“Good afternoon. Please come in. I can send for a maid if you wish?”
The young ladies shared a glance, only for the elder to shake her head. She was, James noted, looking anywhere but at his face. His own heart turned over on itself as a desire to draw closer to her begin to rush through him, but he stayed precisely where he was.
“Our father does not know that we are here, Lord Pottinger. We have kept it from him -Ihave kept it from him.”
“You have been trying to protect us.” Mary Shaw patted her sister’s hand before practically leading her to a place where they might sit together. “Before we begin, Lord Pottinger, I must beg of you to listen to this with an open heart. If I am to speak honestly, I will tell you that my sister is terribly afraid of the consequences of speaking with you. I only learned of this yesterday, but now that I know all, it is, tomymind, the best course of action to tell you everything.”
James found himself stumbling towards a chair, sinking into it, his hands gripping the arms. He managed a small nod, but nothing more. Somehow, he was able to tell that what the Misses Shaw were about to reveal to him would be of great significance to his circumstances, and what had occurred.
“I can take my leave if you wish?”
Lord Stoneleigh’s voice broke through the sudden silence and James cleared his throat, trying to take control of the desperate tension flooding him.
“Lord Stoneleigh can be trusted,” he found himself saying, his voice rasping. “You can be sure of that.”
“Then please, stay. It may be best for Lord Pottinger also if you are here to support him.”
At the eldest Miss Shaw’s words, James’ heart began to pound with such fury that he was sure it echoed around the room. Tara was still not looking at him, sitting with her hands in her lap, her fingers twisting together as she stared down at them rather than lift her head. The dark gold of her hair was no longer as resplendent as he remembered it. In fact, everything about her seemed to be a little darker.
“There was an… incident.”
Immediately, Miss Mary Shaw interrupted her sister. Taking in a deep breath, she grasped her sister’s hand.
“I shall speak my part without shame,” she continued, lifting her chin, and looking directly at James. “What my sister is trying to say and trying to hide from you at the same time, is that we both attended a masquerade ball some weeks ago. It was close to the beginning of the Season. As you may be aware, my mother is no longer with us and, since my father has settled his heir and my elder sister, he appears to care very little for our situations. Therefore, Tara has placed herself as my chaperone.” At this, Miss Tara Shaw placed one hand over her eyes. Her lips were trembling, and James felt something quake inside him in response. “My sister believes that if she had kept a closer eye on me that evening, then none of this would have occurred,” the younger continued, her own voice shaking a little. “But that is not true. She bears no responsibility for any of this. It was my doing and I will admit to it openly.”
“And what is it that took place?” Lord Stoneleigh asked, quietly, as the elder Miss Shaw returned her hands to her lap. “Please speak as freely and as openly as you wish. Both Lord Pottinger and I are gentlemen of honor. It is plain that there is a great burden on your hearts, and it is that heavy weight that has you coming to speak with us in such an open fashion. We will both honor that.”
He shot a hard look over toward James, who quickly found himself nodding. He could say no words. The strain he felt was much too great.
Sighing, Miss Mary Shaw settled her own hands in her lap, emulating her sister.
“Thank you, Lord Stoneleigh.” Pressing her lips tightly together, she closed her eyes for a moment before she continued. “That evening, one particular gentleman came to speak with me. Of course, he wore a mask, as did I. I was aware that we had not been formally introduced and did ask for his name and title, and for someone to introduce us. However, he did not give me that information, and his attention and flirtations soon overwhelmed my thinking, and made me so caught up in what was happening that I accepted it when he told me that it was only a small matter. Formal introductions were not necessary, he stated, not when he had been captured by my beauty.”
Dropping her head, she took a moment as James closed his eyes. He did not need Miss Shaw to tell him what had happened. He was already aware of what such gentlemen attempted to do to young, naïve ladies making their first come out into society.
“I see.”
“I was caught by him. In my own foolishness, I allowed him to lead me from the ballroom to another smaller room. It was dark, with only one or two candles and, when he removed his mask, I did not even have an opportunity to glance at his face… if you understand my meaning.”
The scoundrel caught her in his embrace.James frowned hard, looking away so that Miss Shaw would not think that he was directing such a look toward her. He had very little respect for gentlemen, who took advantage of young ladies without any real consideration for their feelings or reputation.
“I will not go into particular detail, but my elder sister had instructed me on proper decorum on many an occasion. I knew that what I was doing was not at all proper, nor seemly. Indeed, I am mortified now when I think of it, for I was foolish to permit him to lead me away from my sister in the first place. Make no mistake, I knew full well that I ought not be there. I found him so very charming that I simply ignored what was right and did what I wanted. When my sister realized I was gone, she came to find me and when I was discovered, I was so heavily ashamed that I fled, back to the ballroom as she requested that I do. I found my friend, and I stayed with her until Tara returned. I believed that all my sister had done was merely speak to the gentleman sharply, to perhaps insist that he stay away from me. I did not know until yesterday that there was more to the matter than I believed.”
This was then followed by a look toward Miss Tara Shaw but, rather than look up, she simply lowered her head a little more.
“The man was obviously a scoundrel!”
The words slipped from James’ lips, despite his intent not to interrupt the lady. But it was the elder Miss Shaw who now spoke.
“Indeed. I foolishly assumed that I could simply demand that this gentleman leave my sister alone, and return to the ballroom myself thereafter.” Miss Shaw’s voice was quiet, her shoulders sinking as she sighed. “I see now how foolish I was to think so. This gentleman had clearly planned everything, even to the point of using the masquerade as a place to hide his features from both myself and my sister. He stated that he would ruin Mary completely unless I did what he asked. That he would cause there to be rumors, that all of society would know that Mary was forward, and worse… I did not doubt him for a moment. It was as if I could see his cruelty reaching out to injure me in his words.”
Her hands clasped tightly in her lap, her quick breaths shuddering in and out of her – and James’s heart yearned to comfort her, to the point that he actually shifted forward in his chair, only to grip the arms a little more tightly.
“What was it that he demanded of you?” he asked, realizing, too late, just how gruff he sounded.
Miss Tara Shaw’s head lifted suddenly, and she looked back at him, but her eyes dropped away at the very next moment, her face white. Her lips pressed together for a long moment as if she were trying to stop them from trembling.
“You will have every reason to be angry with me, to scorn me, and to have every desire to punish me, Lord Pottinger,” she whispered, one hand going to her throat for a moment. “This man told me that I had to do what was asked, or else Mary would be ruined. He said that it would be a small thing, not so difficult to do. I felt that I had no choice, for my sister’s sake. Through notes, he demanded that I meet him in the East End of London on one particular night. I did not know what I was to do until I arrived, but he explained all to me thereafter.”
