The Truth about the Earl (Whispers of the Ton #1)

Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

“ M y lady, you have a caller.”

Norah blinked in surprise, looking up at the butler as he stood framed in the doorway.

“Come in, Clarke, and tell me who has called.” Disliking the way the butler stood in the doorway rather than coming in and closing it behind him, Norah beckoned him in. “It is very early for a caller, is it not?”

The butler nodded. “Yes, my lady. I would say it is.”

“I have only just broken my fast!” Norah exclaimed, shaking her head as she stretched one hand out toward the dining table. “Who has decided to call at this hour?”

Handing her a card, the butler cleared his throat and put his hands behind his back. “She did state that it was urgent, my lady.”

Norah’s smile faded as she looked down at Lady Adlay’s name. “Is that so?” Biting her lip, she set the card down. “Please do show her in.”

“Into the dining room?”

“Yes, Clarke. And send for a fresh pot of tea. I will remove to the other end of the table.”

“As you wish.” The butler hurried from the room and Norah rose quickly, brushing her fingers down her skirts to make certain that there were no lingering crumbs. Wondering why Lady Adlay had decided to call so early and what could possibly be so very urgent, Norah stood by her chair and waited for her friend to enter.

“Lady Essington.” Lady Adlay hurried in, her face a little pale and her eyes wide. She grasped Norah’s hands and looked directly into her eyes. “I do hope that you are quite well.”

“I am very well, Lady Adlay. Why, whatever is the matter?”

Her friend’s eyes rounded all the more, her fingers tightening on Norah’s. “You have not read it, then?”

A wave of anxiety crashed over Norah given the look in her friend’s eyes. “Read what?”

Lady Adlay closed her eyes. “It is only a suggestion and I am certain that the ton will acknowledge it to be as such but it is still there, regardless.”

A little frustrated that she had no knowledge of what Lady Adlay spoke, Norah took in a deep breath and tried to remain calm in both her heart and her mind despite both wishing desperately to begin to fill themselves with worry. “Let us sit down and you can explain it all to me,” she said softly, trying to smile as Lady Adlay finally released her hands. “I am sure it cannot be anything too severe, else surely I would have heard of it before now.”

“Oh, but it has only just been printed!” Lady Adlay exclaimed, as Norah’s stomach twisted hard. “The society papers had the usual column from Mrs. Fullerton, whoever she may be, but thereafter there was typed a small postscript, as though she had quite forgotten another matter.”

Norah, who had known very well what the article said – it spoke of Lord Butterstone’s penchant for gambling and how he continually refused to pay his debts regardless of how much he lost – was a little confused. She had not written any postscript! “And what does this postscript speak of?”

Lady Adlay’s eyes widened. “It speaks of you, Lady Essington!”

It took Norah a moment to understand what such a statement meant for her. Shock grasped at her heart and she struggled to take in air, seeing the dark shadow in her friend’s eyes. The question she had to ask forced itself into her mind, pushing itself forward but still, Norah could not bring herself to ask it.

“As I have said, it does not say anything with any great certainty but there will, unfortunately, be rumors that follow what has been said. I am quite sure that Mrs. Fullerton is mistaken and I confess myself surprised that she has written of this at all, given that she has never written anything untrue before. Indeed, she has always made certain that whatever is said is quite true and cannot be questioned.”

Norah closed her eyes, steeling herself inwardly. “I shall have to ask what it is that has been said, I suppose,” she murmured, reluctantly. “Pray, do be honest with me, Lady Adlay.”

“Sophia, please.”

Norah drew in a deep breath, opened her eyes, and tried to smile, appreciating Lady Adlay’s attempts to draw a closer friendship between them. “Only if you will call me Norah.” Seeing her nod, she spread her hands. “Sophia, pray tell me what was written about me.”

Her friend pressed her lips flat together for a moment, then nodded. “It stated that a lady, who appeared much like Lady Essington, had been seen leaving a gentleman’s townhouse in the early hours of the morning.”

A cold wind seemed to blow about her and Norah shivered, her fingers twisting together in her lap. “Goodness.” Her voice was low but she kept her gaze trained on Lady Adlay but saw, much to her relief, no flicker of doubt in her eyes. “That is most confusing.”

“A terrible lie to spread, certainly,” Lady Adlay agreed. “Again, Mrs. Fullerton has taken great pains to present a picture of uncertainty but that does not mean that the ton will not spread rumors about you. I came at once to offer you my support, for I certainly do not believe it.”

A half-smile tugged at Norah’s lips but her mind was whirring furiously. “Thank you, Sophia. It is not true at all and I cannot imagine why someone would say such a thing!”

