“Have you heard the stories of the Vigilantes of Virtue?” one of them asked, a curly-haired blonde girl with an upturned nose. “Are you not terrified to be out after dark now, should they attack you?”
“The Vigilantes do not attack ladies,” another lady put in. “They attack gentlemen who have harmed ladies.”
“Or that is just what they want you to believe,” the woman with the upturned nose said. “We do not know the truth!”
“What do you think, Lady Vanessa?” another young lady asked Vanessa. “As Duchess, surely you will ask His Grace to call for an investigation in parliament into this wave of violence, will you not?”
“Or perhaps you will appeal to the vigilantes to come forward and reveal themselves?”
Vanessa felt her face heat. She had no idea what to say to these women. She did not have an opinion on the Vigilantes of Virtue—although privately, she thought they were probably doing the women of London a service.
Of course, if she were to say that, she knew it would cause a great scandal. And the last thing she wanted to do was cause a scandal even before she had become Duchess.
Her opinion carried weight now, she knew, and she was terrified of saying or doing the wrong thing.
“Please excuse me,” she said, looking around the ballroom forsomethingto get her out of this conversation. “I think my mama is looking for me.”
And she scurried away before the ladies could ask her any more questions, leaving them staring open-mouthed after her.
Once she was out of sight of the ladies, she let herself take a deep breath and relax. But this was premature because a moment later, she felt a hand grab her wrist, and she was pulled around to face Lord Langdon, whose hand tightened around her as he leered down at her.
“Lady Vanessa,” he breathed. “I have been looking for you.”
“Y-you have?” she stammered.
“Why of course.” His leer widened into a terrible smile. “I was hoping for a dance.”
Vanessa’s mouth turned to sandpaper. She had thought that one benefit of being engaged to the Duke was that she would not have to dance with Lord Langdon ever again, but the Duke had so far not appeared at the Darkworths’ Ball, so he was not here to stop Langdon from approaching her.
I will just have to protect myself,she thought weakly as Langdon’s grip grew tighter around her wrist.
“I do not wish to dance with you,” she said, her voice quavering more than she would have liked.
Langdon’s smile flickered for a moment then snapped back into place. “You do not have a choice,” he snapped. “It would be unseemly not to dance with a gentleman who has asked you to the floor. Especially now that you are to be a duchess. You must behave by the rules of Society if you are to lead Society.”
Anger suddenly flooded Vanessa’s chest. Who was this man to tell her how to behave properly in Society? He was currently hurting her—which wascertainlyan improper way to treat a lady! With a strength she didn’t know she had, she wrenched her hand free of his grasp.
“I do not care if it is unseemly,” she said in a strong, confident voice that barely seemed to belong to her. “I do not wish to dance with you.”
Langdon’s face flushed. “You will regret that once you are my wife,” he snarled.
“Your wife?” she forced herself to laugh which made his face grow even redder. “I am marrying the Duke of Thornfield! I will never be your wife.”
“Oh? And where is your duke now? I do not see him here, defending and protecting you. How do you know that even now, he is not regretting his impulsive decision and thinking of calling off the nuptials?”
Vanessa’s stomach churned. In truth, she did not know that. Why wouldn’t Thornfield be eager to call off the nuptials? After all, he had behaved rashly in deciding to marry her—perhaps he would call off the wedding just as rashly.
Nor had she seen him ever since the night of their engagement. How did she know the man wanted to marry her when he would not even pay her the courtesy of visiting her?
Some of these fears must have shown on her face because Lord Langdon laughed and leaned close. “Do not worry, my dear,” he murmured. “When you are my wife, I will attend every ball with you, and we will dance every dance together.”
Vanessa could not stand it a moment longer. Turning, she dashed away into the crowd, moving as fast as she possibly could in her stays and purposefully sticking to the most crowded areas so that she could lose herself in the crowd.
By the time she reached the powder room, she seemed to have lost Lord Langdon, and after checking over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching, she slipped inside.
Once inside, she slumped down onto a settee in the corner. There was no one else in there, and the quiet of the place made her feel safe in a way she hadn’t in a long time.
Burying her head in her hands, she allowed herself to cry, letting all her fear and uncertainty wash out of her with her tears.
