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“No, you did not.” Leo’s voice was surprisingly harsh. “For one thing, they cannot rescind the order. Agreement of purchase is a contract, and you have done the work.” Chloe nodded slowly, thinking over the odd way Lady Wellington had looked at her, clutching some sort of paper in her hands. With one glance, she looked around the park, realizing there were similar papers in other people’s hands.
“What are they reading?” she asked slowly.
“I don’t know, but it seems to be what has upset them.”
Chloe could see Leo was right. More than one person was pointing down at the paper, then looking in Chloe’s direction. It kept happening until Chloe felt the center of attention. She stepped back, aware that Leo didn’t let her go far.
“What is happening?”
Then another face appeared, one Chloe knew well. Lady Shrewsbury was hurrying across the park, heading straight for Chloe with the paper clutched in her hand. Unlike the others, she did not look at Chloe with suspicion, but panic.
“Lady Shrewsbury?” Chloe said as she hurried to her. “Do you know what is happening?” She gestured to the people staring her way.
“Unfortunately, I do. Oh! What a disaster this is!” She thrust forward her paper, revealing it was a scandal sheet. “Read this, and then, my dear, Chloe, I fear you must leave this park at once, before the whispers grow much worse.”
Chapter 20
Leo
“What is this?” Leo said, as he and Chloe took the scandal sheet together, reading over it. The second Leo’s eyes landed on the article heading, his body froze, stiff as a statue.
“Scandalous modiste scamming her customers!”
Leo had to step closer to Chloe, the better to read the rest as Lady Shrewsbury panicked, looking left and right to the other people gathered in the park.
“The new and much talked of modiste, Miss Chloe Green may not have her shop in Covent Garden for long. It seems in her effort to produce gowns for the lower regions of society, she is scamming her affluent customers. By taking the money she earns from their sales, she is using it to buy new materials for her poorer clients.
“Yet this is not the worst whisper this writer has heard. Whilst Miss Green might be manipulating her wealthy clients for her own ends, she is also manipulating gentlemen in another ways. Using the connections she has made at the merchants’ guild of cloth, she is exchanging favors for cheap materials. Very particular favors that are making her quite the talk among gentlemen.”
“God’s wounds.” Chloe’s mutter was so quiet Leo barely heard it.
He looked up from the scandal sheet to see that she was shaking, her eyes darting over the paper as she drank it all in.
Leo forced himself to skim the rest, but he got the gist without having to read it all. The writer of the scandal sheet had most definitely sought to destroy Chloe’s reputation. Not only by accusing her of scamming her wealthy customers, but by suggesting she was nothing more than a lady of the night, exchanging favors for materials. They were equating Chloe with the back streets of London, saying she was no better than the ladies found there with their skirts around their hips.
Leo had never known this kind of anger before. He could feel his face turning red, and his grip on the scandal sheet had become so tight that he was in danger of tearing it. His eyes snapped up to look around the park, as if he could tell by searching in that crowd who the writer was and accost them for it.
“This is disgusting,” Leo said angrily, his voice so sharp that both Chloe and Lady Shrewsbury flinched. “Who wrote this?”
“No one knows.” Lady Shrewsbury shook her head. “These scandal sheet writers like to remain anonymous.”
“I cannot believe this,” Chloe whispered, her voice shaking. “How could they tell such lies?” She lifted her head, revealing a wetness at her eyes and tears that were seconds away from falling.
The promise of those tears seemed to feed a particular group nearby, where two ladies pointed at Chloe even more, apparently taking pleasure in her discomfort. Leo stepped forward, blocking their view of Chloe. His harsh look was enough to send them hurrying away, apparently frightened of the threat, but it was not enough for Leo.
We must find a way to undo this nightmare!
“What can be done?” Chloe whispered, shaking as she took the scandal sheet from him, on the brink of completely breaking down in the park.
“You must start by getting out of here,” Lady Shrewsbury urged, taking Chloe’s hand. “As your friend, I can tell you that no good comes from being here right now. It is simply fodder for the gossips. Go, please, Chloe.”
“But I . . .” Chloe shook all the more, those tears seconds away from falling.
“I will get her out of here.” Leo could think of nothing else but taking Chloe away from this awful mess. He was certain now that he could hear laughter, though he didn’t turn to see where the laughter came from. Chloe clearly heard it too, for she bowed her head, hiding. “It is a quick walk back to my lodgings from here.”
“Then take my carriage. Please, I insist.” Lady Shrewsbury looked behind her and gestured to one of the two maids that accompanied her. “Jessica, go tell my carriage that Miss Green and Lord Felton will be making use of it shortly.” Jessica hurried off, leaving them behind.
“Are you certain, my lady?” Chloe asked, her words beginning to stammer as she held back her tears.
