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J oceline sighed to herself as she meandered around the drawing room. Her mother had insisted that she needed new gloves before they attended dinner that evening and had taken the carriage to purchase said gloves. Joceline had chosen not to join her. The dinner party with Lord and Lady Billstrom was sure to be an excellent one but Joceline was in no mind to attend. Instead, she thought only about the soiree, the necklace, and all that had taken place.

In her heart, Joceline feared that her mother had been quite correct in all that she had said about Lady Albury. This rivalry between her mother and the lady meant that Joceline could quite easily be caught in the middle, and if Lady Albury was determined to ruin her so that the family name would be destroyed, then what hope did Joceline have? Could she truly escape a lady so determined, so filled with trickery and deceit? Or was there such little hope that Joceline would, one day soon, find herself without excuse or understanding, finding her reputation broken by all that had been said and done?

“My lady, I am sorry but –”

Joceline turned sharply as the butler’s voice filled the room, having not heard him even knock. What astonished her all the more, however, was the sudden arrival of Lord Albury who, much to her horror, pushed past the butler without warning and strode towards her. The dark shadows in his eyes made her heart thump furiously in her chest, fearful now that the maid had spoken about where she had found the necklace and, subsequently, the rumors had begun.

“Miss Trentworth. I apologize for stepping in without an announcement but this matter cannot wait.”

She blinked. “Lord Albury, good afternoon. As you can see, I am alone at present, for my mother –”

“I am afraid I have no time for propriety. Call a maid if you wish but I will continue.” The gentleman waited, his chin lifting and Joceline, her heart now in her throat, scurried across the room to ring the bell. She waited there, making sure to keep as much space between herself and Lord Albury as she could, her worry biting down upon her, hard.

“You will not wish for the maid to hear what I have to say, Miss Trentworth, so I shall begin before she arrives,” Lord Albury began, succinctly. “I must know what you did with my mother’s necklace.”

Confusion built in Joceline’s mind. “I beg your pardon?”

“What did you do with it?” He began to advance towards her and Joceline’s hands curled tightly, suddenly a trifle afraid. “I know that something happened. You may as well tell me the truth, Miss Trentworth, for it is already out!”

Joceline drew herself up, her shoulders back, her head held high. Taking the slight twist of fear, she narrowed her eyes, determined now to stand against his fierce anger. “How dare you come into my house and talk to me in such a manner?” The way her words rang around the room seemed to give Lord Albury pause. He stopped coming closer to her, blinking for a moment though the frown on his forehead continued to linger.

“You come in here unannounced and, as soon as you hear that I am alone and without company, ought you not to have stepped back? I am astonished to hear that a gentleman of the ton such as yourself appears to be so willing to step out of good manners and into impropriety! You come here with anger in your voice and your expression, throwing words at me that I have no understanding of whatsoever and expect me, seemingly, to answer you without hesitation!” She tossed her head, aware of her light curls bouncing and praying that it would show him evidence of her dismissal of him. “I confess to be most astonished at your manner, Lord Albury!”

A slow flush began to creep up his neck and went into his face. The gentleman then clasped his hands behind his back, took a step away from her, and coughed once, now appearing to be a little ashamed of himself.

“You are quite right, Miss Trentworth.”

The way that he immediately accepted his wrongdoing and apologized to her made Joceline’s defenses lower instantly. Her shoulders began to lower, the tension in her body began to fade.

“I have come here in a most improper manner. I beg your forgiveness.” He bowed, one hand to his heart. “The matter at hand is most concerning and I have come to you with that frustration, upset, and confusion in my heart.”

The door opened and the maid stepped inside, her eyes darting to Joceline before pulling to the floor.

“Sit there,” Joceline directed, before coming closer to Lord Albury and watching the maid take her seat. “Now, Lord Albury, if you wish to speak with me about this matter at hand, then why do we not sit together? Only for a few minutes, you understand, and I would prefer that we spoke quietly for the last thing I desire is for rumors to be spread throughout this house.”

“I understand.” Lord Albury sat down but it was on the edge of his chair, his hands clasped together, his elbows on his knees. “Now, Miss Trentworth, if I am to come directly to the point, I must ask you again about my mother’s necklace.”