“And to have Mrs. Fullerton state such a thing is very confusing indeed!” Lady Adlay exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, just as the door opened and the maid came in with a fresh pot of tea, followed by the butler. “That is not at all the sort of thing she writes about.”

Norah thanked the maid and then caught the butler’s eye. “Yes, Clarke?”

“My lady, you have had a flurry of invitations. Should I place them in the drawing room or at your writing desk in the parlor?”

“Invitations? So early?”

Lady Adlay shook her head. “There will be more interest in you now and thus, those who have soirees or the like in the next few days will wish for your presence so that it will be of a little more interest in those who attend.”

A flash of anger crossed Norah’s brow. “You mean to say that their event will gain a little more prominence if I attend, simply due to my supposed notoriety?”

“That is it precisely.”

“Then you may put them all on my writing desk, Clarke, so that I might leave them for some days until it is much too late to attend and I must beg off,” Norah stated, firmly. “And if there are any further invitations, then you may do the same with them also.”

The butler nodded and made to depart but Lady Adlay stopped him with a word.

“And you will make certain that none of the staff speak ill of Lady Essington, Clarke.” She spoke with more authority than Norah had ever managed herself and she noted how the butler’s eyes flared for a moment. “If they do, there will be dismissal.”

The butler glanced toward Norah but she gave him only a nod which, after a murmur of agreement that he would do as he had been asked, quickly withdrew.

“I apologize for speaking so forwardly to your butler but in your shock, I feared you would not think to do so.”

Norah shook her head. “I did not. Thank you for doing so.”

“The worst rumors and gossip always come from the staff, unless one is quick to make certain that any attempts to whisper as squashed.” Lady Adlay spoke with an air of confidence, as though she knew from experience that such a thing would occur if she had not spoken in such a way. “They will not yet be loyal to you.”

“My brother-in-law insisted that I have a new complement of staff,” she murmured, passing one hand over her eyes as she began to consider what it would be like for her now to step out into society. “Good gracious, everyone will be looking at me!” The thought of going out into town was now a most unpleasant one and Norah shied away from the idea. It would be almost unbearable to have so many people stare at her, to know that they would be talking about her the moment she had her back to them.

“You must not hide away!” Lady Adlay thumped one hand down flat on the table, startling Norah. “To do so will make the ton believe that you are the lady that Mrs. Fullerton saw.”

“She did not see me. She could not have done.” Norah spoke without thinking and saw Lady Adlay’s eyes flare. The color began to drain from her face but Norah quickly leaned forward, reaching out to grasp her friend’s hand. “That is not what I meant. I did not stay at a gentleman’s townhouse.”

Lady Adlay blinked. “I – I see.”

Norah closed her eyes tightly and let out a long breath. She would have to tell Lady Adlay the truth. “Forgive me. I spoke hastily. This circumstance has confused me greatly and I have spoken without thinking.”

“Of course, I quite understand.” The way she blinked and looked away told Norah that she was still rather troubled by what Norah had said. Biting her lip, Norah hesitated and then squeezed Lady Adlay’s hand.

“I must beg of you to keep entirely to yourself what it is that I wish to tell you.”

Lady Adlay’s eyes widened but she nodded fervently.

“The reason I know that Mrs. Fullerton could not have written that about me is because….” Taking another long breath, she closed her eyes. This is very difficult indeed. “It is because I am the one who writes for the society pages.”

Silence filled the room and Norah fought the urge to say anything more, opening her eyes to see Lady Adlay’s face suddenly very white. Releasing her hand, she sat back and waited for her to say something, while allowing the silence to continue to settle across them both.

“You – you are Mrs. Fullerton?” Lady Adlay’s voice was hoarse with shock and Norah nodded.

“I have not been so for very long, however,” she said, feeling the urge to make a further explanation. “I have recently taken on the responsibility.”

“Good gracious.” Lady Adlay’s eyes widened as she stared suddenly at Norah, as though she had only just seen her. “But then who is….?”

“I could not say,” Norah replied before Lady Adlay had asked the question. “But I am certain that it was not I who wrote such a thing!”

“That would make very little sense, I agree.” A tiny smile began to push at Lady Adlay’s lips, her shock seeming to dissipate somewhat. “Goodness, I would never have expected you to be the lady!”

Relieved that Lady Adlay was not about to explode with anger nor simply remove herself from Norah’s presence over what had been revealed, Norah returned her friend’s smile. “I am glad you are not furious with me.”

“Why should I be? The articles have always revealed the truth about someone or some situation that is to the benefit of society. There has never been any untruths and certainly never anything cruel written.”

