Page 1 of The Duke’s Scandal (Bluestocking Book Club #5)

Prologue

I sobella blinked back hot tears. “What do you mean by this?”

“It is what I have said.” Lord Hogarth shrugged his shoulders. “I do not care for you any longer.”

“But how can that be?” Isobella cried, her mother’s hand settling on hers, though she quickly cast it aside and rose to her feet. “You and I are engaged! The banns have already been called!”

Lord Hogarth sniffed. “They have only been called twice. There is no need for them to be called a third time, not now that the engagement has come to an end.”

Come to an end?

Isobella tried to breathe steadily, her chest furiously tight.

How could this be? Their engagement had not been all that recent, but the courtship had been long enough – nearly three months.

How could he not be certain? He had told her so many things, had promised her his heart, and yet now, here he was, telling her that it was at an end. And for what cause?

“Why would you end this engagement, Hogarth?” she said, her voice hoarse. “If you have any care or consideration for me at all, then – ”

“That is the concern,” he interrupted. “I do not think I care for you any longer, as I have just said.”

“But –but how can your heart change so quickly?” she exclaimed, “especially after you have shared so many things with me? You have told me how much I have come to mean to you, how glad you are that we met!”

Lord Hogarth looked away, a touch of pink in his cheeks. “I may have said all of those things at one time, but I confess that I did not truly mean them. My heart is not as I believed it to be.”

Isobella, who had been standing tall to face Lord Hogarth, slowly sank back down into her chair, her mother still sitting there silently.

“I am sorry that I have caused you pain,” he continued, speaking without any intonation whatsoever. “I shall take my leave of you now.”

“She will be shamed!” Finally, Isobella’s mother, the Countess of Granville, spoke.

“The ton will speak of you both, but Isobella will garner just as much reproach as you! You may well tell them all that you are the one responsible for the ending of the engagement, but they will think poorly of her for it all the same! They will say that you were bored with her, that she was not interesting enough. Can you not see that?”

This did nothing to move Lord Hogarth. He stood precisely where he was, his hands clasped behind his back, his shoulders lifted, and his head held high as if, somehow, he was not in the least bit responsible for any of this.

He said nothing whatsoever, did not even think to apologize, leaving Isobella to stare up at him, wondering if she had ever known him at all .

“How can you be so callous?” Lady Granville exclaimed, her voice echoing around the room now. “You have promised my daughter so much, and now you will not only take it all away but you will also damage her reputation with it!”

The tears that Isobella had held back for so long began to break through, dampening her lashes and beginning to fall to her cheeks.

Her mother was right. She would not only have the loss of her engagement and her future, but she would also have her reputation damaged dreadfully. What would she do then?

“I am afraid there is nothing else for it but this,” Lord Hogarth said, brusquely. “I must take my leave of you now. Good afternoon.”

Isobella wanted to cry out, wanted to reach for him, to bring him back to her, but her body was too heavy, too weighted with grief. She closed her eyes and began to sob, her mother’s comforting hand on her back.

The door slammed open.

“How dare you?”

With astonishment, Isobella lifted her head, seeing her brother storming into the room, his eyes wide with fury. Lord Hogarth began to back away, stammering furiously as Isobella clutched at her mother’s hand.

“How dare you?” With fury burning in his eyes, Isobella’s brother shoved Lord Hogarth back, preventing him from leaving the room. “How could you do such a thing?”

Isobella found herself on her feet. “What are you talking about, Granville?” Her brother had taken on the title some four years ago when their father had died unexpectedly, but since then, had been the most excellent brother.

If he was behaving so towards Lord Hogarth, then Isobella knew it was for good reason .

“I have just heard what you have done to my sister!” Lord Granville exclaimed, gesticulating furiously as the Countess too rose to her feet.

“The disgrace you have heaped upon yourself! The shame you have brought upon you both! The ton will say that my sister was not enough for you, that she did not hold your interest, and now – ”

“Lord Hogarth was just about to take his leave, brother,” Isobella said, softly, the heaviness in her body returning.

“He has already informed me that he is ending the engagement because he no longer cares for me.” She managed to keep her tears back with an effort.

“He was just departing from this house, which I think might be beneficial for us all.”

Her brother slid her a glance, but then looked back to Lord Hogarth.

“Ah, but you did not tell my sister the truth about why you have chosen to end this engagement, I am sure. You have merely told her that your engagement is at an end because you do not feel the same way about her any longer… but that is not the real reason, is it? Now that I know the truth about you, however, I do not think that you have ever truly cared for my sister, have you? You have pretended, you have lied, you have feigned your interest, have you not? None of what you have told my sister, told my family, has been true, has it?”

“What do you mean?” Isobella blinked rapidly, seeing Lord Hogarth begin to back away from her brother, his hands held up defensively. “What is this about, Granville?”

Her brother’s jaw tightened. “This is about Lord Hogarth pretending to be a gentleman when he is not. I am sorry for the pain you will and shall endure because of him, Isobella, but trust me, it is good that you will not marry him.”

The tears in her eyes had faded away, her heart beating furiously as she fought to understand all that was being said – and revealed – to her.

