Roger indicated he was welcome to help himself and sat across from him. “I suppose it’s to be expected that Miss Lowell and I are social outcasts now.”
Aaron shook his head as he put a few things on his plate. “You didn’t hear me. Lord and Lady Cadwalader are going to make sure Miss Lowell won’t be able to show her face in London for up to a year. They have no issue with you.”
“Why not? I went toppling to the floor with her.”
“Yes, but according to the Tittletattle, Miss Lowell threw her arms around your neck, rubbed up against you, and forced a kiss on you. I didn’t read anything about you touching or kissing her.”
The whole thing was such a blur that it was hard to remember the exact order of things. “All I remember is that I was dancing with a lady when Miss Lowell came up to me and hugged me.” Now that he thought about it, he did recall a kiss, but it was hard to recall anything about it. “I tried to back up, and since she was holding onto me, I fell back, and she went with me.” He grimaced. “I’m sure the whole thing looked indecent.”
“It did.” Eyes lit up in excitement, Aaron ate a forkful of egg. After he swallowed, he added, “But it was apparent to everyone that you didn’t want to be with her. In fact, you were trying to get away from her. She’s the one responsible for the scandal. The blame is hers and hers alone. You have nothing to worry about. Your reputation is intact.”
Perhaps people didn’t blame him for it, but he was still bound to marry Miss Lowell. That was why Miss Lowell did it. She knew she’d have him trapped. There was no getting out of it.
Roger shook his head. “There have been other incidents where the innocent party in the scandal was blamed for a part of it.”
“Those all happened where people didn’t see the entire thing,” Aaron replied. “Now, if Miss Lowell had come to you in private and done it, you would be blamed for the scandal as much as she is. Didn’t anyone explain this to you last night?”
“I slipped out through the veranda while Lady Cadwalader had Miss Lowell removed from the ball. I figured I was next. I didn’t plan to stick around.”
Aaron finished the egg then said, “You should have. It sounds like a lot of ladies are sympathetic toward you. This might be good for you. You’ll have more ladies to choose from now.”
“I can’t marry any of them. I have to marry Miss Lowell.”
“Says who?”
“Says the scandal.”
Aaron gave him a bewildered look. “I thought I made it clear that no one blames you for it. They saw the entire thing.” For emphasis, he set down his fork and repeated, “They saw the entire thing. You’re absolved from any guilt.”
Roger didn’t believe him. He couldn’t. He might be absolved of all guilt having to do with the scandal, but he was still guilty of wanting her. God help him, but even now, he didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. She’d never live down the shame if he didn’t marry her.
“I’m going to marry her,” Roger said.
Aaron, who’d finished half of his pastry, rolled his eyes. “If you want to marry her, just say so.”
“I don’t want to marry her.” At least not under these circumstances. If only she had come to him before he had decided to find someone else. Then things would be so much easier. “I resent having to do whatever she wants.”
“So, why are you marrying her?”
“Because a scandal erupted from all of this.” When Aaron shook his head, he let out a groan. “I’m not you, Aaron. You could walk away, and it wouldn’t matter what happened. But I can’t do that. Even if I didn’t do anything wrong, I’m bound to do the right thing.”
“It must be a burden to have such a high sense of morality.”
Sometimes it was.
“I hope you let me know when the wedding will be,” Aaron said then bit into the pastry.
“Why? You want to be there?”
“No, I just want to know when you officially let Miss Lowell ruin the rest of your life.” He snickered and took another bite of the pastry.
Roger sighed. He was afraid his friend was right. She might have ruined his future. And the terrible thing was that she got her way no matter what she did. He had to do something to protect himself from getting hurt again. Stiffening his spine, he said, “She might be my wife, but she will never be my lover.”
***
“I still don’t understand what you were thinking last night,” Lilly’s mother said from across the table.
Lilly resisted the urge to groan. She wasn’t going to hear this again, was she? Hoping to stop her mother from rambling on and on about the scandal, she said, “No one gave Claire any grief when she was caught rolling around on the lawn with Nate.”
“That was innocent,” Lilly’s father inserted. “We all know she didn’t mean to get caught in a scandal. She only went to the veranda to get some fresh air. He happened to go out there at the wrong time.”
“She should have taken a chaperone with her.” Lilly gave her mother a pointed look. “You should have stayed with her that night. Then she never would have been alone with Nate.”
Her mother gasped and set her fork down. “How dare you talk to me that way!”
At once, Lilly wished she hadn’t spoken like that to her mother. “I’m sorry. You weren’t to blame for what Claire did. She should have known to ask someone to go with her.” Noting her mother relax, she added, “I know I was wrong, but I didn’t see any other way to get Mr. Morris to marry me.”
“You could have accepted his proposal last year,” her father said.
“I should have,” she relented. “I was wrong for saying no. I tried to rectify that, but he wasn’t interested in marrying me by then.”
“Then you should have found someone else,” her father replied.
“But who would love me with the kind of selfless devotion he did?” Lilly asked.
