But she turned away. It was clear to her now what had been going on, all along. He was nothing but a rake, and like a fool, she had fallen for his charms and compromised herself in the worst possible way. He had never loved her at all, and now she was going to lose everything.
Tears sprang from her eyes, and she found herself sobbing openly. She had to find Daphne, she thought. She knew that she could not bear this pain alone. But when she turned to face the door that would take her back into the ballroom, a further shock awaited her.
For there, standing in the doorway, was Lord Harrow, accompanied by the Duke of Harbridge and her mother and father. Behind them, a crowd of guests was gathered, all craning their necks to see what was happening outside on the terrace.
She reached up to wipe her eyes, but it was no use. Her distress was clear, and anyone who had seen her and Sebastian together over the last few days could deduce its meaning. But now, here he was clasped in an embrace with another woman! Nothing made sense. Isabella’s body wracked with sobs as she stood alone under the gaze of dozens of pairs of eyes.
After what felt like an eternity, her father stepped forward.
“Isabella, you must come with me,” he said gruffly, taking her by the arm and pulling her inside.
As he barged through the crowded ballroom, pulling her along with him amidst the stares and whispers of everyone in the room, she heard Lord Harrow’s voice ringing out.
“Felicity! Get inside this instance! And Lord Ashcroft, I should like a word with you!”
Chapter 26
“Sit down, Isabella!”
Isabella obeyed her father and sat in a chair in the corner of the room. Somehow, they had managed to escape the crowded ballroom and ended up in the small front parlour that her mother sometimes used to entertain guests. The room felt oppressive, now, in a way that it had never done before.
Eleanor had followed them, and to Isabella’s horror, the duke was also present. They were all staring at her, and she wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole. All she wanted to do was go and lie in bed and cry and be allowed to grieve this betrayal that Sebastian had inflicted upon her in private. But there was much to discuss, it seemed, and her parents were not going to release her until everything was out in the open.
“What were you doing on the terrace, Isabella?” Eleanor asked. Her tone was gentler than George’s, but still there was a hint of ice in her voice.
Isabella looked up at her mother and saw the disappointment in her eyes. She had known when she had first allowed Sebastian to kiss her in the library – no, she had known even before then, when they had first begun their game of chess, late at night, alone, that she was playing a dangerous game.
But she had never imagined that things would come crashing down around her in such a spectacular way as they had done tonight. It seemed that nothing would ever be right again.
She forced down the lump in her throat and opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, the duke stepped forward.
“It is quite obvious what she was doing there!” he declared angrily. “She was going out there to meet Lord Ashcroft. Everyone in the ballroom has been talking about it all evening, the disgraceful things the pair of them have been getting up to.”
Isabella flushed with shame. Perhaps what the duke was saying was true, but it had not felt disgraceful at the time. It had felt pure and beautiful. But she had been a fool to believe in it, and now everything was destroyed.
“I just went outside to get some air, that is all,” she said quietly.
The duke looked at her, his eyes icy cold. “I do not believe you, My Lady.”
Eleanor moved closer. “The rumours, Isabella. They really are quite shocking.”
Isabella’s cheeks continued to burn. She had no idea how anyone had found out about what had happened between her and Sebastian, but it seemed everyone knew now. She was not sure how she could bear the shame and the scandal.
“I will not be made a fool of, Langley!” the duke said hotly. “I told you I did not think she wanted to marry me. The worst I imagined was an unwilling wife who would take a few years to accept her situation in life. I did not imagine – well, I did not imagine this!”
George let out a sigh. “We do not even know that the rumours are true, Henry. You know what the gossips of the ton are like. Everything is exaggerated and misrepresented.” He turned to Isabella. “It is not true, is it? It cannot be true?”
The duke stepped forward again to stand right in front of Isabella. His face was red with anger, and she felt a little afraid of him, even though she knew he could not hurt her here, with her parents present in the room.
“Have you been intimate with him?” the duke demanded. “Have you been intimate with Lord Ashcroft?”
Isabella could not even look at him. All she wanted to do was run from the room and go and find somewhere to hide where no one could find her. But she was stuck here in this hellish situation, and there was no escape.
She could not lie, though. The denial would not come. No matter what had come afterwards, what she and Sebastian had done together had come from a place of love, affection, trust, and respect, and she could not lie and say that it had never happened.
She looked up and held the duke’s gaze for a moment but said nothing.
The duke huffed and turned to George. “If she will not even deny it, then it must be true.”
