Chapter 19

Aurelia looked at her brother in utter disbelief. There was no scandal – she had done nothing wrong. She and Dawson had merely been talking. There was no impropriety. And as for a scandal involving Dawson – he was the perfect gentleman. He had not been in England long enough for a scandal to break. Aurelia refused to believe it. She knew him – she knew him better than anyone.

"Oh, nonsense – what do you mean?" Aurelia asked, looking from Reuben to her parents and back.

"Aurelia … how could you?" her mother exclaimed, and Aurelia cried exasperatedly.

"Just tell me what's happened. Please," she exclaimed, turning to Reuben with an imploring look on her face.

Her brother reached out and took her hand in his.

"Aurelia … it seems Dawson isn't the man we thought him to be – though we really didn't know him that well, either, did we?" he said.

"I've got to know him very well, thank you," Aurelia retorted, for in the past few weeks, she and Dawson had become close – closer than she knew she could admit to her family, at least for now.

"Then you'll know all about his illegal business dealings and front for racketeering in Kentucky, I suppose," Reuben said.

Aurelia stared at him in astonishment.

"I … but what do you mean? He owns a cattle ranch there. It's a perfectly legitimate business. He grows crops and keeps a herd of cattle," Aurelia replied, but Reuben shook his head.

"It's all a front. The cattle, the crops, the ranch itself – it's all for show. He's a criminal, Aurelia – he terrorized the county. Robbery, extortion, blackmail, threats – even murder. That's what Dawson really did in Kentucky. He's the rightful heir to the earldom, but he's also a wanted criminal," Reuben said, shaking his head sadly.

Aurelia could not believe what she was hearing – she refused to believe it. Dawson was a gentleman – a little rough around the edges and with certain ways about him that would never change, but in her dealings with him, Aurelia had come to know a man who was kind and caring, hardworking and determined. Dawson was a man of principles. An honourable man who wanted to do right by those he was responsible for. To hear these claims against him was to hear of an entirely different man …

"No, I don't believe it, Reuben. Where did you hear these vicious rumours? How can there be any truth in them?" Aurelia exclaimed.

She felt certain they were designed to discredit Dawson in the eyes of the ton – a grudge held against a man proving himself a success despite the odds being stacked against him. Now, she thought back to Silas' threat against Reuben – the revealing of a secret. But how could Silas know anything about Dawson's past?

"Roxanna and I heard them as we were dancing – I don't know the source. But everyone was talking about it," Reuben said.

"But Roxanna must know the truth. If Dawson's what you say he is, then Roxanna must be culpable. What does she say about it?" Aurelia demanded, still not knowing why news of Dawson's alleged past should cause such an upset surrounding her.

Even if the rumours were true – and Aurelia highly doubted it – why could a man not turn over a new leaf? Was forgiveness and mercy not part of the creed they recited every Sunday at Mattins? A man could make a new start if he so chose, and perhaps Dawson had come to England with that very intention. But as for being a terrorizer of the county, Aurelia could not believe it …

"She knows nothing about it. She went to wait for her cousin in their carriage. But it's him the rumours refer to – he's the one they're talking about. There's no smoke without fire, Aurelia," Reuben said.

"And most fires are started deliberately," Aurelia replied.

She suspected Silas' involvement in the matter. There was no doubting his obvious jealousy, and it seemed too much of a coincidence to think he had made a threat against Dawson on the very night when such a rumour was circulated. It was not a coincidence – Aurelia felt certain of that – and if she had come to dislike Silas or his behaviour towards her, she now had an even greater reason for doing so.

"You won't see him again," Aurelia's father said, and Aurelia now looked up at him in astonishment.

"But … are you truly going to base your newfound opinion entirely on rumour and hearsay? A day ago, you thought Dawson to be an admirable man – the experiments he was conducting, the improvements he was making to the estate, the way he had taken to this new way of life. I don't understand what's changed – apart from your believing a lie about him," Aurelia replied.

But her father now shook his head.

"And what of the rumours about my daughter? Are they true?" he demanded, and Aurelia looked at him in astonishment.

"What rumours?" she exclaimed, for she knew of no rumours concerning herself.

Reuben sighed. He still had her hand in his, and he squeezed it and looked at her sympathetically.

"Aurelia – Father's right. There's something else. It seems you've been … observed," he said, and Aurelia stared at him in astonishment.

"Observed? What do you mean?" she asked.

"Meeting men unchaperoned in gardens," Aurelia's mother exclaimed, and now she let out a wail, throwing her hands up in the air and descending into a fit of sobs.

Aurelia gasped. She shook her head, denying the charge emphatically, even as a horrible realization came over her. Silas had asked her to do just that – to meet him unchaperoned in the garden, and he had waited for her in the shrubbery.

"But … no, it's not true," Aurelia stammered, and yet there was an element of truth to it, and Aurelia knew well enough what a rumour such as this could mean for her.

The ton was not interested in nuances. A whisper – a hint of gossip – was enough for a rumour to grow and grow. If Aurelia was suspected of being compromised, there would be no question of defending herself. Her heart sank, and now she realized Silas had his revenge – the ruining of Dawson and the threat of engulfing her in scandal.