Her parents groaned, and she glanced at the fruit on her plate. She had no appetite for this. She would like to go to the market and get something with chocolate in it. No matter the situation, she could eat chocolate. But there was none in the townhouse, and Lady Cadwalader made it clear that she should stay indoors, which was good advice considering how upset everyone was.
“I’ll have to visit Mr. Morris this afternoon to discuss the events at the ball,” her father said.
Her ears perked up. “Can I come along?”
He let out an exasperated sigh. “What makes you think he wants to see you?”
“I know he doesn’t want to see me, but I want to see him,” she said.
“Oh for goodness’ sakes,” her mother replied with a shake of her head. “Do you ever think about anyone other than yourself?”
She struggled to think of a time she had so that she could answer her mother, but her mind drew a blank.
“You’re not going with me today,” her father said. “You’ll only make things worse than they are.”
“It’s a good thing Claire isn’t here to see this,” her mother spoke up after a long moment of silence. “I can only imagine how horrified she’d be to hear the details of what you did.”
Her father rolled his eyes. “I’m sure people will still be talking about it when Claire and Nate return. It’s not every day a lady tries to share a dalliance with a gentleman in public.”
“And at Lady Cadwalader’s ball of all places.” Her mother shook her head. “That makes things even worse.”
Lilly bit her tongue so she wouldn’t reply. She deserved their words of condemnation. She had deserved being thrown out of Lady Cadwalader’s townhouse. She deserved being featured in the Tittletattle. She deserved Mr. Morris’ anger. She deserved all of it. She wasn’t going to pretend she didn’t. She only hoped she might somehow rise above it. Surely, there were second chances available, even for ladies like her.
“Eat up,” her father told her. “I have a feeling you’ll need your energy for what comes next.”
He was probably right. The scandal had been don
e, but the worst was yet to come. Now she had to face the consequences of her decision, and she knew those were not going to be pleasant.
In silence, she finished her meal.
Chapter Five
“I have every intention of marrying your daughter,” Roger told Mr. Lowell later that day as he and the other gentleman sat in the drawing room.
Mr. Lowell visibly relaxed in the chair across from him.
Roger supposed it was nice that Lilly’s father came to pay him a visit. He’d always liked Lilly’s father. He had thought her father was overly concerned with making sure his daughters married well, but he never once felt like her father looked down on him because he didn’t have a title. He had a lot of money, and for that, he thought her father approved of him.
If Miss Lowell had accepted his proposal when he offered it, he would have been overjoyed at her father’s eagerness to welcome him into the family. But today, her father had no choice but to extend the welcome, and a part of him only got angrier with Miss Lowell because of it. She was forcing everyone to bend to her will. With a single kiss, she had managed to get everyone to do what she wanted.
“I assure you that I’ve made it clear to my daughter that she must behave herself from this point forward,” her father said. “The kind of behavior she engaged in at the ball won’t ever happen again. She will be a docile and dutiful wife.”
Roger resisted the urge to laugh. He couldn’t imagine a docile Miss Lowell. Miss Lowell was many things, but docile wasn’t one of them. Which had been one of the reasons he’d been attracted to her. He’d met plenty of docile ladies, and not a single one excited him. He wanted a lady who could give him passion and excitement. As long as she could be discreet, he didn’t mind it if she had a wicked side to her.
Now Miss Lowell might qualify as being a dutiful lady. One of the Ton’s main requirements for an unmarried lady was to find a titled gentleman to marry. Not only would the lady, herself, receive a title, but she’d do her duty to the crown and give her husband an heir. Miss Lowell had followed through with that obligation when she agreed to marry Lord Hedwrett.
Which she later claimed to regret.
Could it be that, by creating the scandal, Lilly had chosen to disregard her duty just for him?
He pushed the thought aside. He didn’t want to complicate things. There were too many things happening, and he could only focus on one thing at a time.
“So,” her father continued after clearing his throat, “when would you like the wedding to be?”
When, indeed? The scandal had only happened last night. Certainly, people expected him to marry her quickly. He couldn’t think of a single couple who went through the banns after a scandal. They all either eloped or had a special license drawn up. Since he had no desire to spend days with Miss Lowell in a carriage on the way to Gretna Green, he had only one option.
“I suppose the timing of the wedding will depend on how long it takes to get a special license,” Roger finally answered.
“Then we can do it by the end of the week,” her father said.
That soon? His eyebrows furrowed. “Are you so sure it can be done so quickly?”
“My other daughter required a special license,” her father replied.
“All right. Then the wedding will be in a few days.”
Her father didn’t hide his relief. “I know what Lilly did was wrong, but a part of me is glad she’ll be marrying so well. A father can’t help but worry if his little girl will find a good husband when she begins her first Season, and Lilly was in her second one without securing a betrothal. I had to admit that I was beginning to worry.” As if to emphasize his point, he took out a handkerchief and wiped his brow.
Roger forced himself not to mention that Miss Lowell—Lilly—had been engaged to Lord Hedwrett. He wanted to ask her father how he could not know Lord Hedwrett was a scoundrel, but it wouldn’t be good to upset the person who was about to become his father-in-law.
Her father rose to his feet. “I’ll arrange for the marriage license. Then I’ll send word when the vicar can be at our townhouse to unite you and Lilly in holy matrimony. Good day, Mr. Morris.”