One moment, she was filled with pain over Lord Hogarth’s decision, and the next, confused by her brother’s promise that it was a good thing for this all to end.

“I am afraid I have no desire to speak on this matter.” Lord Hogarth drew himself up, but Isobella caught a slight tremble in his frame, as well as the way his eyes flicked towards her brother and back again. “The engagement is ended. That is all that matters.”

Seeing her brother’s eyes flare, Isobella held up one hand towards him, trying to get Granville to calm himself. “I do not think detaining Lord Hogarth any longer will do anything good,” she said, her voice quavering. “We can speak once he has departed, can we not?”

Lord Granville glared at Lord Hogarth, refusing to move out of his way. For a long moment, both gentlemen stood facing each other, neither of them saying anything more. Isobella held her breath, her fingers twisting together as her mother stood beside her.

“Very well.” His lip curling, Lord Granville stepped to one side. “And do not ever come near to my sister or think to set foot in this house again.”

Watching him walk away, Isobella felt as if she were crumpling inwardly. This was the end of everything she had put her hope in for the last few months, the shattering of the dream she had built for so long.

“I do not understand,” their mother said, sitting back down heavily.

“This is the third gentleman who has disappointed you, Isobella. Your first Season, there was Lord Brookmire, who courted you but then stepped away, followed by Lord Pollock, who made so many promises as he begged to court you, only for him to elope to Scotland with another lady entirely!”

“And now this Season, I have found my engagement ended,” Isobella murmured, rubbing one hand over her eyes before going to sit down again. “If I thought that last Season was disappointing, then this Season has proven to be even worse.”

“It is worse than you know.” Stalking across the room, Granville poured himself a small glass of brandy and, much to Isobella’s surprise, poured another glass which he then handed to her. “I am overwhelmed with anger, I must admit. The moment I found out what he had done, my fury burned.”

“Where did you hear it?” his mother asked, as Granville began to pace up and down the room. “It is only the morning and – ”

“I was in Whites last evening,” Granville interrupted, though not ungently. “There were some gentlemen gathered around the betting book. Naturally, I was interested.”

Isobella shuddered, then lifted the brandy to her lips, taking a small sip of water. “I presume my betrothed’s name was in the betting book?”

“He was.” With another swig of brandy, Granville shook his head, looking away from her. “I spent the rest of the night – or the morning – looking for him. You can imagine my surprise upon returning home to be informed that he had come to speak with you, Isobella.”

“Might you tell us what it is that you discovered?” With a sadness penetrating her voice, the Countess looked up at her son. “What did Lord Hogarth do?”

Granville scowled. “There was a bet in the betting book that said he would be able to… ” His eyes slanted towards Is obella and then back to their mother. “To woo the widower, Lady Cowden.”

A weight dropped into Isobella’s stomach. She did not need her brother to explain himself to know that this wooing would certainly have been more than that.

“The bet had been fulfilled last night,” her brother finished, heavily. “You can imagine my feelings at that moment, I am sure.”

Closing her eyes, Isobella cradled the glass of brandy in her hands before bringing it to her lips for another sip. This, then, had been the ultimate betrayal, and she had known nothing about it!

“I thought that he cared for me,” she said, tears beginning to fall again. “He told me so. He said my heart was a precious gift, something that he would always value and cherish.”

“He lied.” The short, sharp truth from her brother made Isobella shudder violently, tears beginning to burn in her eyes again.

“I am sorry to say it, Isobella, but nothing he said was true. He did not care for you as he promised, for he would not have behaved that way had he truly done so. I love my wife desperately, and there is nothing I would do to harm her. I felt that way when we were courting, and that feeling has only increased within my heart in the two years we have been wed.”

Isobella swallowed hard. “That is what I had hoped to find for myself.” She had seen the love shared between her brother and his wife, Louisa.

Louisa had become more like an older sister to her, and Isobella had always been grateful for her friendship and her advice. “It seems I am never to find it.”

“There is always next Season,” her mother said, but Isobella did not let that fill her with any sort of hope. This was now the third gentleman who had failed to prove himself, the third and the most severe, given that they had been engaged.

“No, I think not,” she whispered, unable to speak with any sort of strength now. “Mother, I think that there can be no hope for me now. The ton will speak of this for some time and I will be whispered about also.”

Her brother closed his eyes, letting out a low mutter of frustration.

“It should not be that way,” the Countess said, with tears in her eyes. “You have done nothing wrong, and yet, society will still whisper about you. Mayhap… mayhap we should return home and come back next Season.”

Isobella threw back the rest of the brandy in what would be considered a most unladylike fashion, letting the heat of it push through her otherwise cold frame.

Her mother was determined to come back next Season with her, to encourage her with such a promise, but Isobella knew her heart had shattered into pieces, pieces beyond repair.

Her hope for a happy future with a gentleman who cared for her was quite gone, ruined now by Lord Hogarth and the other two gentlemen before him.

It was never to be for her, it seemed. Fate was determined to cast her aside, to leave her alone and without a love and comfort of her own.

And all she could do was accept it.