Page 53 of To Have & To Hold

A group of three ladies—all varying in age, and none of whom Emilia had ever met—stared at her, mouths agape.

Emilia could tell by the heat radiating down her neck that her face was flushed, but rather than the nerves that had plagued her before, it was from anger.

“Your Grace,” the youngest lady stammered. “We did not mean for you to overhear.”

“No,” Emilia replied, her tone clipped. “Such remarks are seldom intended for their subject.”

The younger ladies dropped their gazes, but the older woman merely raised hers in challenge.

“We meant no offense, I assure you,” she said. “They were merely observations. His Grace is a gentleman of…considerable prestige.”

“Yes,” Emilia replied. “He is.”

The older lady's lips pressed into a tight smile. “And yet,” she continued, “you must admit there are those who find him rather difficult to know.”

Emilia’s hands clenched at her sides. “I should think that says more of their efforts than of his character.”

The young lady who had yet to speak stepped forward to rest a hand on the elder lady’s arm. “Mama, we should leave the duchess to enjoy her evening.”

Emilia resisted the urge to laugh—no part of her evening had been enjoyable.

The girl’s mother brushed her off, offering Emilia another painfully pretty smile. “You speak of his character so confidently, especially for a marriage so recently formed.”

Emilia felt the swirl of emotions burning hotter, but for the first time, she did nothing to try to squelch them.

“My confidence,” she said, her voice remaining steady even through her rapidly beating pulse, “rests not on the duration of our acquaintance, but on my trust in the man himself.”

The woman hummed sweetly, as though Emilia’s answers were exactly what she wished to hear. “You are very certain of your husband’s virtues, Your Grace.”

“I am.” Emilia narrowed her gaze, desperate to gain the upper hand.

“And yet,” the woman continued. “A gentleman does not often place a lady in circumstances like the one in which you found yourself at the Beckley ball.”

The woman’s two young companions stepped away from her, likely for fear of catching the daggers Emilia was sure were coming from her own eyes.

“Circumstances are not always as they appear.” Emilia’s voice trembled, but there was nothing she could do to steady it, and she needed to press on. “My husband is not in the habit of acting without honor.”

“No one has suggested otherwise,” the woman replied, though everyone within earshot had just heard her do precisely that.

“Have they not?” Emilia returned, the edge in her voice now unmistakable. “I should think implying impropriety where none exists is a rather bold way of expressing admiration.”

“You mistake me, Your Grace. I speak only of appearances.”

“And I speak the truth!” Emilia had never heard her own voice raised to such a volume before. The music and chatter inthe room had swallowed her outburst, keeping it from traveling too far, but those who stood in close enough proximity were now watching the exchange with open curiosity.

“If His Grace chose to marry me with haste, it was not out of necessity, but on honor and principle. Two things that I have found to be severely lacking amongst this evening’s company.”

Emilia took a step towards the woman, whose confidence was now waning. “And if I were you, I would be very cautious in forming judgments of a man whose respect you have never been in a position to earn.”

Emilia could not remember what the woman had said next, or if she had said anything at all. All she could hear were the slight gasps and chuckles from the crowd of observers as she turned and rushed from the room.

She did not stop until she discovered an empty alcove, completely hidden from the light glowing from the ballroom.

She pulled off her gloves, pressing a hand against the flushed skin above her chest, feeling the quick rise and fall of her breathing. She tried to count her breaths, attempting to slow their rhythm, but they only came faster.

She could hear her sharp voice and pointed words echoing in her mind.

Where had been her honor and principle?