Chapter 144 - Hundred And Forty four
Lady Margaret looked back at the other ladies in her gossip circle, a smug, satisfied smile on her face. Her scandalous story had them completely captivated.
"Doesn’t that also mean," one of the girls said, her eyes wide, "that the Duke himself must have an unusual, and perhaps very low, taste in women?" They all giggled at the thought.
"No, not at all," Margaret replied, her tone now one of a worldly expert. "I think His Grace is just more naive than you would think. He is an honest man of business. He would not know how to handle a woman like her. If someone like Delia decides to seduce a man, it is game over for him. I am sure that is exactly what happened at her own house."
"Ohhh," another girl breathed, leaning in closer. "What happened? Tell us everything! How many of those stable boys did you see her seduce at once?"
"Well," Margaret began, ready to spin another, even more elaborate lie.
But George didn’t stay to hear another word. He couldn’t. The vile, untrue words were making him physically sick. He got up from the bench and walked away, his own reputation as a tragic, jilted lover a small, cold comfort in the face of the utter destruction of Delia’s.
He went straight home. As he entered the drawing room, he was met with a surprising sight. His mother, Lady Pembroke, was not weeping. She was elated, her face beaming with a happiness he hadn’t seen in months.
"George, you’re home!" she exclaimed. "The debt collectors just returned your dear father’s portrait, and the mantelpiece clock as well! I am so happy. Oh, our Evelin did such a good job!"
George ignored his mother’s cheerful report. The new, ill-gotten gains meant nothing to him right now. "Where is Evelin?" he asked, his voice a low, angry growl.
"She is in her room, my dear," Lady Pembroke replied, her smile faltering slightly at his dark mood.