Page 75 of Scandal’s Daughter

With a promise to meet Lord Nibley and Florence at the box he had reserved for supper in a quarter of an hour, Sebastian led her onto the floor.

The enormous and extravagantly painted domed ceiling was hung with a vast chandelier over eleven-foot-wide, and the noise of music and laughter rose and echoed around them.

An infectious atmosphere swept among the dancers who moved with more than usual effervescence, as colourful silks of skirts and cloaks swirled like intoxicated butterflies.

For a moment Georgiana allowed herself to be swept along with them in her partner’s strong arms, but her uncle’s ugly promise could not be banished from her mind for more than a few moments.

She looked up to see Sebastian’s eyes on hers, his expression troubled.

“We both have much on our minds I see.”

She nodded and gave him a beseeching look. “Oh, Sebastian, I must talk to you alone. I am in so much trouble.”

“Trouble?” he repeated, his voice sharp. “How is this?”

His voice was indistinct with the volume of noise around them and she shook her head.

“We can’t discuss it here. I can hardly hear myself think.”

With skilled ease, he guided them through the throng to the edge of the dancing and led her back out onto the paths.

“We’d best make our way back to Nibley,” he said, his voice low. “Neither of us can afford a scandal right now. I’ve had the very devil of a day, persuading my mother’s companion not to go babbling to her family about how ill-used she’s been. Not to mention how my mother recently lost her mind and tried to kill her!”

“What?” Georgiana exclaimed. “You’re not serious?”

“Deadly serious, love,” he replied, his face grim.

“Oh! This is all my fault isn’t it?”

He stopped and grasped hold of her hands.

“No! Never think it!” He squeezed her fingers, his eyes warm behind the mask. “I have blamed myself for much of her illness. But I spoke to her doctor and ... and he explained a great deal that I hadn’t understood. Georgiana, none of this is of our making. You were but a babe at the time it began, and I’ll not allow our futures to become mired in their mistakes.”

“B-but she knows ... about us?”

He sighed and placed her hand back on his arm.

“I don’t know if she does or not, truth be told, Georgiana. She’s ... she’s lost her mind. She attacked me too, though she thought I was my father. After reading the scandal rags ... I think it was too much. It brought the past too much to her mind and ...”

He shrugged and gave a crooked smile in response to her horrified expression.

“Can you really bear it, love? It is such a lot to ask of you, to face the scandal all over again and to be married into such a family.”

“Oh, how can you believe I would change my mind over such a thing!” she cried, shaking her head. “Only,” she paused, hearing her voice tremble as the violent encounter with her uncle came to mind again. “It may be that you ... you’ll have to, when I’ve told you ...”

“Impossible,” he replied, interrupting her, the word sure and stern. “Nothing will stand between us, not now. But you’d best tell me, and we’ll see what’s to be done.”

The moment was lost, however, as Lord Nibley approached them.

“I saw you wandering off in the wrong direction,” he said, his voice light, though he cast Sebastian a very dark look. “So, I thought I’d best come and rescue you before you became hopelessly lost. They’re about to serve supper, you see.”

Georgiana murmured that he was very kind, and they followed in his wake back to the private box he’d booked for the evening.

“I’ll find a way to speak to you,” Sebastian whispered. “I must return to my own guests now, but I’ll think of something. Until later, love.”

She nodded, looking up at him and praying he would. A whole sleepless night without the comfort of knowing her troubles were shared with him was not something she could face easily.

The meal was pleasant and Lord Nibley and his sister amiable company, but Georgiana’s appetite had deserted her.