Page 71 of Heartbreaker of the Ton
“Don’t play the simpleton with me,Mrs. Ward,” Lady Fulford snarled. “You may have fooled the vicar, and most of the halfwits in the village, butIam not so easily deceived.”
“Lady Fulford, are you calling the vicar a halfwit?”
Lady Fulford leaped from her chair, her eyes glittering with loathing. “Insolent girl!” she cried. “How dare you speak to me so! Of course I’m not calling the vicar a halfwit, though he’s been tempted by your wiles. I am callingyouawhore!”
Etty’s composure almost faltered, and she recoiled at the hatred in the other woman’s eyes. “Unfounded accusations will not—”
“I thought I told younotto attempt to deceive me,” Lady Fulford said. “Do you think I’d stand by and do nothing while you tainted this village with your presence, seeking to seduce the vicar as no doubt you seduced another before him?”
“I never—”
“Oh, don’t be a fool!” Lady Fulford let out a harsh laugh. “It’s plain to see that your son is some man’s bastard. No doubt you lifted your skirts for the brat’s father for your own gain.”
Etty opened her mouth to deny the accusation, but she couldn’t. Hadn’t she confessed the very same to Andrew only last week?
Her gut twisted with shame. Perhaps, in his judgment of her, he’d related her history to Lady Fulford.
Andrew, I trusted you…
“Ah!” Lady Fulford gave a bark of triumph. “I’m right, am I not? Does the vicar know?” She shook her head. “No—of course not. A man of his morality would have run you out of the village had he known. Perhaps I ought to tell him.”
“Then tell him and be damned, Lady Fulford!”
“Ah, the true harlot reveals herself,” Lady Fulford sneered, stepping toward Etty until she towered over her, her thicker frame dominating the space. “Well, hear this—Mr. Staines willnot become your next victim. He’s an honorable, moral man, destined for greatness in the church. An association with you would ruin him. If you had the merest smattering of decency in that black heart of yours, then you’d leave him well alone—forhissake.”
“Should he not be permitted to make up his own mind?” Etty asked.
“In matters such as this, when a man is being tempted by the devil’s work, he needs guidance from the righteous. The poor man is, I’m afraid, in sore need of such guidance. He almost fell into temptation before—in this very house—and I shall not see him succumb a second time.”
“Asecondtime?”
“The previous occupant of this little hovel was a temptress such as yourself. She came here also, masquerading as a widow—the façade of a whores, it seems. In fact”—she fixed her stare on Etty—“you remind me a little of her. I wonder why I didn’t notice it before.”
“I know nothing of—” Etty began, but Lady Fulford continued.
“Does it not seem something of a coincidence that two young women of similar age, both masquerading as widows, would hide themselves away in the same cottage?”
“Of course it’s a coincidence!” Etty said.
“You seem a little too eager to make that claim. What connects you to her, I wonder?” Lady Fulford tilted her head to one side, her brow furrowing in concentration. “Miss Howard—that was her name, though she passed herself off as Mrs. Riley, if I recall. She married a duke, though not before seducing our poor vicar. But Mr. Staines, in his naiveté, continued to defend her honor, claiming that she was the daughter of a baronet. A claim you have made today.”
Etty caught her breath at the sharp pain in her chest as her body constricted with fear. Her secret was out—or on the brink of exposure.
A slow smile curled Lady Fulford’s lips. “Ah—there we have it,” she said. “Another harlot come here to hide her shame.”
“I have done nothing I’m ashamed of,” Etty said.
“And still she tries to deceive me!” Lady Fulford let out a laugh. “Your shame is evident—I see it in your eyes and I hear it in your voice. But let us put it to the test. With regards to the vicar, you instructed me to tell all and be damned. Do you stand by that sentiment?”
Etty’s gut twisted with fear. She met her opponent’s gaze, but the triumph in Lady Fulford’s eyes only increased.
At length, she nodded.
“I see we understand one another,Miss Howard.”
Etty suppressed a shudder, but Lady Fulford’s smile broadened and she gave a nod of self-satisfaction.
“Excellent,” she said, stepping back. “I’m so glad we had this opportunity to get to know each other a little better. But I think the time has come to cease further revelation, do not you agree? For the vicar’s sake—and yours, of course.”
