She wanted to jump up and run to her room.
But she couldn’t shame Aunt Alberta and Duncan that way. She knew she had no choice but to stay.
So she smiled at Lord Harlston and thanked him as he applied food to her plate.
“I don’t believe I know this young lady,” said the gentleman seated to Lord Woodsford’s left. “My name is Lord Milton, young lady. Who might you be?”
“Good evening, Lord Milton,” Valeria said, grateful to be spoken to by someone who certainly wouldn’t be pursuing courtship—after all, he was probably twice her age, and here with his wife. “My name is Lady Valeria. Lady Earlington is my aunt.”
“Oh, but of course,” Lord Milton said, setting down his knife and fork, his eyebrows lifting. “We were told that you were coming.”
“Were you?” Valeria asked cautiously.
“She’s the one you mentioned, Lady Earlington, is she not?” Lord Milton asked. “Your wayward niece?”
Valeria felt the same hollow sensation in the pit of her stomach that she had always felt when Richard had slapped her. The only thing missing was the sting in her cheek.
Aunt Alberta was frowning. “I don’t believe I ever saidthat,” she said.
“You told us she was the younger sister of the criminal, Lord Midford,” Lord Milton said. “Did you not?” He turned to his wife. “Wasn’t that what she said, Lucinda?”
“That’s what I remember,” Lady Milton agreed. “She was coming here to live so that Lady Earlington could straighten her life out for her before she utterly destroyed what remained of her prospects.”
“Now, really,” Aunt Alberta said. “I never told youanythinglike that, Lord Milton, Lady Milton. I told you my niece had fallen on hard times—”
“You said that her brother had been arrested,” Lord Milton said. “Not that we needed you to tell us—it’s big news, of course, what’s happened to Lord Midford. What he’s done to himself! Still, I wouldn’t have guessed that this young lady was involved if you hadn’t told me.”
Valeria was trembling. This was exactly what she had feared, exactly what she had worried about—but it was worse than she had ever thought it would be. She had expected to hear whispers in corners, maybe to overhear conversations, but she certainly hadn’t expected that accusations would be made right to her face like this.
“Lord Milton,” Duncan said quietly. “Please. My cousin has been through enough. She’s a member of this family now. I don’t appreciate you, a guest in our home, saying such things about her.”
“But I’m only saying what everyone else is thinking,” Lord Milton said.
Lady Milton nodded rather haughtily. “Really, Lady Earlington, are you sure you’ve thought this through? I know how kind-hearted you can be, how generous of disposition you are. But to bring a bad element into your home—have you thought about how it might damage your own son’s prospects?”
“This is not a subject I’m willing to discuss over dinner,” Aunt Alberta said firmly. “Lady Milton, I would have expected better manners from you. I invited you over thinking that we would all have a pleasant evening together. Are you determined to ruin that for my niece?”
“If anything has been ruined for her, surely she’s done it to herself,” Lady Milton said.
“I beg your pardon,” Lord Woodsford spoke up. “This is all rather unpleasant dinner table conversation. But if this is a conversation that must be had, I’m afraid there’s something I must not be understanding.”
“And what is that, may I ask?” Lord Milton said.
“Well,” Lord Woodsford said. He hesitated, then said, “Forgive me, Lady Valeria. I know this subject must be painful for you. But as it’s being discussed anyway…”
He turned to Aunt Alberta. “Her brother has been arrested. Is that not correct?”
“It is,” Aunt Alberta said, though she looked rather taken aback. Perhaps she had not expected this question to be asked so bluntly.
“Well, if that’s the case, then surely the matter of any illegal activity has been resolved,” Lord Woodsford said. “I may not know much about what happened, of course, but I do know that if the constables have put the matter to rest, we ought to do the same.”
“What do you mean?” Lord Milton asked.
“Simply that if the constables thought that Lady Valeria had a hand in her brother’s crimes, they would have arrested her as well,” Lord Woodsford said. “As she has not been arrested, I must assume that the constables found her to be innocent of any wrongdoing.”
Valeria couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was this gentleman actually defending her honor?
She had not expected thatanyonewould do that. She had assumed that her aunt and cousin would try to divert their guests from this subject, of course, but she hadn’t thought anyone would say outright that she couldn’t have had anything to do with Richard’s crimes.
