even got my voucher at Almack's revoked." My words were garbled through my fingers. Taking a deep breath, I waited.

"I'm going to talk to Lord Heath and Reg when he returns. He left a few days ago, so don't be upset if you don't see him. He would have been here in a minute if he were around," she spoke confidently.

"Oh, and what exactly are all of them going to do about all this?" I asked, exasperated.

"I honestly don't know, but perhaps they'll have a few ideas." She patted my head and pulled me into a sideways hug. "It can't get any worse, right? It's got to go up from here."

Her words offered me little confidence. I didn't know. I just didn't know.

Chapter Fifteen

Things certainly did not get better. The first day I stayed home, only receiving Amelia for company. No one else came, contrary to Mrs. Trimbleton's prediction. After staying home a few days, I began to feel stir-crazy. Though Mrs. Trimbleton had told me it was unwise, I wanted to get out. I wanted to shout from the rooftop that it was all a lie, but part of me wondered if it really was. By ton standards, I had been compromised when I'd let him kiss me and lead me into the darkness of night.

Morgan wasn't around to help or hinder the situation, so I was alone. Though I kept repeating his words and actions over and over in my head, I couldn't make sense of it. Everything I had been so sure of just a few days ago had been shattered, leaving me lost. Part of me wanted to hope for the best, hoping Amelia's speculation was correct. That maybe, just maybe, Morgan had miscommunicated and rather than asking me to forgive him for leading me on, he was trying to go about everything the correct way. But in his efforts to protect me from himself, he'd thrown me to the wolves.

Doubt fought against hope. It was like fighting a large-scale war in my head and heart. Feeling like a prisoner in my own home, I decided to take a walk in Hyde Park. Even though I purposefully went