Page 79 of The Viscount in her Bedroom
“She knows now, too. What are we going to do?”
“I’m the one who accidentally told her.”
“For God’s sake,” Leo hissed in a low voice. “No wonder she looked so sad. I thought it was all about Keane. Simon, how are we going to fix this?”
“I’m surprised you care so much,” Simon said distractedly.
“I care because she seems important to my family.”
“There’s nothing we can do to repair a rumor. She lives an exemplary life—we can only hope that causes her reputation to subside. But as far as Louisa herself…” He trailed off, remembering the bleak way she’d spoken to him. He felt…helpless.
“Where is Louisa?” Georgie sounded rushed, impatient, just as worried as Simon was.
“With the other companions,” Leo said. “She’s sitting and talking with an elderly lady. She’s smiling—that’s a relief.”
Simon wanted to groan. “Of course she’s smiling. She wouldn’t take out her sorrow on an innocent woman.”
“We should leave,” Georgie said. “I’ve danced as much as I need to.”
“With Keane, I hear,” Simon said.
“Ugh,” was her only response.
Simon shook his head. “But we can’t leave, because Grandmama would be suspicious. I don’t want her to know anything about this.”
“She’ll know when Louisa goes back to London,” Leo said.
Simon inhaled, telling himself the sudden pain meant nothing. “She said she was leaving?”
“I’m only assuming—”
“She won’t leave,” Georgie said with confidence. “I told her I need her. And it’s the truth.”
“I don’t understand what your problem is, Georgie,” Leo said, exasperated. “You look pretty; men want to dance with you.”
“Well I feel stupid!”
At the heat in her voice, Simon raised a hand. “Enough, both of you. Let’s get through this evening without arguing. For Grandmama’s sake.”
“And Louisa’s,” Georgie whispered.
ChapterSeventeen
The carriage ride home seemed twice as long to Louisa as it had on the way to the ball, when everything had seemed so promising. She’d imagined Georgie as a success at the ball, dancing with eligible men, and comfortable at last with her place in Society. She’d hoped Simon would feel more at ease with his old friends, that they’d treat him normally and prove to him that he had no reason to avoid such events. Before this evening, she’d thought things were getting better—with Georgie, Simon, and she herself.
Instead she’d discovered that she’d understood nothing. Her lessons didn’t seem to be helping Georgie, though Georgie insisted that wasn’t true. It was a good thing Louisa wasn’t going to try to make a living at this.
And Simon—he had only come to the ball to protect Georgie from Louisa’s influence. It was a noble reason, and perhaps it had finally allowed him to see that he could function in a sighted world.
“Louisa,” Lady Wade said, “I did not see you dance.”
Louisa gave a start and turned to her employer with a smile. She wondered how much of her expression the swinging lantern revealed. “But I enjoyed myself, my lady. I met some interesting people.”
She heard Mr. Wade give a snort as he turned away. Simon continued to focus on her with that otherworldly concentration that she’d once found so flattering, so promising.
Now she only saw it as suspicious.
“Louisa,” Georgie said, “I met up with two of my friends tonight, and they’ll be visiting me tomorrow afternoon. I wonder if you would be so gracious as to work with all three of us. They’re not very good at talking to men either.”