“You asked me what I had done with it,” Joceline answered, aware of the way her nerves were jumping at the darkness about his eyes. “But I do not understand your question for you saw what I did, Lord Albury. When it was found, I brought it back to the room and handed it to your mother. You yourself took it from her thereafter.”

Lord Albury shook his head vehemently. “That is not what I am talking about. I am speaking about what you did with the necklace before you returned it.”

Joceline did not know what to say. The gentleman was speaking in a way that she simply did not understand. “I… I took it from the maid,” she said, slowly, as Lord Albury’s gaze steadied on her face. “She found it.”

“In the parlor.”

Her stomach dipped. “As I told you.”

“And that is all.” Lord Albury tipped his head just a little. “That is all that you did. All that took place.”

“Yes.” Resisting the urge to twist her fingers together, Joceline steadied herself. “Lord Albury, it feels very much as though you want me to say something but I do not know what it is! Please, if there is something that you want me to explain or express, then I beg you to be clearer in your conversation.”

Lord Albury nodded slowly but his eyes darkened all the more, until rather than being as blue as the sky, they were inky pools gazing back at her. The silence that curled around them both made her want to scream with frustration and anxiety, though she resisted the urge to do such a thing. Instead, she set her hands lightly in her lap and kept her shoulders lowered, looking back at him with as much intensity as she could muster.

Finally, he relented.

“This morning, I was to put the necklace into the safe, for it is a family heirloom and will one day belong to my wife,” he told her, his tone steady. “However, it has come to my attention that the necklace is not , in fact, my heirloom.”

The confusion in Joceline’s mind grew to such dizzying heights that she had to fight the desire to rub at her eyes. “I do not know what you mean.”

“Paste.” The word was practically spat at her, making Joceline’s heart leap up high, her breath snatching inward. “They are paste, Miss Trentworth!”

Joceline could not help but stare at him, trying to understand how such a thing could have happened. As she gazed back into Lord Albury’s eyes, she slowly began to recognize that the reason he had barrelled into her house, the reason that he spoke now with such upset was because he thought that she had something to do with it all!

“I am astonished to hear this,” she said, aware that her breathing was a little shallow. “How could they be paste?”

Lord Albury frowned heavily. “That is what I am come to ask you, Miss Trentworth.”

“Well, I certainly cannot tell you!” she exclaimed, throwing up her hands. “When I was handed the necklace, I brought it directly to you.” Becoming nothing but defensive, she lifted her chin. “You can speak to Miss Sherwood, if you wish. I am sure that she will be able to tell you all.”

Lord Albury shook his head. “Miss Sherwood cannot be relied upon.”

This made Joceline’s eyebrows fly upwards. “Because she is a bluestocking like me?”

“Because she is your friend,” he stated, sharply. “I have already made it clear that I do not think poorly of you because of your love of reading and the like. I am quite sure that, were I to speak to Miss Sherwood, she would tell me the very same story that you have given to me just now. There would be no whisper of wrongdoing because she is loyal to you.”

“There would be no whisper of wrongdoing because there was none!” Joceline exclaimed, becoming a little angry now. “Lord Albury, it was not I who found the necklace. It was the maid. The servants were busy searching the house and it was one of them who found it! She then told Miss Sherwood, since she was nearby and together, they came to find me.” Seeing his eyebrows knot together, Joceline curled her hand into a fist. “If you wish, I can send for that maid and you can speak with her. ”

“I may well do that.”

Oh no. Joceline paled in an instant, realizing that she had, in her foolishness, said something she ought not to have done. The maid had not found the necklace in the parlor, as she had told them all. It had been found in her bedchamber, though if she told him that, then his suspicions towards her would grow even more, she was sure of it!

“Though,” she said quickly, “you will no doubt think that the maid will also be loyal to me and therefore, will give you the very same story as myself. Is that not so?”

This made Lord Albury scowl, though Joceline felt herself relieved that he appeared to have taken what she had said seriously.

“I suppose that is true,” he grunted, as Joceline steadied herself, ready now to end this conversation. “I cannot trust anyone, it seems.”

Joceline arched one eyebrow. “Might I ask, Lord Albury, whether or not you were able to ascertain that the necklace was, in fact, the real one before your mother wore it to the soiree?”

Lord Albury opened his mouth only to pause and then snap it closed again. The dark expression on his face told her that no, he had not done such a thing.