“I am very glad you think so. I have been determined not to write anything that would cause upset or shame to those who do not deserve it.”

“Except now,” Lady Adlay continued, her brows furrowing, “you have someone writing an additional piece about you without having any knowledge as to who that person might be.”

“Or how they went about it,” Norah added, her frown growing. “I always send the articles with the greatest care, so that they will not be intercepted and so that there is very little chance that I will be suspected.”

Lady Adlay nodded. “Perhaps someone has been waiting for a letter to arrive at the newspaper’s premises and, upon seeing it arrive, has taken it and added a little to the end.”

“That may be so. I shall have to be a good deal more careful.”

“What can you do?”

Norah nodded slowly to herself, an idea forming in her mind. “I could make certain that the person who delivers my letters gives them directly to one Mr. Gordon and have a note from him returned to me, to make certain that it is his hand that has taken the letter.”

“That would certainly prevent this from occurring again if that is what they have done. They might also merely be sending their own letter in the name of Mrs. Fullerton, adding in a little postscript.”

“Then I shall inform Mr. Gordon that I have never sent and never will send a postscript. He will have to be informed that this was not my work.”

Lady Adlay reached to pour the tea, settling into their discussion. “One must wonder why someone has done this to you. Why would they attempt to injure you?”

A sudden fear grasped Norah’s heart. “Mayhap they have learned that it is I who writes such articles.”

“I highly doubt that to be the case,” Lady Adlay returned at once, softening Norah’s fears as she handed her a cup of tea and pushed the milk toward her. “I believe they will have simply done one of the two scenarios we have already considered. If you take steps to make certain they cannot do so again, then we must hope the matter is resolved.”

Norah nodded, lifted her teacup, and took a sip in the hope it would settle her stomach somewhat. “Although I must still face the ton over what has been written of me.”

“Then you must not allow it to shame you,” came the firm reply. “The ton will be looking to you, wanting to see your reaction to such gossip. If you remain steadfast and just as you have been before, then the rumors will soon die away. There will, no doubt, soon be something of greater importance for society to talk about!”

A sudden thought hit her and Norah’s chest tightened as she set down her tea with a rather loud clink onto the china saucer.

“Norah?”

“I – I was….” Giving herself a slight shake, Norah tried to smile. “Forgive me, Sophia. The thought of facing the ton has given me a good deal of trepidation.”

Lady Adlay nodded, although her eyes narrowed just a fraction around the corners. “Is there someone in particular that you now are more anxious to face?”

Lord Yardley.

She did not speak his name aloud but instead merely shrugged one shoulder in a most indelicate fashion, turning her head away from Lady Adlay’s for fear that she would somehow see his name written in her eyes.

“If there is, then I will say I am certain they will quickly ignore such nonsense, given they are already acquainted with you as I am.”

“Ah, but they may lack your trust and faith in my character,” Norah pointed out, a little sadly. “I may drop a good deal in their estimation.”

Lady Adlay sighed and nodded. “That may well be the case, I suppose. I should not like to be dishonest and pretend otherwise.”

The sudden, sharp pain that came into her heart at those words rendered Norah unable to speak for a few minutes. In her mind’s eye, she saw Lord Yardley turn away from her, no longer willing to have her in his company. He would not dance with her again, would not wish to speak to her again – she would be quiet without him.

And why does that matter so greatly to you?

Norah shook her head to herself and once more lifted her teacup to take a sip. At the last ball, she had been first offended by Lady Maude pushing herself into the fore and ignoring the fact that Lord Yardley had been in conversation with Norah rather than with her. She had then found her spirits sinking as Lord Yardley had seemed to be rather caught up with the lady but had told herself that it was quite understandable, given that the young lady was a diamond of the first water. Having turned away, she had never expected Lord Yardley to hurry after her but the sheer swell of joy in her heart when he had done so had been a little overwhelming. She had felt significant, had seen herself so in his eyes, even with Lady Maude glaring furiously at him from behind. Even when she had drawn attention to the lady, he had not looked back but had focused all of his attention on her.

What would he think of her now? Despite Lady Adlay’s assurances that the news would soon pass and that the ton would find something else to discuss, Norah’s heart began to beat a little more quickly as fear took hold. If Lord Yardley was to remove his connection from her entirely, Norah knew that there would come both upset and frustration – and she wanted to endure neither.

She could only hope that he knew her well enough not to allow himself to believe it. Yes, she could speak of it to him if he would permit her, mayhap laugh at the very notion in the hope that he would think it just as ridiculous as she, but there was always the chance that he would think it was true. And what would she do then?