Page 19 of The Duke's Second Bride
“I am in need of a moment alone,” she said apologetically.
Edith nodded, understanding, and quickly found another conversation partner over by the refreshments table.
Ava grabbed a cup of lemonade off the table and then took advantage of her sudden solitude by drifting towards thegossiping group, trying to get close enough to hear without drawing their attention to her nearness.
She settled on a spot behind a pillar. Luckily, nobody approached her; she tried to look as un-suspicious as possible, keeping her ears peeled to the chatter on the other side of the pillar behind her as she sipped delicately at her lemonade.
Even though she didn’t like it, her curiosity had a stronger pull than the urge to avoid the gossip entirely; she wanted to know what was being said, even if it wasn’t flattering.
“What bad luck,” a man at her side mused. “There’s no undoing a wedding.”
“I’m sure after something like that, he could barely stand to look at her,” Lady Southington continued to confide.
“I can hardly stand to look at her now,” another voice sneered, and Ava recognized it as Lady Reginald. “No wonder he sought comfort in the arms of others.”
“And I heard that isn’t even the worst of it!” cried Lady Southington.
“Oh?” said another woman in their circle. “Pray tell.”
“Well. Believe it or not, I heard that they had scarcely been married before she began entertaining the new Lord Dunfair. Her husband’s own brother!”
This time, the gasps were significantly louder.
“No!’
“It can’t be!”
“It is,” said the man from before, an elderly fellow, speaking in solemn tones. “You do know he has kept her in house and board now that she has no husband to speak of.”
“Oh, pish posh,” said another gentleman dismissively. “That is a terrible rumor to spread just on hearsay. Surely any halfway decent gentleman would do the same thing to look after the widow of his brother? It’s only common goodness.”
“If you knew the new Lord Dunfair,” Lady Southington said, a snide tone in their voice, “I hardly thinkgoodnesswould be an apt descriptor. He is a most repugnant man. I’d place my bets that if he had no interest in keeping the widowed Lady Dunfair as his mistress in sin, he would have put her out on the streets.”
“I must say, I would not be surprised to hear of such an affair,” Lady Reginald said. “The two of them are always disappearing off together during quiet events such as these. It is a sickening disgrace to the memory of poor William.”
“But if they were to be seeing each other in an illicit manner, wouldn’t such an affair be best conducted in the shadows?” pointed out the younger gentleman in their circle. “They haveseveral estates between them. Why not disappear to the country for a bit, rather than stealing away to corners at public parties?”
“One must assume that is part of the appeal for them,” said the elderly gentleman. “They get to flaunt their indiscretions here, in our faces, and relish in the fact that nobody dares confront them.”
“Such bold-faced lies!” a voice said just next to Ava. She turned to see Edith, returned from the refreshment table, and was practically red-faced with fury. “It would almost be laughable, were it not so cruel!”
“Come, Edith,” Ava said, feeling her own cheeks heat with embarrassment at being caught eavesdropping. “You’re right. It’s ridiculous. There is simply no sense in listening to them even a second longer.”
“But it’s not right!” Edith cried.
Reluctantly, she let Ava pull her away.
However, they had made it barely ten or twenty steps away before they ran into another group. These were ladies Ava didn’t even recognize, and yet, from the burning hatred in their eyes, they certainly seemed to recognize her.
“How dare you show your face in public!” one of them, a tall brunette, practically snapped at Ava. “You and your dreadfullover. Flaunting your affair in front of the memory of your poor husband—and his brother!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Edith fired back. “Do you listen to every piece of unfounded gossip some half-wit whispers into your ear, Vanessa?”
The brunette—Vanessa—sniffed. “I haven’t just heard it once,” she said primly. “Everyone in the ton is talking about it, practically. And it isn’t as though they are doing much to dissuade people from talking about it. Look at him, staring at her from across the room! It is so uncouth.”
Ava’s blood ran cold. She turned her head to look in the direction indicated by Vanessa. Sure enough, Brandon was there, staring at her with a look in his eyes like a wolf circling its cornered prey.
“How dare you—” Edith began, until Ava grabbed her arm.
