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“Have you no shame, woman?” He whispered with disgust. “You think there is not a single person here is not aware of your reputation? Of hers?”

Hurt sliced through Seraphina as Lord Gerard threw her a disgusted glance; his polite facade broken. Her mother had been insistent, yes, but she herself had been nothing but kind.

“I assure you I do not know what you are talking about,” Mary protested, her tone growing hard.

Lord Gerard laughed cruelly as he shook his head.

“Either you think I am a fool or you are truly two of the daftest women I have ever met,” he seethed. “You think you can pass yourself off as a Lady, Ms. Kinderson, after you played the part of mistress? And you, Miss Seraphina, you cannot honestly believe that you will ever be seen as a noble, despite your father’s name. To continue to thrust this pretense upon us true members of nobility is insulting to us all, and I suggest you stop at once before you truly make a mess of things. The Duke of Caldermere might have a soft spot for commoners, but I assure you, the rest of us do not.”

Seraphina’s embarrassment ignited into rage as Lord Gerard’s disparaging words went on and on. She had put up with much, especially in the last two years, but the scene the man was beginning to make was about to push her over the edge. Sheglanced around, noticing how the others were starting to look their way, then looked back up at her mother.

Her usual look of superiority was gone, wiped clean away by the Lord’s despicable words, and in a rare moment, she saw an emotion her mother desperately and constantly tried to hide: shame.

“That is enough, my Lord,” Seraphina said, her tone soft but clear.

To her surprise, Lord Gerard stopped his tirade, and looked at her with wide, shocked eyes.

“What did you dare say to me?” He demanded.

Seraphina blushed as she tempered her rage and her words, and curtseyed toward him.

“We have clearly taken up too much of your time, Lord Gerard,” she answered, hiding what she truly wanted to say. “We offer our sincerest apologies.”

“I should say so,” he retorted.

Though he kept on speaking, Seraphina blocked out his words as she led her mother away. For a moment they walked together in stunned silence, both ignoring the looks that still fell upon them. Another ball. Another failure. Seraphina had known this would happen from the beginning.

“Perhaps we should go, Mama,” Seraphina suggested as they reached an empty corner of the room. “It seems we have outworn our welcome yet again.”

At this, Mary seemed to snap out of her stunned silence, and she yanked her hand from her daughter’s grasp as she sneered at her.

“Why do you have to always ruin everything, Seraphina?” She hissed. “If you would have just apologized and kept your chastisement to yourself, we could have turned the conversation around!”

“Mama,” Seraphina half-laughed, half-gasped, “You cannot be serious.”

Mary tsked her tongue as she shook her head in disappointment.

“You are not trying hard enough, my dear,” she insisted, “Youmustbe better than this. Oh, this is clearly not working. Perhaps it is time we take more drastic measures.”

Seraphina looked on at her mother in bewilderment, unable to follow the connections Mary had made in order to make the sceneherfault.

“Drastic?” Seraphina rasped, waving a hand toward the ballroom. “What could be more drastic than this? You are throwing me in every man’s face!”

“Obviously not hard enough,” Mary retorted, “Perhaps a good push into a closet or such with one will produce better results. Better a scandalous marriage than no marriage at all.”

Seraphina’s jaw dropped, unable to believe her mother’s words.

“Oh, do not dare give me that look, Seraphina,” Mary snapped. “I swear, it is as if I am the only one thinking of your future! Do you want to end up a maid as I did? Only getting as close as I have to a life of leisure?”

When Seraphina only answered with silence, Mary gave her a disappointed look, then grimaced as she scanned the room.

“God, look at what you have done,” she then sighed. “Everyone is talking about us now. This night is ruined. Come. It is time for us to go.”

Relief intermingled with Seraphina’s disgust and confusion, and she nodded her head. At least, on this matter, she could agree with her.

“I believe I left my hand bag with Theo and Amelia,” she told her mother, “I shall go fetch it.”

Mary rolled her eyes as she shook her head, somehow appearing even more disappointed than before.