Page 20 of Her Honorable Viscount (Noble Pursuits #3)

CHAPTER 20

E dward knew the moment Dot heard the whispers.

And in that moment, he felt like he had failed.

He had tried to protect her, to prevent her secret from coming out, but apparently, his threats to Lord Carroway had fallen upon deaf ears.

All he could do now was assess how much damage had been done. Did society believe this was potentially true or a ridiculous rumor?

He looked around the room for a friendly face until his gaze stopped on one man who could – hopefully – help him if he felt so inclined.

They were not the closest of friends, but they did have mutual acquaintances, as this was Fitz’s wife’s brother, Lord Anderson.

“Will you give me a moment?” he asked Dot, who stood with her mother and sisters.

She nodded, although her gaze was troubled.

“I will not be long,” he promised. “I’ll see to everything, not to worry.”

He strode up to Anderson, who was hard to miss with the size of his mustache.

“Lord Edward Redgrave, are you coming to speak to me ?” he said, leaning against the countertop behind him.

Edward was slightly offended, even though he knew the man had a point. Edward was not one to often strike up conversations with those he considered to approach life with disregard for responsibility.

“We have common acquaintances,” he said. “I do not see what is so shocking.”

“Ah, yes, you are to marry into my sister’s family,” Anderson said. “Congratulations. What did you do to cause such a fine woman to consider marriage to you?”

“I wish I knew,” he said honestly. “Which is actually what brings me here.”

“Straight to the point. Wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”

“Yes. Have you heard anything – rumors or otherwise – regarding my future wife?”

Anderson eyed him shrewdly. “If you heard them, will she still be your future wife?”

“Yes,” Edward said, his spine straightening. “Of course.”

And realized then that he meant it with every fiber of his being. Yes, at one point, he had suggested that he couldn’t marry Dot if scandal were attached to her, but that was before.

Before he knew her, before he developed feelings for her, before he realized how much he wanted her in his life and would do anything to ensure that she stayed there.

Even if it meant dealing with scandal.

She was part of his family now. It was too late to consider her anything otherwise.

“There is the most ridiculous rumor, actually,” Lord Anderson said, already chuckling. “You should not believe this, for it cannot be true, but someone has said that Lady Dot is – I can hardly say this – a midwife. A midwife!” He started laughing, and Edward tried to go along with it weakly.

“I said that no one would believe Lord Mandrake would marry a woman with a profession. Which most agree with. I don’t think it is anything to be overly concerned about, Mandrake. Something so ill-informed and ridiculous could never be proven and will hardly be believed.”

“Of course,” Edward said, hoping his chuckle sounded somewhat convincing. “Well, thank you for telling me, Anderson.”

“Of course. As I said, there is nothing anyone would believe, and it is probably not worth telling Lady Dot about it. Wouldn’t want to worry her over nothing.”

“You’re right,” he said. “Well, enjoy the next act.”

“Same to you,” Anderson said before returning to the woman he had been attempting to charm before Edward had interrupted.

So, Lady Carroway had begun to spread the rumor. Did that mean that he should say something about Lord Carroway’s indiscretion? It was what he had threatened, yes, but Edward was no gossip. He had no wish to destroy a family for vengeance.

Even if said family had been awful to everyone in their path.

“Is all well, Edward?” Dot asked as he approached.

“Nothing to worry about,” he said as confidently as possible. “All is looked after.”

And it would be.

He saw the Carroways across the room and decided that perhaps he should take the initiative and remind them of what was at stake.

“Come with me,” he said, fighting his initial urge to do this alone. But he remembered what Dot had said – that she wanted them to face this together. So, he would include her, even if it was not his usual manner.

“Lord and Lady Carroway,” he greeted them as he and Dot approached, offering them no sign of his thoughts on their presence nor what they had done. “Are you enjoying the play?”

“Not entirely,” Lord Carroway said, as both looked down their noses at them as though they were better than Edward and Dot. “I do not appreciate its assumptions.”

“I suppose assumptions depend upon who is making them,” Edward offered, to which Lord Carroway didn’t even respond. “Some interesting gossip is being spread. Gossip I would not have expected.”

“I told you there would be,” Lady Carroway said, her eyes glinting.

“And I told your husband that rumors could be made in retaliation,” Edward said, noting, with some satisfaction, the fear that struck Lord Carroway’s eyes at his words.

“You don’t know,” Dot said, the realization hitting her at the same time as Edward. She must have been watching Lady Carroway, who, Edward now saw, was looking from her husband to Edward with apprehension.

“Lord Carroway, did you not advise your wife that spreading rumors about Lady Dot would be ill-advised?” Edward asked.

“I… no, but—you have no hold over me.”

“No?” Edward said, lifting a brow, but it was Dot who spoke.

“You deserve to know the truth,” she said, addressing Lady Carroway and ignoring the men. “I would want to know.”