Roger waited until the gentleman was leaving before he rolled his eyes. Holy matrimony? Who was the gentleman fooling? There was nothing holy about a marriage to a lady who manipulated everyone to get what she wanted. Roger felt as if he was about to make a deal with the devil. Nope. This was going to be a match made in hell.
***
Lilly had only been confined to her townhouse for two whole days, but she was already growing restless. She wasn’t used to sitting at home. She was used to going out and seeing people.
She really wanted to take a walk, even if she did it all by herself. But she knew better than to do that. If someone influential in the Ton saw her, she’d only make things worse.
She groaned. She was sick and tired of the stupid rules of the Ton. Why was it up to a small group of people to dictate how everyone else did things?
She got up from the chair in the drawing room, looked out the window, and then went back to the chair and sat down. As much as she tried, she couldn’t get interested in reading a book, painting, doing embroidery, or drawing. She tossed the cloth and thread farther down the table in front of her then leaned her head back and groaned. Her father said it would be another three or four days before her wedding. Just how was she supposed to make it to then?
“Miss Lowell,” the footman said, breaking her out of her thoughts, “you have a visitor.”
Relieved, she practically jumped out of the chair. Finally! Something of interest to do. She hurried over to him. “I have a visitor?”
“Yes, he would like to know if you’re available.”
He? As in a gentleman? It had to be Mr. Morris. He had forgiven her! He had come to make plans for their upcoming wedding and to celebrate the fact that they’d be together.
“Bring him in,” she said. “And have the butler bring black tea and crumpets.” Those were Mr. Morris’ favorite, if she recalled right.
The footman nodded and went to the front door.
She hurried over to the small mirror on the wall and checked her wig. After arranging the strands of the blonde hair around her shoulders, she checked the condition of her gown. Good. Everything was in place.
Excited, she rushed to the center of the room and waited for Mr. Morris.
But instead of Mr. Morris, it was Mr. Robinson who entered the drawing room. She blinked in surprise. He had helped her and her sister sneak into Lord Hedwrett’s house in order to expose what kind of scoundrel Lord Hedwrett was. After that night, she didn’t expect to ever see him again.
He went straight over to her and said, “I heard what happened at Lady Cadwalader’s ball. You just might be the most scandalous lady in all of London.”
Heat flushed up her cheeks in embarrassment. She gulped. “There isn’t any lady more scandalous than me?”
“If there is, I don’t know who she is.”
Oh. That wasn’t good. She knew her reputation had suffered, but she didn’t realize it had suffered that much.
Mr. Robinson got down on one knee, put his hand over his heart, and asked, “Will you be my wife?”
Shocked, her jaw nearly hit the floor. “What?”
“You, Miss Lowell, have won my affection by your scandalous deeds. I would be yours, and only yours, forever and ever if you’d do me the honor of being my wife.”
“I can’t,” she blurted out.
“Sure you can.” He rose to his feet and smiled at her. “We can run off to Gretna Green. We can leave today. Or even tonight, if you want to sneak out of this townhouse. I know you’re a couple of years older than me, but I don’t mind. And my guardian will be so happy to see me married that he won’t protest the union.”
“I created the scandal so I could marry Mr. Morris. I love him.”
“I’m sure you can fall in love with me if you give me a chance.”
“No, Mr. Robin
son. I’m afraid I can’t. That’s why I created the scandal. I wanted to ensure Mr. Morris would be my husband.”
His face fell. “Won’t you at least consider marriage to me?”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
He let out a heavy sigh. “Well, it was worth a try. I just got into London late last night. I rushed over here as soon as I heard what you did at the ball. I’d heard you hadn’t married yet and had wished to secure your hand before someone else did. I didn’t realize your heart was already taken.”
She offered him an apologetic smile. “Perhaps there will be another scandalous lady who’ll inspire you to propose marriage.”
“One can only hope.” He went to a chair and slumped into it. “You’d be surprised at how difficult it is to find a lady who’d risk her reputation to do something she’s passionate about. So many ladies are mindful of the rules of the Ton. They always do what they’re supposed to do. It gets so dull.”
She chuckled and sat next to him. “I can’t be the only lady who does something to scandalize the Ton. I just managed to be out in the open about it. Others probably hide their activities.”
“Maybe. I hope so. I’d like to think I won’t end up with a lady who’s utterly boring. I want someone who can excite me. That’s one thing I like about your sister. Sure, she seems all proper on the surface, but she was willing to dress up as a lad in order to sneak back to London, and I respect her for that.”
“I don’t think her husband was all that pleased when he found out she did that.”
“No, but who cares? He’s just as dull as my guardian. Both of them think an exciting evening involves a chess game and talk of politics.” He gagged. “Sometimes I say something shocking just to keep the servants awake.”
“I’m sure Nate and your guardian aren’t that boring.”
“You haven’t been there at my guardian’s townhouse.” He lowered his voice and leaned toward her. “One time while they were having dinner, the butler ended up asleep in the chair in the corner of the room.”
Breaking the Rules Page 4