“Yes, you do.” Filled with a confidence that she had never experienced before, Rachael threw aside all caution, all worry and fear, and spoke so boldly, it seemed to silence the very music from the orchestra and, as she glanced around, made her quickly realize just how many of thetonwere now watching.
I cannot falter now.
“You came to me in the hope that I would turn away from Lord Blackmore, did you not?” she said, clearly. “You have come to me with a rumor about his illegitimacy in the hope that it would be enough for me to remove myself from him. That way, you would be able to whisper more about him to the listening ear of thetonand, in doing so, bring him yet more suffering. Why else would you seek me out?”
Lady Alderton threw up her hands.
“Can not a lady of thetonshow care and consideration for the young lady she sees to be a little too willing to step into the arms of a disgraced gentleman?”
“Except that you and I are not acquainted,” Rachael replied, quickly, as Lady Alderton blinked and then looked away. “We have never been formally introduced. I have many friends who could speak to me about their concerns, and I would listen to them, of course. But you, someone I do not know, someone I have no acquaintance with, why would I then listen to you? It seems very strange that you would demand that I listen to youandthat I act upon whatever you tell me, does it not?” Her head tilted. “What are your true motivations in this?”
“Yes, Lady Alderton!” cried someone from the gathered crowd. “Do tell us. Why would you accost this young lady in such a manner?”
“You said that you had proof of Lord Blackmore’s illegitimacy,” Lady Frederica added, as Lady Alderton began to go rather pale. “What is this proof?”
Lady Alderton’s gaze flicked around the growing crowd, but Rachael kept her gaze steady. She was not about to let Lady Alderton escape from this, was not about to permit her to remove herself from this situation which she had brought upon herself, not without first offering Rachael some answers. Yes, Rachael might be considered a wallflower, but that did not mean that she was going to shrink back from this, to step back into the darkness which would then hide her from sight. She had the opportunity now to find the truth, and that meant holding her ground.
“You have been against Lord Blackmore from the very beginning,” she said, softly. “Last Season, the rumor about my presence at his townhouse, might I ask if that came from your lips?”
“I – I did not know you then!” Lady Alderton exclaimed, though her stammering came as evidence of her nervousness. “How could I have done such a thing?”
“You did not need to know me,” Rachael replied, quickly. “All that was required was a name, and you gave it. It was just as others have suggested, an unfortunate circumstance where someone I was not acquainted with chose to use my name in their plan to pull Lord Blackmore low.” She paused, waiting for Lady Alderton to say something or, at the very least, to deny what Rachael had said, but the lady chose to stay silent. Her gaze was no longer as sharp, her eyes no longer narrowed, andthe confidence and assurance in her face and expression, which Rachael had seen so prominently, was now entirely absent. Was her silence a confirmation of her guilt?
“No doubt you hoped that the rumor from last Season, the one you had already perpetrated, would continue into this Season. Did you help it grow? Did you return to London and seek to push it further, in the hope that it would disgrace him all the more?” Again, Lady Alderton said nothing, and Rachael took a step closer, her hands tightening as she curled her fingers, tension and anticipation twining together within her. “And then, this Season, you have been determined to ruin him. You have attempted to set him in a position where, quite unexpectedly, he might have found himself in a circumstance not of his own making – I can see from the glimmer in your eyes that you know of what – and who – I am speaking – and thereafter, you sent around whispers that he is without coin. Alas, that failed also, given that he threw the most wonderful ball where it was quite clear that he has more than enough fortune! Your attempts have continued and yet, he has survived them all, refusing to give in, refusing to be cowed, and proving to society that these rumors are nothing more than idle whispers.”
“And your very worst was to state that he is without legitimacy,” Lady Alice put in, making Lady Alderton jump in surprise, given that Lady Alice stood behind her. “With his father and mother both passed away, there can be no one to easily prove otherwise. It is the very worst sort of rumor, for it can easily cling to the minds of those who have a willingness to believe it.”
“Though I am not one who will do so,” Rachael added, as her friends murmured the same. “I see this all for what it is, Lady Alderton. You, for whatever reason you might have to do so, have been persistently attacking Lord Blackmore in the hope of ruining him entirely, of sending him back from societyand into his estate where he might live alone and slowly shrink away.” Another thought wrapped itself around her heart, and she gasped, her eyes flaring wide. “Is that what you hoped for? For him to become so despondent that he might either give up his title by passing from this life much earlier than he might otherwise have done? To what end?”
There came a few gasps of shock from around the assembled group and Lady Alderton started violently, her eyes going wide as she looked all about the room.
“This is all quite ridiculous,” she laughed, though the sound was tight and stretched thin. “You cannot suggest such things of me. I have no interest in Lord Blackmore, and would have no reason to do such a thing as that.”
Rachael put her hands to her hips and looked Lady Alderton straight in the eye.
“You say that you have no interest in Lord Blackmore, and that you have no reason to do such things as I have put to you. But is it not true that you are married to Lord Blackmore’s younger brother?”
There came ripples of shock as many of the onlookers gasped in surprise and then immediately began to whisper to each other, drawing the attention of Lady Alderton. Her eyes darted around the room and then back to Rachael, though there was nothing she could say, Rachael considered, which would make this situation any better for her.
“Yes, Iamwed to that fool, Viscount Alderton.” Keeping her voice low, Lady Alderton advanced towards Rachael, her face tight with either embarrassment or anger, Rachael could not tell which. “But he has no ambition, no desire for anything. Can you imagine what such a life is like? To discover that your husband is a gentleman who cares for nothing other than himself, and whatever it is thathedesires? No, I have better ambitions than he.”
“And thus, unsatisfied with your lot, you chose to try to push Lord Blackmore out of society, to ruin his name so that you and your husband might then take his place in society.” Rachael’s jaw tightened, seeing the flash in Lady Alderton’s eyes. “What were you hoping for? To drive him to be a man so disgraced, so low in spirit that he would be easily convinced to give up his title by killing himself? So that your husband would take it in his place?”
“And what if Idid?” Lady Alderton exclaimed, seeming now to lose control of her words and her actions, given the way that she flung up her hands and began to speak with such loud tones that everyone was certain to be able to hear her. “We married in haste, and I did not realize at the time that my husband bore only a courtesy title, while his elder brother held the title of Earl. You can imagine my disappointment, particularly when Lord Alderton appeared to behave just as any oaf might!”
“And thus, you attempted to come up with a way to gain the Earldom for your husbandandyourself. Through your machinations, you hoped that Lord Blackmore would pass on the title to your husband, in the only way possible – by killing himself! For one cannot step aside from a title, once it has been assumed – it is held for life.”
Lady Alderton only shrugged.
“And my name was chosen simply because you plucked me from the crowd and decided that I should be shamed alongside Lord Blackmore.” Rachael shook her head. “How could you even think to do such a thing?”
“It was not meant to be personally injurious!” Lady Alderton cut the air with her hands. “I needed the name of a young lady, and yours was the first that I heard.”
Silence followed this and Lady Alderton clapped her hands to her mouth, her eyes flaring wide as she realized, no doubt, whatit was that she had said. Rachael offered her a small, sad smile, though her heart leaped wildly with relief.
“You have admitted it all, then,” she said, as the crowd stared, as one, at Lady Alderton. “You are the one behind these rumors. You are the one who has sought to bring Lord Blackmore low, and you are the one who has offered thetonnothing but lies – both this Season and the last. Lord Blackmore holds no guilt, and no disgrace, bears no shame or question over his birth. Those lies came from your mouth, Lady Alderton, and they are revealed now, to us all.”
Chapter Fifteen