“If you cannot, then I am very surprised indeed that you thought to come to my mother’s townhouse and state, almost unequivocally, that you believe I had something to do with this affair,” she said, speaking firmly and decisively. “You have no real reason to believe that I had anything to do with this necklace. Lord Albury, all I did was arrange for the servants to search the house and, thereafter, to bring the necklace to you.”

A flush of red crept into Lord Albury’s cheeks and he looked away, perhaps now a little less sure of himself.

“No,” he said, suddenly, making her jump. “That cannot be so. I had possession of the heirloom before my mother took the necklace and the earrings without my knowledge. She took them knowing that I had forbidden her from taking them. They were to be returned to my estate but I can assure you that the earrings are genuine. I looked at them earlier today once I became aware of what had happened with the necklace.” He leaned forward but there was not the same darkness in his eyes as had been there before. “There must have been something that took place when my mother lost her necklace. The exchange must have taken place then, though I do not yet know by whom or how it was done.”

“The heirloom was worn by your mother without your consent?” Joceline could not help but ask, a little relieved that he did not appear to be as furiously angry as he had been before. “Could it not be that –” She stopped quickly, heat in her own cheeks as she realized what she had been about to say. In her foolishness, she had been about to suggest that the lady herself might have had something to do with it, given that she had been forbidden from wearing them.

Lord Albury’s eyebrows drew closer together again. “Surprisingly enough, Miss Trentworth, I had the same thought. Though it appears that she did not. I have had to send her to recover in her bedchamber, such was her shock.”

“Then you suspect one of the guests?” Joceline asked, trying to push away his suspicions. “Surely it would have taken someone with a full awareness of the necklace to have done such a thing, for the paste jewels would have had to been prepared in advance.”

Lord Albury’s expression lifted just a little. “That is, again, something that I have already considered, thanks to my discussion with Lord Castleton,” he said, a little more quietly now. “Though my suspicions are many, Miss Trentworth.”

And still pushed towards myself or my mother, Joceline considered, a knot in her stomach. If she hid the truth from him about where the necklace had been found, then when it was discovered, or if it was discovered, then would she not be all the more under his consideration? She opened her mouth to tell him the truth, only to shut it again as Lord Albury rose to his feet, evidently intending now to end the conversation.

“I shall take my leave, Miss Trentworth. I do hope that you will inform your mother about all that I have told you here this evening.”

Panic tore through her and Joceline, getting to her feet, put out one hand and caught his, pulling herself closer to him, her breathing tight. “And I do hope, Lord Albury, that you do not intend to tell the ton that your necklace has been stolen? You do not, I hope, intend to tell everyone about what you have discovered?”

Lord Albury’s eyes flickered, his gaze dropping to where her hand caught his but Joceline did not release him. Her fear was too great, her worry too profound. If he told society what he had told her, then her reputation and her mother’s reputation would be completely and utterly broken. The ton would, without any evidence, believe that they had been involved in the theft and all hope of her ever finding a suitable gentleman to wed would be gone.

“You expect me to keep this to myself, Miss Trentworth? How ever am I to find the truth and my necklace if I stay silent?”

“Think of what will happen if you share it with all and sundry!” Joceline exclaimed, refusing to let his hand go. “You will be ruining any hope that I have of a suitable match. You will bring my father’s good name into disrepute and all without any evidence that we have done anything wrong whatsoever! That cannot be fair, surely?”

It took a few moments but eventually, Lord Albury let out a slow breath and then nodded, letting Joceline release her tight grip upon his fingers. She did not care one jot that she had grasped his hand so, even though it was more than a little improper. The realization that she could lose everything were he to say a word to the gossipmongers of London had forced her into action, and she was glad that she now had his understanding.

“I shall be very careful,” he said, as she stepped back. “Forgive me for my lack of thought, Miss Trentworth. That was a little negligent.”

She could only nod, feeling suddenly fatigued.

“I shall take my leave of you now.”

Her eyes caught his again. “I did not steal your necklace, Lord Albury. I shall repeat myself over and over again if I must until you believe me. I swear to you that it is the truth.”

He did not say a word to her. He did not say that yes, he believed her or no, he did not. Instead, all Lord Albury did was search her face with his blue eyes as she held her breath, desperate for him to see the truth in her expression… until, finally, he turned and walked out of the door, leaving her alone and with her mind whirling with a thousand terrifying thoughts.