Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

J udith pressed her hand against her mouth as she listened to Aaron's words. How could she have been so wrong? She had truly believed that their kiss had meant something to him. It wasn't entirely meaningless.

She had been a fool. All along, she had known that his reputation was that of a rake. One of the worst rakes, in fact. He was known for his conquests. Wasn't one of the reasons she had chosen him to help her find a husband because he knew how to charm the ladies and thus teach a lady how to charm a gentleman?

And she had fallen for it. She had truly believed that he cared for her. How dumb. How incredibly foolish .

That kiss… it had felt so magical, so right. But no, it hadn't been. Perhaps she, in her delirious thoughts, had imagined it was special, but it hadn't been. It had been just another kiss stolen from another young lady.

Had she truly learned nothing from Amelia? From her brother? Should she not have listened to them?

"Well, I shall most certainly pursue her," Graham said as tears streamed down her face, caught by the back of her hand, which was still pressed against her mouth.

She stood up, her entire body shaking as she held onto the stone wall to her left.

"You should," Aaron urged. "The two of you are perfectly matched."

All this talk of him not being good for her had been nothing but poppycock. He had only said it to make himself feel better. To justify how he had allowed himself to fall back into his rakish ways.

Judith dropped her hand, and the tears continued streaming down her face. What was she to do now? Should she tell Oliver what his friend had done to her?

No, that wouldn't do any good. They might end up having a falling out, to be sure, but what good would that do? No. The best thing she could do right now was to pull herself together, find a mirror, fix up her face, and find Lord Leeds.

At the very least, what she had learned during this conversation was that Graham was genuine. He really did care about her. Unlike Aaron, who saw her as nothing but a nuisance, a plaything. Something that occupied his time longer than he would have liked.

She pulled her shoulders back and rushed deeper into the garden, in search of the back door. When she found it, she hastened inside and discovered that, fortunately, the Lord Chancellor and his wife had a great number of mirrors in their house.

She dabbed a handkerchief against her face, removing the streaks that the dark charcoal she'd applied around her eyes had left on her cheeks. It had carved rivers into her crushed white pearl powder, and it took some doing to fix it, but she managed.

Having fixed herself up, she squared her shoulders and raised her head, before making her way back into the ball.

She spotted Aaron in the corner, and he raised his hand to draw her attention, but she ignored him. Instead, she walked straight to Lord Leeds.

"Lady Judith," he said, swallowing down whatever it was he had just eaten. "There you are. I was looking for you. I have to ask you if you wouldn't mind joining me this weekend. I thought we could promenade at Hyde Park and perhaps go to the opera?"

"Of course. I would like nothing more. It is so wonderful to meet a gentleman who appreciates music as much as I do. But pray, I wish to ask… that is, if I am not being forward," she ventured, batting her eyelashes at him the way Aaron had taught her. "You mentioned earlier you wanted to dance again?"

His eyes widened, and a smile appeared on his lips. "I would love to dance with you again. I was afraid I was the one who was being forward."

"Not at all," she assured him. "How does the floor sound?"

He nodded his head firmly. "That sounds rather wonderful. Pray, I just ate a little cheese, but I am still rather famished. Would you care to accompany me to the banquet room to see what is on offer?"

Judith was not hungry in the least. In fact, she wasn't sure how she was going to get anything down, but she had to keep up appearances. She was going to show Aaron that he would not break her. She was not a burden. And if she felt she was a burden, then… well, she would unburden him by securing a wonderful match for herself.

The only thing that bothered her was that Lord Leeds was an upstanding, good man, one who hoped to make a life with a woman who loved him, and Judith was not entirely sure if she would ever be able to truly open her heart to him.