Page 26 of A Duke Reformed
But instead, she found herself staring at the empty space where he had been, her pulse unsteady.
Tuesday. Three o'clock.
She would go, of course. It wasn't as if she had a choice. The insufferable duke was paying her for the lessons after all.
CHAPTER TEN
"Idoubt there's anything that can save her reputation now."
Solomon swirled his brandy, watching the liquid catch the dim gaslight. It was a deliberate distraction from the conversation circling the tables behind him at the gentlemen's club. The men's voices blurred together, punctuated by the occasional clink of glass and the tapping of cigars into trays.
He hadn't wanted to come tonight, but Andrew's invitation had been the third this month alone, and Solomon had refused the previous two with vague excuses about estate business. So when Andrew had asked him to come out again, he figured it was only polite to do so. So here he sat, nursing his drink in the corner of a room that smelled of leather and lies.
Andrew dropped into the chair beside him with a sigh. "I'm telling you, Solomon, doing business in London is like herding cats in a thunderstorm. Chaotic, pointless, and someone always ends up bleeding." He snatched Solomon's untouched brandyand downed it. "Which is why you can't keep glowering in corners like this. The sooner you learn how these men act, the easier it would be to stir this... chaos in our favor."
"Andrew, we are doing just fine," Solomon said. "I managed to talk you into becoming my business partner, did I not?"
Andrew scoffed. "Let's be honest, you did not do a lot of talking. But moving on, my point is, we have plans. Big plans. We want to do some good. Some of the men in this room control the docks, the warehouses...forming connections with them will come in handy. If we want to expand our ventures, you'll need to at least pretend to tolerate them."
"We can use your connections," Solomon said and sighed. "I'm pretty sure everyone here knows who you are."
Andrew opened his mouth to speak but stopped when a man Solomon recognized to be a viscount named Bailey walked up to them, holding two glasses of port. "Your Grace, we've missed you at the card tables." He set one glass pointedly in front of Solomon. "Join us?"
Andrew glanced at the glass. "I'm afraid I've already promised His Grace a nice afternoon, Lord Bailey. I would have to decline, but perhaps next time."
Lord Bailey turned to Solomon with a tight smile and gave him a polite nod before turning back to Andrew. "You'll want to hear this then. Lord Marwood's daughter has been compromised. Spotted riding alone with Rothbury three times this week."
"Lord Marwood?" Andrew asked.
"Yes," he answered and leaned in."She was seen at the Linfield masquerade. Slipped into the gardens alone with him for nearly twenty minutes. Old Marwood's furious. Demanding a duel or a betrothal."
"Good heavens," Andrew mumbled.
"She's been seen alone with him too many times to count," he added while walking away. "Scandalous. And now because of her, the poor viscount is in a tight spot."
The moment he was out of earshot, Solomon turned to Andrew, first scanning the area if anyone was listening before leaning in.
"Explain something to me," he started by saying. "Why does it matter if a woman's seen with a man a few times?"
Andrew nearly spit out his drink. "Why?"
Solomon slowly tilted his head to the side. "Yes, why? There can be several reasons why a lady is seen alone with a man. Why is it so... scandalous?"
Andrew leaned in, lowering his voice. "It's simple. An unmarried lady's reputation is fragile as spun sugar. One unchaperoned carriage ride, one stroll in the gardens without a maid, and thetonassumes she's compromised."
Solomon's brow furrowed. "Compromised how? They were just talking. What if they were just talking?"
"No one assumes they were just... talking. Society operates on the principle that any private interaction between a man and woman must involve... physical indiscretions. Whether it happened or not is irrelevant. The appearance alone ruins her."
"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard," Solomon said and sat back.
"Undoubtedly," Andrew said, raising his glass. "But those are the rules. A gentleman's reputation tends to survive such encounters. A lady's does not. Hence..." He gestured toward where Lord Bailey was still gossiping about with some other gentlemen. "... the theatrics."
Solomon stared out the small window as a frown perched on his forehead. Had he been too careless with Emma? He wondered if their afternoon in his drawing room, or their walk through the park fit into the same situation that had put this... viscount's daughter in jeopardy.
Where he grew up, a man and woman could ride out alone without the world collapsing. But here... everything was so bizarrely different.
"Tell me," Solomon continued. "When you say ‘ruined', what do you mean exactly? What's the worst that could possibly happen?"
