Page 26 of An Enchantress for an Earl

“Indeed. Although my aunt would have little to do if no-one were ever the subject of gossip!”

They laughed, and then each moved on. Soon after leaving Lady Violet with her family, Arryn was at his father’s side, although he had found himself almost unwilling to leave Lady Violet. He was thinking so strangely of late!

His father gave him a somewhat grim smile.

“Step out onto the terrace with me for a moment, Merryfield.”

“Of course.” They said nothing more until they stood in the chill November air at the far end of the shadowed terrace. But then, Arryn turned to his father, and asked the obvious question. “Just exactly what disturbs you father – for I can tell that you are displeased by something?”

Lord Westerhazy frowned, then spoke softly.

“There is more gossip. But this time, it is not about you or me – it’s about Petrina.”

Arryn felt chilled to the bone as the words sank in. So, the blackmailer had not wasted any time in acting, as he had feared.

“About Petrina? What are they saying?”

“Nothing definitive, thank God. But there are whispers which imply that she did something scandalous, and we hushed it up. Which means that the gossips are now trying to remember every move she has made in the last two years.”

“We know that they won’t find anything – because there hasn’t been anything!”

“The truth has never been something to stop the spread of rumours, you know that. If they find nothing, it’s only a matter of time until someone makes up some imaginary sin, and convinces themselves that they ‘remember’ seeing it happen. I am at a loss for how we might stop it.”

Arryn swallowed, choking back the words which wanted to rush forth. This was his fault! If he had never been sent down, there would have been no seed of wrongdoing for gossip to be built on. If he had found a way to identify the blackmailer, or a way to stop their enemy without also putting his family at risk… But he hadn’t. Couldn’t. The situation was impossible.

And here he had been, since he arrived here this evening, completely caught up in Lady Violet, and not paying proper attention to what was happening around him. If he had paid attention, would he have heard the same gossip that his father had? Perhaps even have seen something which might give a clue as to its original provenance?

And he still could not tell his father about those notes, despite the impulse to do so, could not bear to see the disappointment which would fill his father’s face. He had to fix this, himself, somehow.

“I… I don’t know either. But…” The tiniest flutter of hope sprang into being as an idea occurred to him. “…perhaps we can at least try to change things. After all, our aunt, Lady Gillieston, is, not to put too fine a point on it, a leading figure in the gossip circles of the ton. Surely she would not believe such things of Petrina? So perhaps, if we enlist her aid in the right way, she can create counter rumours in some manner, to stop others from believing the slander?”