Page 73 of How to Start a Scandal

Where, of all people, her mother had seen them.

God, this could not be any worse.

‘I’ll do what’s right,’ Seth said under his breath.

Her eyes widened. What’s right. That meant he would marry her.

Apparently it could be worse.

Shamefaced, Violet allowed herself to be led into the kitchen where a candle lit the room in a brilliant glow.

‘I fell,’ Violet protested. ‘Lord Dalton was simply helping me to my feet.’

Her mother frowned. ‘You must have fallen several times to appear in such a state.’ Her gaze slid to Seth, skimming down his body. She stopped at his midsection, then darted her eyes away as if the corner of the ceiling had suddenly become the most fascinating thing she’d ever seen. ‘You are hardly properly attired. Your dishabille is not only unacceptable, but paired with your lack of a chaperon could ruin a lady.’

Violet cringed at her mother’s delicate dance around Seth’s very obvious arousal.

Seth shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. ‘I believe I have forgotten my jacket. And my cravat.’ He cleared his throat. ‘As well as my waistcoat.’

‘Yes,’ Lady Hollingston agreed. ‘I can see that.’ She turned to him and looked somewhere over his head. ‘Did you seek to debauch my daughter on the grass like some field hand?’

‘I’ll marry her,’ Seth said firmly.

Lady Hollingston met his eyes. ‘I trust you will.’

‘I beg your pardon?’ Violet said, finally finding her voice. ‘Do I not have a say in the matter?’

Lady Hollingston spun on her. ‘You lost that opportunity when you allowed him such liberties with your person. Truly, for a woman nearly on the shelf you should know better.’

Violet opened her mouth, but before she could get another word out, her mother continued in a voice that could only be described as shrill. ‘You should be grateful for this happenstance, Violet. Truly, I thought no man would ever want you. Perhaps if you’d been able to keep your fingers from the dessert tray, or could try a little harder to eat less, you would not be in this situation.’

Violet stung as if she’d been slapped.

‘You’re a fool,’ Seth said sharply.

Lady Hollingston put her hands on her hips. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘I said you’re a fool,’ Seth repeated. ‘Violet is a beautiful woman who is admirable and intelligent and everything you have never been. How such an incredible lady managed to blossom beneath such sharp words is a testament to her strength. I would caution you to have a care in how you speak to your daughter as she is soon to be my Countess.’

Lady Hollingston’s mouth fell open and her cheeks coloured. She pulled open the door, stepping back to allow him to exit. ‘I suggest you call upon Lord Hollingston first thing in the morning to discuss the marriage contract. You may leave, Lord Dalton.’

He cast a glance back at Violet, clearly seeking confirmation she would be all right. She nodded, though in truth she dreaded being alone with her mother after his departure. Not out of fear for her safety, but for the stinging rebuke she would no doubt receive.

Seth frowned, clearly not eager to leave. Lady Hollingston cleared her throat and he slipped out into the night.

The Countess methodically closed the door, engaged the lock and turned to Violet, arms crossing over her chest. ‘It appears we will be having a wedding after all.’ She paused and studied her daughter. ‘Should I even ask about the domino?’

Violet shrank inside of herself and shook her head.

Lady Hollingston sighed. It was a long, exhausted sound that implied she would rather not know, that she was past the point of continuing to care, that she knew Violet would soon be someone else’s problem. ‘To bed with you, child.’

Grateful to have avoided coming up with an excuse to explain the domino, Violet quickly slipped from the room. It wasn’t until she was alone in her bedchamber that the enormity of her situation crashed down upon her shoulders.

She would be marrying Seth. She would be Lady Dalton. And she had an enormous secret she hadn’t yet shared with him because she had been too much of a coward.

Seth had woken early the following day. While he had not been plagued by nightmares of his time at Waterloo, he had not slept well. He had nearly ruined Violet.

After having been so disgusted with his brother’s antics, Seth was little better himself. No, he hadn’t tupped her, but they had been intimate. Very intimate.