“The truth about what?” Lady Carroway asked icily.

“A truth that I am sure you already know, deep in your heart, if you would defrost it a bit. I know that many husbands have a wandering eye, but you must be aware that your husband’s usually wanders to the maids in your employ.”

“Lady Dot, I do not know what you think?—”

“Lucy – the maid. Her baby is your husband’s. Did you know that?”

If it had been Edward sharing the news with someone who had been so vile to him, he wasn’t sure he would show such restraint. But even though the news was of the worst sort, Dot said it softly, gently, showing Lady Carroway kindness that she had not received in return.

“Servants do not want to work in your household. Have you never wondered why it is so difficult for you to keep maids? Is Lucy’s baby the first your husband has sired that you do not know about?”

Lady Carroway’s hurt surprise turned quickly to defensive anger, likely for her own protection more than anyone else’s.

“You liar!” she seethed, and if they were not in such a public setting, Edward wondered if she wouldn’t have jumped toward Dot and attacked her.

“I do not lie, Lady Carroway,” she said sadly, shaking her head. “I wish I was. But you have created unnecessary scandal about my life for no obvious reason. All I ask is that you do not add any fuel to the fire and then I’m sure it will turn to embers in a short time. I ask not for my sake, for I am proud of myself, but for Edward’s. He is doing important work and deserves to be held in the highest esteem.”

Edward’s heart seemed to leap out of his chest and soar toward her. He appreciated the regard she showed for him, even if he wasn’t certain that he deserved it.

“She is right,” he said, “that this does not need to go any further. This or your own secrets. It is in your power to end this rumor now.”

And with that, he gently tugged on Dot’s arm and turned her away.

She was practically vibrating, and he moved her to a small alcove in the corner of the room. “Are you all right?” he asked softly.

“Yes,” she said, blinking. “I just… Edward, if this secret of mine is out, perhaps we should end this now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“From the start, we could not be together because of my occupation. Now, everyone knows some semblance of the truth. I am the opposite of what you need. I?—”

“Dot,” he said, placing his hands on her arms, as close as he could get to an embrace with half the ton looking on. “Nothing has changed. We will still be married as long as you will have me.”

“Truly?” she said, looking up at him through watery eyes.

“Of course,” he promised. “Please never think anything less. I will be there for you, no matter what.”

She nodded, even though he could tell she didn’t fully believe him.

Which was something he would need to change.

“You have been uncharacteristically silent,” Georgina said as Dot sat with her sisters in the drawing room a few days later.

Ever since the theatre, when her fears had come to fruition, she had not seen Edward.

He had been true to his word and sent her daily notes, but Edward being Edward, they were not love notes but rather more like diary entries, telling her what he was doing and when he hoped to see her again.

At least he was thinking about her.

“I am concerned,” she said, straightening. She didn’t see any reason to keep this from her sisters. “I am concerned that Edward will realize he no longer wants to marry me.”

“If that is how he feels,” Sarah chimed in, “then you are better off without him.”

“Which is exactly what I would say myself,” she said, “except that…” she trailed off, looking to the side.

“You care for him,” Henrietta said softly. “Oh, Dot. I know he feels the same. I have seen the way he looks at you, and Lord Mandrake doesn’t look at anyone with such softness, such privilege. I do not believe you have anything to worry about.”

“I hope not,” she said, pacing. “I am not entirely sure what else to do.”

“I, for one, believe you have done more than enough,” Eliza stated. “More than I ever would have done. You are too good of a woman, Dot.”

“The wedding is in two weeks,” Dot said, wringing her hands together. “What happens if we do marry and then he realizes it was all a mistake?”

“He won’t,” Eliza said confidently, placing down her awful needlework and coming over to Dot, nearly shaking her shoulders. “He knows that you are too good for him. Now, I will tell you the problem.”

Dot raised a brow.

“You are not doing your work and instead of being productive, you are using the extra time to fret. Usually when you are sitting here, you are reviewing all of your notes and writing in that journal of yours.”

“Most of the women are now in Magda’s care.”

“That may be so,” said Eliza. “But half of the reason you do what you do is to learn and grow, correct?”

“Well, yes…”

“Is there a reason you cannot continue to do so?”

“No, I do not suppose there is.”

“Good. Then do what you can, for your own sake. Oh, and…” A smile spread on Eliza’s face. “I have decided that I want you as my midwife.”

“Eliza—”

“I do not care if you are no longer doing the work. No one will know. I am sure that Siena will feel the same. She is due at nearly the same time as I am. Now, if both babies come simultaneously, you know who receives preferential treatment.”

Dot laughed. “Are you sure about this?”

“Positive,” Eliza said, and Dot leaned in and embraced her, fitting her body around Eliza’s growing stomach.

The idea lent a warmth to her heart – warmth that she just now realized had been slowly dimming.

What did that mean for her when she would have to give this up entirely?