Page 72 of Sinfully Daring

“So you went to speak to Lady Hargreaves the night she died?” Mama asked her.

Hannah nodded. “I told her about the baby, about Humphrey. I begged her to stop playing with him, for she didn’t really want him. She was just toying with him.”

“That’s not true!” Humphrey Price exclaimed, his face twisted with hatred. “She loved me! Adelia loved me best. She told me so. We were going to run away together, she promised me. We would have been happy if he… if he hadn’t killed her!”

He pointed at Sebastian, his eyes glittering with malice.

“You fool!” Hannah said, her words hard and contemptuous as she stared at the man she had once loved. “She didn’t give a snap of her fingers for you, and Lord Hargreaves didn’t kill her. I did.”

The silence was so absolute, Rosamund felt it ringing in her ears.

“Hannah?” she whispered, hardly able to believe she’d heard correctly.

Hannah’s face crumpled. “I didn’t mean to,” she said, sobbing hard now. “I swear I didn’t, but the things she said to me. She called me names, told me I w-was a s-slut and a whore, and that I’d better get used to it b-because that’s all that was left to me. I was so angry and upset with her and I… I pushed her. Not hard, I swear, b-but she stumbled, tripped on her skirts and then… and then she was falling. I reached for her. I tried to stop her falling, I swear I did, but… it was too late.”

“Oh, Hannah. Oh, my dear,” Rosamund said, stunned and too shocked to know what else to say.

Hannah breathed in ragged little gasps, staring at Rosamund and clutching at her arms so hard there would be bruises tomorrow. “I bribed her maid to keep quiet, but she’s been blackmailing me since, and I’ve used all my pin money and given her all my jewellery and now… I’ve nothing left. I’ve nothing left. I’ve nothing left,” Hannah moaned, sounding dazed. She swayed and Rosamund held tighter, keeping her upright.

“You bitch! You killed her! You killed Adelia, and I loved her!” Mr Price raged, scrambling to his feet and lunging at Hannah.

Sebastian intervened, pushing him away before he could get close. Mr Price ricocheted backwards, stumbling into two men who shoved him roughly aside. Wild with fury, he lashed out, catching one of them on the chin. Suddenly, the two of them were exchanging blows and the atmosphere in the room, already combustible, became charged with the threat of greater violence. They crashed into another man, who spilled his drink on his neighbour’s wife. The woman screamed and her husband cursed the idiot for his clumsiness. Before Rosamund could blink, the two of them were at each other’s throats.

“Oh, dear,” Mama said with a sigh. “It only needed that. Come along, we need to get Miss Morcombe out of here.”

Rosamund looked around to see the fight was escalating as men tried to intervene and stop the melee, only to get dragged into it. Rosamund saw someone jostle Arabella, almost sending her flying. Bainbridge’s face darkened with rage.

“Yes, I think perhaps we ought to leave at once,” she said, trying to get Hannah moving, but the girl was on the verge of fainting.

As Sebastian hurried towards them, Rosamund caught sight of a dark shadow from the corner of her eye. She turned and found Mr Price reaching for Hannah, his face twisted with anger. Rosamund could see no option but to let go of her. She made a fist, just as her brother had taught her many years ago and swung it hard. The contact with Mr Price’s already bloody nose made her catch her breath as pain radiated up her arm, but his head snapped back and he staggered, which was so thoroughly satisfying that Rosamund didn’t care about the pain one bit.

“You bastard!”

She jumped in surprise as Sebastian tackled Mr Price, taking him to the ground with a thud. Sebastian looked like he might have come to the end of his patience and was strongly in favour of doing Mr Price an injury.

“All right, young man, that will do,” her papa said, hauling Sebastian off him. “I think he’s had enough.”

Indeed, Mr Price lay in a heap on the floor, moaning and clutching at his nose. Rosamund turned in horror to look for Hannah, to find she had passed out and Lord Montagu had lifted her into his arms.

“Oh, Lucian, the poor child,” Matilda cried, her eyes filled with tears.

“There, there, my love. We’ll see her safe, don’t worry,” Montagu said softly. “But let us get out of here before there’s a riot.”

Matilda gazed adoringly at her husband, but nodded, following him out.

“Come along, Bella,” Bainbridge boomed as he guided his wife out of the ballroom, guarding her from the jostling crowd by baring his teeth at anyone who got close. “Damned place is not safe for civilised people. I tried to knock some sense into them,” he added, shaking his head.

“Yes, darling,” Bella said ruefully, hurrying beside him. “I saw.”

“Well, it’s not my fault they didn’t listen,” he protested, putting a protective arm around her. “I told them I’d knock their heads together if they didn’t stop. I did warn them.”

“Yes, dear,” his wife said with a sigh. “I know you did.”

“Rosamund?”

Rosamund turned to see Sebastian in front of her. His usually immaculate clothes were dusty and rumpled, and his hair was a mess, and Rosamund thought he had never looked more handsome.

“Oh, Sebastian!” she cried, and flung herself at him.