Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Everything fell apart. Their plan had been well thought through, to the minute. And both Lady Elizabeth and Viscount Starling had done their roles perfectly. They had not anticipated that the Duke of Blackwood would be so eager to keep up with Miss Fairchild.

Their plan was costing her a lot of money. It was the only reason she was even hosting the ball. How could it possibly fail? That just didn't seem fair or possible at all.

Lady Elizabeth raced back towards the party. She needed to do some damage control if their plan was going to work. Her head was spinning with ideas of what to do to make sure it all still went ahead. There was a new plan in her mind within a matter of moments.

She would carry on as if nothing had gone wrong. That was the best plan. Nobody had seen her hiding there, and so they could not stop her from doing it. Lady Elizabeth would not give up. She was determined to be the new Duchess of Blackwood, and nothing would get in her way.

Lady Elizabeth picked up the pace. She wanted to seem out of breath and shocked when she made it back to the crowds of friends she'd invited that night. They needed to think that something was wrong. It was the only way her story could become convincing.

She paused just outside the doors to the ballroom and composed herself. It was time to put on her show and follow through with her end of the bargain. It was time to be rid of Miss Fairchild once and for all.

Lady Elizabeth entered the room, her back straight and poised but breathing deeply.

She searched for the nearest friend to her and approached quickly.

"We must speak," Lady Elizabeth informed her. "Come with me, Martha. It is important."

She made sure to look shocked enough that the woman couldn't possibly refuse the conversation.

"You won't believe what I've just seen," Lady Elizabeth started. In the meantime, she ushered other friends over to her. "I have to tell someone, or I'm afraid it will simply burst out of me."

"What is it?" someone asked. "What's happened?"

"I've just spotted something rather shocking in the garden," Lady Elizabeth explained. "Viscount Starling and Miss Fairchild. They were in a rather compromising position. I don't know what to think!"

There was a light gasp around them. "You mean …"

"Yes," Lady Elizabeth answered without letting them finish their question. "Who knows how long it has been going on like that? But it's clear that they know each other far better than any of us previously assumed."

"Miss Fairchild?" one of the women asked. "But nobody even knows her."

"He does," Lady Elizabeth said quickly. "In all manner of ways, it would seem."

"This is going to be quite the scandal," one of her other friends said. She was already breaking away from the group.

That was all Lady Elizabeth needed to do. She had chosen her friends carefully. She knew who would be quick to spread information and who would be inclined to elaborate on it, too. In fact, she was counting on it.

Then, all she had to do was sit back and let the chaos create itself. Word of mouth was all they could rely on then. That, and she had to assume that the viscount would find a way to talk himself out of the trouble he was in.

It didn't matter. By the time they all returned to the party, it would be their words against every guest in attendance. Lady Elizabeth smiled and helped herself to a celebratory glass of wine as she watched the story spread.

She knew where it was, as smiling faces quickly dropped their smiles and gasped and searched around for others with whom they could share the news. It reminded Lady Elizabeth a little of disease. Once one person had it, everybody in the room was at risk of catching it, too.

That was how her story would spread. Miss Fairchild would be out of her hair in no time, and she would be free to take The Duke of Blackwood as her husband. Something she'd been working on for some time already.

"Have you heard?" The Dowager Duchess of Blackwood said, coming up to her. "I always knew that Miss Fairchild was trouble. I knew it!"

"I more than heard," Lady Elizabeth explained. "I'm the one who caught them in the act. I can't believe they would behave themselves that way as guests of my home and party."

The pair shook their heads.

"Well, that's settled then, I suppose," the dowager duchess added. "This will be tough for my son, but I tried to warn him about her. She isn't good enough for him."

Lady Elizabeth struggled to hide her smile then. That was precisely what she wanted to hear. Miss Fairchild's reputation would be ruined beyond repair, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

All she had to do was wait for them to return. There was no way the duke would be interested in Miss Fairchild anymore. It didn't matter what he'd interrupted; the damage had already been done to her name and reputation.

That mattered in their society. In fact, for most families, it was all that mattered. Status meant power, and Miss Fairchild was quickly losing status in their world. She would be worth nothing in a matter of minutes, and she'd be stuck with Viscount Starling, too.

Lady Elizabeth felt proud of herself then. What she'd done had made her feel like a powerful woman, someone who could achieve anything by merely uttering a few words. It was magical.

By the time she reached for her next glass of wine, she'd heard the news from several people, and each time, the situation was more dramatic. Someone had even come to tell her that the viscount and Miss Fairchild had been found without any clothes on at all.

All she had to do was wait for the rest of the drama to unfold. Her party was going to be the talk of the town for some time. Already, she could picture her large wedding when she married the duke. The title simply suited her better. She'd already proven herself to be the more powerful woman.

Miss Fairchild simply didn't understand how the world worked. She was na?ve and not used to the circles she moved in recently. That would be her downfall.

