Page 57 of A Lady's Beloved Novelist
“And so, you have been ridiculed with no basis for these claims?” Bella asked. She tilted her head to the side. Her eyes never left him, and Andrea felt that if she were not related to the fiery widow, she would have been rather intimidated by the way she was questioning him. She would be afraid to say anything just in case she was next.
Bella had waltzed into the room without any indication of the ammunition that she was wielding. It was all too perfect, and Andrea just wished that it had happened sooner.
“As I said earlier, there are people who are out there to slander my good name,” Cecil said, putting his fist down on the table. It caused the silver cutlery around it to rattle slightly. “I believe there is even a man on your estate who sets out to bring such shame to my family. The Marquess of Blandford is always fabricating things about me.”
“Is he not a former friend?”
“We were in the same regiment,” Cecil said. He was nodding quickly, and the way he moved caused Andrea to question whether the wine had gone too fast to his head.
“And he was one of the people who helped you get your knighthood, was he not? I believe that he put in a good word for you?” Bella asked carefully.
Cecil did not respond straight away. He stared at her with his mouth slightly open. Andrea glanced between the two of them, hearing the old clock above the fireplace on the other side of the room ticking in the interim.
“I am ready for the next course, I am not sure about you?” her mother was trying to make idle conversation with her father. The baron simply looked pensive. His eyes were narrowed, but there was nothing in his expression to indicate that he felt angry about the situation.
“Then why would he create such slander?” Abigail frowned and turned to her friend. The two of them were looking at one another in rather exaggerated confusion.
Once more, Andrea found herself having to look anywhere but the table in order to keep herself from bursting out with laughter. She knew that it would not exactly be appropriate for her to do such a thing, and so she pressed her napkin to her lips to hide the curve of a smile.
“I have a difficult history with Lord Churchill. The marquess has been kind and unkind over the years. At present, we seem to be in a period of unkindness. I earned my knighthood for my bravery abroad. I have the right to carry the title.”
“Yes, but do you not feel in debt to your former friend for helping you to keep it?”
Cecil’s complexion was turning a concerning shade of red. What had begun as a muted pink had now grown darker and engulfed more of the skin of his face. It had spread like wildfire from his cheeks up to his brow.
“How I got my title is no business of yours!” Cecil exclaimed. He was so furious that he rose a little out of his seat, causing him to lean further over the table. “I still demand to be spoken to with the respect that I am owed from my title. You should learn your place in society. You speak an awful lot for a woman with a man no longer at her side!”
It was like watching a river burst its banks, but now the rain had stopped falling and silence settled around the table. Cecil was fully out of his chair with an ignited fury in his eyes. Andrea was not sure what to do or where to look.
If her aunt was upset or intimidated by the raising of his voice, she was doing a good job of looking as though she was bored. Andrea guessed that the lady at her side had given her many lessons in doing so.
Slowly, Cecil lowered himself back into his chair and kept his head down. Andrea still had barely said a word since they had all sat down for the meal, but she was now feeling a sense of duty within her.
“Perhaps I will have to pass on the dessert. I know that it is always so delicious, but this may have been one course too many this time,” Andrea said. She glanced down the table, managing to meet everyone's gaze as she silently pleaded with her mother to agree with her.
“Yes, I think I feel quite the same. It was a filling meal indeed,” she muttered and placed her napkin on the table.
Andrea had just been trying to find a polite way to end the meal so that they did not have to sit there in silence and pretend to get along with Cecil for any longer. The idea of trying to create civil conversation after what her aunt had just done was far too ambitious. Andrea took it as a sign that she was maturing. She was able to spot a moment where a quick excuse was needed to stop a situation from escalating.
Without saying another word to anyone, not even a thanks to her parents for being good hosts, Cecil rose from his seat once more. The table was silent as he crossed the room and quickly exited the room. Andrea knew that if she was a good and doting fiancée, she would have gone with him to see if she could calm him down.
However, she found herself rooted to her chair as she listened to the door close behind Cecil on his way out. She was reluctant to follow him out of fear that he would turn his outburst on her, that was something that she wanted to avoid at all costs.
“Celeste, Sheldon, as always it has been a pleasure,” Bella smiled at them both as though the dinner had not just been a complete disaster.
Andrea marvelled at how they had only asked questions based on the facts that were at hand, and yet they were still able to get Cecil to show his true colours.
“And to you,” her mother said in a rather forced tone. “As always, it has been anything but boring with the two of you in our company.”
“Perhaps we will come by more often,” Bella offered.
Andrea’s mother only pursed her lips and smiled politely. “Yes, perhaps.”
The two women were next to leave once they had said their goodbyes. They were family and they always would be, and so it amused Andrea a great amount that her parents clearly just tolerated being in the presence of Bella and Abigail.
The door then closed behind them and left her alone with her parents at the large dining table. She no longer had anyone sitting next to her, and so she felt rather isolated on one side of the table, since they were on the other side.
“May I be excused?” Andrea finally spoke up—though it took some internal convincing.
