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Rowena felt the room spin and her cheeks flush with heat. Never had she wished for the earth to swallow her as much as she did right then. She had not only been shamed once within theton, now it was happening all over again! And it was too late to stop any of it.
Even though the article was incorrect—he hadn’t danced with her out of pity—that mattered naught. She could never tell anyone what the baron had confessed to her as they’d danced. And what if he had been lying? Regardless, even if anyone did believe her, she would only put more scrutiny on his lordship. And rude and arrogant though he was, she was sure he didn’t deserve that.
With a sigh, she collapsed back onto her bed. She stared up at her ceiling, closing her eyes and hoping the world would be gone when she opened them again.
“Is there anything I can do, miss?” Sally asked gently.
Rowena covered her face and nodded.
“Hire a magician to make me disappear,” she said.This is not how I wished to make my re-entry into Society . . .
Chapter Seven
The morning after the ball, Andrew awoke feeling annoyed. The first thing on his mind was Miss Whitworth. That woman had done nothing more than vex him the previous evening. And yet, he couldn’t help finding himself intrigued by her. He couldn’t work out how she had realized he had used her as an excuse to avoid his mother’s plans for him. Nor could he understand how she could have spoken so boldly and out of turn to him. And in public, no less!
Frustrated, he walked over to his wash basin. He was still trying to make sense of his interest in the bluestocking woman, as she called herself, when his valet entered the room.
“Good morning, Lord Elsbrook,” Wallace said, bowing. “Are you ready for me to help you dress?”
“Morning, Wallace,” Andrew muttered, grateful that their years together had taught Wallace to keep his lip buttoned in the mornings. He quickly splashed water on his face and buried it in a fresh towel as he nodded. He hoped to wipe away any evidence of his perturbing thoughts along with the last traces of his sleepiness.
“I am,” he mumbled into the towel.
He heard Wallace walk over to his wardrobe, open the doors, and begin selecting his master’s clothing for the day. Andrew rubbed his face once more before casting aside the towel and joining the valet. He pretended to be carefully considering his options, even though he kept his wardrobe simple, limiting it mainly to black and shades of dark-blue, favoring similar styles and materials. He had more than enough wealth to buy fancier attire, but saw little point in doing so, much to Wallace’s disappointment.
Forcing the irritating woman from the night before from his mind, Andrew agreed with Wallace on a black coat, blue waistcoat, and light-colored pantaloons. He stood patiently as Wallace dressed him, but as the valet worked, his mind wandered back to the face of the lady’s he had danced with the previous night. She had high cheekbones and a nice, if wry, smile. Her eyes, which shone with impertinence, were a lovely light-blue, and her fair skin made her dark brown hair seem even darker.
What on earth?He thought, giving himself a firm mental shake.That woman would surely be as insufferable as she is unorthodox.But even as he forcefully brought other thoughts to his mind to block her out, he wondered how intriguing that might be.
When he was dressed, he joined his mother in the drawing room for breakfast. He put on a terse smile, still bitter from his recollections of the previous evening. However, his mother was not smiling as he walked in. In fact, she was frowning hard in obvious disapproval.
“Good morning, Mother,” he said tentatively, leaning down to kiss her cheek.
When she pulled away, so did he. He stared at her, bewildered, waiting for her to say something to explain herself. Instead, however, she reached behind her and handed him a page of something. He clenched his teeth to keep from groaning as he took a seat opposite her.
“Mother,” he said, sighing. “I do hope you haven’t gone to the trouble of compiling another list. One is more than sufficient, wouldn’t you agree?”
His mother narrowed her eyes at him, and he instantly knew that whatever had upset her must be bad, at least from her point of view. Frowning was considered unbecoming in a proper lady like herself.
“This is hardly the time for jokes, Andrew,” she said sharply.
Andrew opened his mouth to further question his mother. But she simply shook the paper in her hand pointedly and continued giving him her icy stare. He reluctantly took the paper, unsure what to expect. But when he glanced at it, he couldn’t help being curious.
“The latest scandal sheet?” he asked, murmuring to himself.
His mother huffed, withdrawing her hand as soon as he took the page, but she said nothing further.
Andrew unfolded the page, holding it out to read it. He saw immediately that thetonwas in an uproar over his dance with Miss Whitworth. But why?
“You would do well to stay away from that woman,” his mother said before he had a chance to read the entire piece. “She has quite the scandalous reputation.”
Suddenly feeling defensive, Andrew put the paper in his lap and looked at his mother with mild irritation.
“And why is that?” he asked, feeling a bit rebellious. Even though Miss Whitworth had irked him the previous evening, he didn’t like the idea of his mother telling him what he couldn’t, or shouldn’t, do.
His mother looked at him as though he had just spoken to her in a foreign language.
“It was all over Town,” she said matter-of-factly. “Several years ago, she was jilted during a scandalous courtship.”
