“So, I see you have made your decision,” Catherine’s voice rang out across the house.
Timothy yawned and sat up from his place on the settee, realizing he had fallen asleep. He looked across the room, spying his uncle had also fallen asleep in a chair nearby.
The night before, they had spent much of it at a gambling hall together, then retreated to the Frampington estate to continue their drinking into the early hours of the morning. Neither of them made it to bed in the end. Timothy had fallen asleep on the chesterfield settee and George was still flat out in an armchair nearby.
“What was that?” Timothy called, just as his mother appeared in the doorway of the room. She halted for a minute and looked around at the two of them.
“I see you are behaving as you always do,” she muttered. The sound of her disapproval made Timothy sit up, trying his best to right his clothes.
“It was a gambling hall, Mother. Nothing more.”
She looked rather relieved at the idea, clearly suspecting they had been somewhere else.Does she think we went to one of the more disreputable clubs? Or to even a brothel?His mother’s possible thoughts made him shudder.
“I see you have made a decision, if these scandal sheets are to be believed.”
“What decision?” he asked as she presented him a scandal sheet she had folded up under arms.
“It seems they talk of your closeness with a certain young lady at the sailing regatta.”
“They do?” Timothy asked, unfolding the paper before him. One of the articles caught his eye. It was far down yet still on the front page.
‘Could the Duke of Frampington be about to take a bride after all? Rumors have been abounding for some time that the Duke wishes to marry, putting aside all of our suspicions that he may be a man that prefers many ladies to one, yet the object of his affections may surprise all our readers. It is said at the sailing regatta on Friday the Duke was seen helping Lady Rebecca Felton, the daughter of the Marquess of Birkston, out of the water after an accident, with the two of them appearing particularly intimate, and the Duke even returning Lady Rebecca home in his own carriage.
‘Could it be true the Duke has found a lady to marry? Or will this be Lady Rebecca’s second scandal, if he is only pursuing her for a brief fancy rather than a wedding ring?’
Chapter Nine
“Oh, good Lord!” Rebecca threw down the scandal sheet, finding the eyes of the entire room were turned upon her, especially Eliza’s. “It means nothing.”
“I know that, Rebecca, it is just that these writers will find anything to talk about. All you did was return home in the Duke’s carriage.”
“Exactly!” she wailed, pushing the sheet away.
“These people will find anything to cause a ruckus,” Amelia tried to dismiss the story away. She picked up the scandal sheet and folded it up as much as she could, until it was so small that it was barely recognizable. “Let us ignore it.” She tossed the paper behind her, where it was rather aptly caught by the butler who was attending to them.
“Ignore it?” Percy spoke up from the head of the table.
Rebecca looked sharply at her father, aware of how harsh his tone had become.
“Father, I did nothing wrong,” she said feebly, aware of her father standing to his feet, his face turning red.
“It is a small story,” Eliza tried to say hurriedly. “People are always guessing at who has turned the Duke of Frampington’s head. Give it another couple of days and a different lady’s name will be beside his in the paper.”
“That is the problem,” Percy said darkly.
He was not a man who ever shouted, and the fact seemed to make his anger all the more fearful to Rebecca. She found she slumped in her seat, turning her gaze on her plate, looking away from her father’s increasingly red face and the light brown hair on his temple that was now wild.
“The story will brush over, I have no doubt, but for the next week or so, it will be quite the topic of conversation,” he said, his tone firm.
“I am sure it will not,” Rebecca spoke with hope, yet that hope was dashed when her father waved a hand in the air, clearly calling for her to be quiet. She ignored him, happy to defy him and sit taller. “The story will be forgotten faster than that.”
“No, it will not.” Percy rounded the table, coming to stand behind Eliza where he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Rebecca, your sister’s position is in a delicate balance at the moment.”
“My position?” Eliza asked, looking up to their father in shock. “Whatever for?”
“Eliza, you are being courted by a Marquess. There are many men in his position who will disconnect themselves with any family where there is even a whiff of a scandal, no matter how short. If this story persists, how do you think he will respond? Good Lord, if another scandal sheet turns up tomorrow professing Rebecca to be the Duke’s lover, you can rest assured the Marquess of Herberton will call off the courtship.”
“Father!” Eliza wailed, hurrying to her feet. “He wouldn’t do that. He is courting me, not my name and dowry.”
