Page 91 of A Sight to Behold
But, in fact, a storm was brewing on the other side of the room, as Pippa heard a woman’s voice raised in anger and—possibly—desperation. It was a voice she recognized, and the sound of it made her feel as if her skin was crawling. “An investigation?” Carolyn shrieked.
The rosette, which she had admired just moments ago, now seemed to press down on her. The room grew even more still, the silence echoing the frozen scene on the parquet, as if everyone and everything in the room were holding their breath, waiting for the world to break apart under the strain of the tension.
Isabel stood ramrod straight, her hand resting on Lance’s arm. A circle had opened around them. The Who’s Who of the English aristocracy listened to their every word. Pippa and Nick approached Bea, who stood slightly beside Isabel, eyeing Carolyn with disgust.
“You poisoned the duke!” Bea squinted defiantly and crossed her arms over her bodice. A ripple of gasps and murmurs washed over the crowd of curious bystanders. Pippa’s heart thundered in her chest, a wild drum echoing her mounting panic. Her breath hitched as she surged forward, the urgency of the situation spurring her into action. Bea had helped her and now she was in the crossfire of the Ton. As the clumsy goose and an outcast, Pippa knew how embarrassment felt, but she feared that it would shatter her beloved cousin. The world around her blurred into a whirl of colors and shapes, the grandeur of the ballroom reduced to mere background noise as her focus narrowed down to the figure before her. She pulled away from Nick to push through the crowd.
But the throng was tight and—predictably—someone in the crush stepped on the train of her gown. She could feel the pull, a sharp tug at her waist that halted her momentum and sent a jolt of surprise through her.
Looking down, the world tilted. The opulent patterns of the ballroom floor swirled and danced before her eyes, a chaotic ballet that made her head spin. Her glasses slipped down the bridge of her nose, teetering on the edge of disaster.
And then, it happened. The grand chandelier above, a magnificent spectacle of gold and crystal, caught her eye. Its brilliance reflected off her glasses. Just the wrong angle of reflection in the worst possible moment. It was blinding, disorienting.
With her senses overwhelmed and her balance compromised, Pippa was falling. The sensation was disconcerting, a slow-motion descent into chaos. The world spun as she tipped forward, the elegant tapestries and gilded mirrors of the ballroom whirling into a dizzying vortex.
And then she held on to something.
She hung onto the fabric but it didn’t stop her tumble. A loud ripping noise pierced through the air.
She braced for the impact, her heart pounding against her ribcage. But as she fell, someone gripped her from behind. A strong hand came to her rescue and although she was already on her knees, she was pulled up.
Someone else steadied her from behind and she straightened herself.
*
Nick had rushedin just in time and darted to Pippa. “You almost slipped!” he said, gently wrapping his hand around hers, which came to rest on the crux of his elbow.
“She did slip!” the Earl of Langley said who’d appeared a split second later behind Pippa. “Are you well, Lady Pemberton?” he asked loudly, as if he were on stage. As if not enough people werewatching them, Alfie, Felix, and Andre joined them in the center of the ballroom.
Pippa had paled, but now she was reddening. Nick surveyed the scene and all the guests in their finery surrounded their little group. He’d walked into quite a society scandal and felt as lost as a fish in the desert.
“Are you injured?” Andre asked Pippa, the orthopedist at the ready for any potentially broken bones or twisted ankles.
“She tore my gown!” a middle-aged woman in a dark green dress cried.
“Carolyn, I’m sorry, it was an accident,” Pippa said, lowering her head when the woman’s vicious gaze caught her.
“Did you injure yourself, Lady Pemberton?” The earl ignored the infuriated woman and looked at Pippa.
“I think I’m well, my lord. Thank you, Andre.”
“I’m not! She tore my…” But the woman didn’t have a chance to finish.
“Aren’t you glad your dress caught her fall? It’s a kind sacrifice to prevent your stepdaughter from taking a tumble in front of everyone here.” The earl gestured into the round of his guests and Nick realized that this was Wife Six.
“Why would I do that? The clumsy goose ripped the velvet of my dress!”
“You didn’t try to catch her fall?” Violet said. “She has spectacles, and you are supposed to help when some needs assistance.”
“Says who?” Wife Six cried out.
“Says common decency,” Isabel said cheekily. “If you’re in the position to help, you ought to.”
“According to whom?” The evil stepmother quirked one of her thin painted-on brows, and it looked like it was being chased up her visage by the overdone, red-painted lips.
“According to Lady Ellington, my wife, the daughter of Viscount Knox,” Lance said, giving her a lethal stare.
“They’re back.” Violet winked at Isabel. Pippa’s heart leapt with joy for Isabel because she knew how terrible she must have felt banished to the country. This return was more glorious than her debut would have ever been, and Pippa saw the twinkle in her eye as she let the crowd take a good look at her, bold, beautiful, blemished, and brazen.