Only he could save her now – the offer of marriage, which her parents were bound to accept and force on her. He would claim to be saving her from a sorry fate and tell her he was willing to overlook the scandal – a scandal of his own creation.

"What were you thinking, Aurelia? Your poor mother. Can't you see what it's done to her?" the baron said, shaking his head with a look of the utmost disappointment in his eyes.

There was no point in protesting – of denying her guilt. The seed had been planted; the rumour would even now be spreading like a creeper. Aurelia was ruined, and Dawson, too. The last of the evening light was fading as they arrived home, and Aurelia hurried inside, wanting only to hide herself away and forget the sorry affair entirely. But as she entered the house, she found her sister waiting for them in the hallway.

"You're back early," Letitia said, looking curiously at Aurelia, who was struggling to hold back her tears.

"Yes, well … it was … a dull evening. You didn't miss anything," Aurelia replied, though she knew it would not be long before her sister discovered the truth.

Their parents and Reuben now hurried into the house, and Aurelia's mother barely looked at her, still holding a handkerchief up to her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"What's wrong with mother? Have you done something to upset her?" Letitia asked.

"It's nothing. Why are you even waiting for us like this, Letitia?" Aurelia demanded, for her sister was now smiling.

"Something's happened, hasn't it? You and Dawson," she said, and Aurelia glared at her.

"Why do you have to be so horrible, Letitia?" she demanded, and now she could no longer hold back her tears as she began to sob.

Reuben came to put his arm around her.

"It's all right, Aurelia. Let's get you up to bed," he said.

"But I want to know what's happened. Why is she being like this?" Letitia demanded.

"Just forget about it, Letitia. It's none of your business. You'll hear about it soon enough, I'm sure," Reuben replied, and now he led Aurelia upstairs to her bedroom.

Aurelia's maid had lit candles around the room, and Aurelia slumped into a chair by the hearth, sighing and shaking her head as Reuben drew the curtains.

"I just can't believe it's true – about Dawson, I mean," she said, and her brother turned and looked at her sympathetically.

"For what it's worth, I'm sceptical myself. But you know what it's like – the ton believes something, and that's that. Rumours spread, and I can only question where the rumour might've come from. Is there some truth in it?" he said.

"From Silas," Aurelia replied, and her brother looked at her in surprise.

"But … why? Aren't you in love with him, Aurelia?" he asked, but Aurelia shook her head.

"It's complicated," she replied, and now she explained what had happened between her and Silas and how she had been reticent about meeting him in the garden unchaperoned as he had suggested.

Reuben listened, nodding and shaking his head at the required intervals.

"I see … yes, it makes sense now. And the rumours about you? Have you been meeting men in gardens without a chaperone?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well … only Dawson. We met a couple of times outside, I suppose. But … there was no scandal in it. Mother and Father asked me to help him – that's what I've done. And there was Silas, too, but … I didn't think anyone knew about it," Aurelia said, and Reuben nodded.

He came and kneeled at Aurelia's side, squeezing her hand in his. She felt comforted by his presence – reassured by his apparent belief in her words.

"Circumstances can conspire against us, Aurelia. I'm sorry they've done so for you and Dawson. Do you love him?" he asked, and Aurelia nodded.

There was no doubt in her mind as to her feelings for Dawson. She had fallen in love with him, and now they had been forced apart, her feelings for him would only grow stronger.

"I thought I was in love with Silas. I know what you'll say – the same as Father said. That I'm too quick to allow my feelings to get the better of me. But I really do feel … well, at first, I didn't like him at all. Or rather, I assumed I didn't like him because he was a little rough around the edges, and I considered myself far too good for a man like him. But what a fool I was – and how grandly I thought of myself. Falling into the river taught me a lesson, and it's a lesson I've continued to learn from. Dawson is … different from other men. But I can't believe these rumours about him. I refuse to," Aurelia said.

Reuben rose to his feet and gave a weak smile.

"I believe you, Aurelia. But don't expect the rest of the ton to do so. I'm sorry, but that's the truth. As I said, the seed's been sown, and that's that," he said.

They said goodnight to one another, and Aurelia was left alone. She did not summon the maid to help her but readied herself for bed, her thoughts distracted by all that had passed that evening. It was all so terribly unfair. Worse than that, it was unjust. Dawson had been tried in the court of rumour and speculation and found guilty.

The same could be said for Aurelia, though she had to admit there was some truth in it, even as the truth related to the one who had spread the rumour first. There was no doubt in Aurelia's mind as to the culprit. Silas was the one to blame, and if he believed his actions had secured the prize he sought, he was very much mistaken.

"I wouldn't marry him if he were the last man alive," Aurelia told herself as she climbed into bed that night, sighing as she thought sadly of what had passed and of the look on Dawson's face as her father had led her away.

Was there any truth in the rumours about him? Aurelia hardly knew him – not properly, at least. But from what she knew of him, she could not believe he had done those things he was accused of, even as the merest doubt remained in her mind. As she fell asleep that night, Aurelia was left wondering what would happen next and if Dawson's disgrace would also add to her own undoing.