“Louise, don’t do this,” her mother called behind her but she was past caring.
Catherine and Amelia saw Louise approaching first and they must have seen the murderous look on her face because they scampered off before she could get to them. When she finally got to the place the Earl and Emily were getting their portrait painted, she stood in front of him, intent on giving the Earl a piece of her mind.
“My Lord, I would like to have a word with you,” she said to the Earl.
Instead of talking to her, however, the Earl simply dismissed Louise with a wave of his hand and then smiled at his fiancée, not paying Louise any attention. Anger welled up inside Louise.
“My Lord, I would like to have a word with you,” she said, seething.
The Earl sighed before he finally looked at Louise, a smug smile on his face. “How may I help you, Lady Louise?” he said, addressing her like one would address an irritant.
“I would like to have a word with you,” she said calmly as she tried to rein in her anger.
“Lady Louise,” he said, “as you can see, I am busy with my fiancée,” he said. Beside him, Emily smiled tauntingly at Louise.
“My Lord, I believe that you and I need to talk. I believe I deserve an exp–”
“Your insistence to talk to His Lordship makes you look pathetic and desperate, Louise,” Emily said.
Louise took a deep sigh as she willed herself not to lose her temper. Rather than engage Emily, she faced the Earl instead. After all, he was the one to who she was supposed to be engaged. The one who lied to her.
“My Lord, I believe you owe me an explanation for your behavior,” she said.
“What behavior?” he asked, acting oblivious.
“You know the behavior I am talking about, My Lord. You gave me false hope and invited me to this house party to humiliate me in front of everyone instead of doing the honorable thing by honoring your word. That is not a behavior that is befitting of a gentleman. It was undignified and I shall not sit placidly and take on the embarrassment,” Louise said.
The Earl set his mouth tightly in a grimace and Louise could tell that he was exasperated.
“Lady Louise,” he said sternly, “I know that you might have feelings for me, and you wished that I shared your sentiments. I apologize for not loving back you as you had expected.”
Louise gasped. “My Lord, you know for certain that that was not what happened. You promised to announce our engagement yet you went ahead to engage another woman. You ow…”
“Lady Louise, kindly desist from harassing me and my fiancée any further. We have done nothing wrong. Our only crime is to love each other,” the Earl said and for added effect, he held Emily’s hands in his.
By this time, people were beginning to notice the scene and a lot of them were standing around, hanging on to every word of the Earl. Emily’s parents were also staring daggers in Louise’s direction.
“I know that I am an eligible bachelor this year and as such, you want more than anything to be chosen by me. I advise that you get over our courtship. I am not the first gentleman who would break off an attachment to a lady, but I am the first one to be harassed for choosing to do so.”
Louise scoffed. She could already see that Felington was trying to make her seem like a woman who just could not handle rejection and now she had to live with a ruined reputation. “You are not the first man to have rejected a woman. However, the other men who have done this did the right thing which is informing the woman they were rejecting. Instead of doing this, however, you decided to ruin me,” Louise said.
Emily chuckled, “I am now the Earl’s fiancée, Louise.”
Louise was about to give the most scathing response when she saw someone step in beside her. It was Lord Langton, the same man that she had kissed the previous night, the same man that was Felington’s friend. For a moment, she was distracted from giving Emily the response she intended.
“My Lady, may I speak to you for a moment?”
“What…what are you doing here?” she asked, flustered.
Callum gave her a broad smile. “Lady Louise, I would like to take a stroll with you in the garden, if you would do me the honor,” he said, extending his hand to her in a charming manner.
Louise was confused.
“Lady Louise, kindly accept my offer to take a stroll with you,” he said, rather loudly to attract the attention of the onlookers.
Louise knew she would be labeled improper if she did not agree to take the walk, therefore, she had no choice but to abandon her squabble with the Earl and Emily and follow Callum with her maid in tow.
“I would love to take a walk with you, my lord,” Louise replied.