*

Mark let go of the viscount's shirt. But he did not move from his spot. Miss Fairchild and Anna approached then. One look at Diana and Mark's heart seized in his chest. She was pale, and her cheeks were red from crying.

Even so, she looked so beautiful. It took every ounce of willpower in him then not to hurt the viscount for making the woman he cared about so afraid and in tears.

But there was also determination in her eyes then. She was angry at him.

"Speak," Diana demanded as she stared the viscount down. "You refuse to leave me alone despite my constant asking you to. Why have you done this?"

The viscount's face fell then. Shame took over him, and rightfully so. Mark still couldn't be sure that he wasn't going to hurt the man. But he was entirely certain that he wasn't going to move from that spot until the truth was revealed.

"Tell the truth now, or I'll make sure that you are seen for who you truly are," Mark warned him. "Your family name will not be able to protect you from me."

It was a real threat, one that the viscount would take seriously; Mark knew that. And it showed in the viscount's body language, too. His shoulders sank as he relented to it.

"We had a deal. Lady Elizabeth and me," he explained. "Miss Fairchild is a threat to her, you see."

"A threat?" Diana asked. "I have done nothing to her."

"You caught the attention of the duke," the viscount explained. "That's enough."

Mark's stomach twisted. He had known that Lady Elizabeth was bad news, but he could never have imagined that she would be so conniving and sneaky.

"She is behind this?" he asked.

"We both are," the viscount explained. "It was just a bet that got out of hand. I was to win over Miss Fairchild, and Lady Elizabeth was meant to capture you, Duke."

Diana's hand shot up to cover her mouth as her other hand cradled her stomach. It looked as though she was going to be sick. Mark turned to her a moment.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Diana nodded. "Shocked," she answered. "And I don't understand."

"You did nothing wrong," the viscount confessed. "Lady Elizabeth is a determined woman, and she wanted the duke no matter what it cost."

"So, what was the plan?" Mark pressed.

The viscount clenched his jaw as his eyes darted to find a way out. There was no way Mark was going to let him get out of there.

"You should take this up with Lady Elizabeth," he said.

"She is not here," Mark said. "It is not her hands I saw on Miss Fairchild's body. It was yours. We are not leaving here until I know exactly what is going on."

"She just doesn't see me," the viscount said. "I tried to win Miss Fairchild over; I really did. But she simply isn't interested. That doesn't bode well for Lady Elizabeth. So, we thought we'd force the courtship in some way."

Mark could hardly believe what he was hearing. It didn't seem real; it seemed too ridiculous to be real. It was difficult to believe that anybody could behave in such a way and speak of it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Miss Fairchild and I would be caught in a compromising position," the viscount continued. "You know how that would go. Word spreads like fire out here. She'd have no choice but to be with me."

"You make me sick," Diana spat. "How dare you."

"She's right," Mark added. "You are a sickening man. And you'll not set foot near Miss Fairchild ever again. Do I make myself clear?"

The viscount looked directly at Diana then. "This entire ball was thrown for this very purpose. Miss Fairchild was the target."

"Me?" she asked. "All of this just to embarrass me and ruin my name? Do you not have anything better to do?"

"Apparently not," Mark said.

"This is unbelievable," Diana said quietly.

She stared the viscount down. "What was in it for you?" she asked.

The viscount shrugged. "I would prove Lady Elizabeth wrong."

Before another word could be spoken, Diana's arm raised, and she slapped the viscount across the face. Her open palm landed on his cheek, leaving behind a red mark and a very embarrassed man.

"You are a pig," she accused him. "Anna, I'd like to go home, please. I don't want to be here a moment longer."

"Of course," Anna agreed.

"I'll walk you to your carriage," Mark offered. "It seems we cannot trust the company you are in tonight."

The walk was quiet, but Mark kept close to Diana. He could see the heartbreak in her. She did not stand tall the way she had when he'd first arrived there. Rather, she seemed smaller.

"I'm just having a terrible time," she said as she approached the carriage. "All this trickery. I must be a fool."

"Don't speak that way," Mark said kindly. "There is nothing wrong with you. They are bad people. Don't forget that. Bad people are not a reflection of you."

"Thank you," she answered.

Anna hopped into the carriage, granting them a moment to share some words.

"I promise you, I will make this right," Mark said. "I want you to get some rest, knowing that I will look out for you."

"You are kind," Diana said. "And I am so sorry for all of this. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't there."

"We don't need to worry about that," he answered. "I was there. That's all that matters. And we know the truth now."

"Thank you," she said softly.

"Goodnight, Miss Fairchild," Mark said with a smile.

"Goodnight, Duke of Blackwood," she answered with a smirk.

It was the first time that night he'd seen anything close to a smile on her face. It filled him with warmth and tenderness then. She looked more like the Diana that he had come to know.

"I'll come and see you soon," he promised. "For now, I have a party to ruin."