Page 88 of When the Viscount Seduces
“He wouldn’t marry me,” Melissa said quietly. “He didn’t love me the way I loved him. When my mother dismissed him at Haverstock Hall, I told her he would come back for me. But he didn’t. Because she paid him not to.”
Mrs. Worsley’s jaw was tightly clenched, the veins of her neck stark and visible.
“She also paid him not to say anything,” Nott added.
“Why did you involve me?” Lazarus asked.
Melissa met his gaze with tears in her eyes. “When I told my mother about the babe, it was March. I was already several months gone. I was stupid not to realize what was happening. Mama calculated the dates and, though it was a few weeks earlier than when the babe was conceived, decided someone at the fox-hunting party could be the father. She chose you because she’d seen you return very inebriated late one night. She said it would be easy to convince a man like you that the babe was yours.”
Lazarus narrowed his eyes at Mrs. Worsley. “How did you see me? Shefford and I returned near dawn.”
“She was stealing from her lover’s room,” Miss Worsley said bitterly, casting her mother an awful look. “ButIam the immoral one.”
“What you did was despicable,” Gwen said, glaring at Mrs. Worsley.
“And where is Mr. Tremblay?” Lazarus asked. “Did you by chance shoot at him too?”
“No.” Mrs. Worsley tossed a sneer toward Nott. “After I paid him yesterday, I went to see Tremblay. I gave him more money to leave London immediately.”
“Who will I marry now, Mama?” Miss Worsley laughed, and Lazarus wondered if she was finally at her wit’s end.
“No one,” Mrs. Worsley snapped. “You’ll go the country and whelp the brat. Then you’ll return next Season. At least your condition is not widely known.” She looked toward Lazarus and Gwen. “Is it?”
“I haven’t said anything,” Lazarus replied. “I wouldn’t want to cause Miss Worsley further harm. Although, it will be difficult to keep the fact that you shot Miss Price from circulating.”
“Not if no one here says anything.” Mrs. Worsley narrowed her eyes in a thoroughly Machiavellian fashion.
“I think you should send for Bow Street,” Nott said to Lazarus.
“You mustn’t do that!” Mrs. Worsley cried.
“No, you can’t,” Gwen agreed. She reached over and touched Lazarus’s arm with her uninjured appendage, whispering, “Think of Miss Worsley. She will already suffer great consequences for her actions. I would hate for her to suffer for her mother’s actions too. I will say I was wounded by a falling book. Or something.” She gave him a faint smile.
“You are kinder than I,” he murmured, kissing her brow. “But I can’t disagree that Miss Worsley will already endure enough.” He turned his head toward Mrs. Worsley. “We will leave Bow Street out of this for your daughter’s sake. Not yours,” he added sharply.
“Are you certain you wish to do that?” Nott asked. “The woman is a menace.”
“My betrothed and I don’t wish to cause Miss Worsley additional heartache.” He fixed his narrowed gaze on Mrs. Worsley once more. “However, if you come anywhere near my wife in the future, you will regret doing so. I advise you to disappear into the country with your daughter for a good, long time.”
Mrs. Worsley nodded, but did not look pleased about it.
“Thank you, my lord,” Miss Worsley said. “I greatly appreciate your kindness.”
Gwen looked up at Miss Worsley. “I am sorry you got tangled up with a true rogue. There are rules for that. I’m going to give you a copy for future reference.”
Miss Worsley appeared confused.
“She’ll explain later,” Lazarus said.
The physician arrived shortly and set a dozen stitches into Gwen’s torn upper arm. He prescribed laudanum or strong alcohol for the pain and bade her to keep her arm elevated for the next day.
When he was gone, Gwen addressed Miss Worsley. “I will tell people that I called on you after meeting you at the ball the other night so we could become better acquainted. While here, you were kind enough to show me your library—do you have a library?” At Miss Worsley’s nod, Gwen went on. “When I tried to pull a book from a high shelf, I dislodged a few, and they fell onto my arm. No one will see that I have a wound that doesn’t match that description.”
“You would go to that trouble for me?” Miss Worsley asked somewhat incredulously. “After what I tried to do to your betrothed?”
“I understand you were desperate and that you were trying to please your mother. I know what it’s like to want to make our parents proud. While it is a meaningful endeavor, in the end, I think it’s more important to have pride in yourself and the choices you make.”
“I have little pride in my actions the past several months,” Miss Worsley said softly, but with a sharp bitterness.
