Chapter 15

Chapter 15

“Lady Colette Reed is here to see you, my lady.”

Amelia looked up when she heard the name. It took a moment for her to realize who Taylor was talking about. She lowered her pen.

“Lady Colette? Did she say why she wanted to talk to me?”

“She wouldn’t say it out loud but told me that it was very important and would be in your best interests to see her.”

Amelia snorted.

“Does she really think I’m going to be stupid enough to listen to her after what she did? It’s her way of coming in here and humiliating me again, and I won’t have that in my home.” She went back to her letter, dipping her pen in the ink. “Tell her to go away. I know you can’t use strong words, but if they slip out, then I won’t be upset.”

“I would happily do that, my lady.” Taylor paused. “However, Lady Colette said that it was about Lord Silverwood. That you absolutely have to listen to what she has to say as it proves that it’s not just her and Lord Sutton that you have to worry about.”

Amelia paused. What on earth did that mean? It would be Lady Colette’s way of getting inside the house so she could be rude to her again and embarrass her. But what would Lady Colette gain by doing it inside the house when the only people around were the servants? Her father had gone out to his club, but Lady Downe was in the drawing room.

If she became aware of Lady Colette after what happened, she would be scolding the girl before throwing her out. The younger woman certainly had a lot of nerve coming to the house after the public confrontation the day before. Amelia was aware that Lady Downe wanted another chance to verbally tear Lady Colette apart.

But curiosity was getting the better of her. Amelia wanted to see what the girl had to say, but she couldn’t bring her into the house. Not if she didn’t want her mother to hear them. She put her pen down and stood up.

“Send Lady Colette around the side of the house. I’ll meet her by the bird table near the rose garden. We can be there unobserved.”

“Yes, my lady.” Taylor peered at her. “Are you sure about this, though? I just want to be certain for you.”

“I’m not sure about it, but I want to hear what she has to say for herself after what she did.” Amelia headed towards the door that led into the garden. “I’ll hear her out and then she can leave. I hope this is an apology as well. Otherwise she’s going to get a tongue-lashing again, this time from me.”

When they were on her family’s property, Amelia had no intention of holding back.

She made her way around the back of the house towards the rose garden. At that spot, they would be hidden from the house, and Lady Colette could make a quick escape back to the driveway.

A glance at the front of the garden, before she ducked behind the bushes, showed no sign of a carriage. She must have left her transport out on the main road and walked up; if Lady Downe heard someone arriving, Lady Colette would have been thwarted before she got to the front door.

The marchioness was still furious about what happened in the street. Amelia was just as angry. The shock had faded away to rage, and she was only just getting it to ease off. How anyone thought they could do that without someone speaking up was beyond Amelia. It also felt laughable that they would try and paint her as a harlot when everyone knew that Amelia was not like that at all.

A few people had commented out loud that calling Amelia such things when she was the opposite was ludicrous, so even if Lady Colette and Lord Sutton tried to spread that rumor further, they would be laughed at, and Amelia’s reputation wouldn’t have much of a dent in it. She would be all right, except for the fact that two people who seemed to hate her were harassing her.

Maybe she should say a few strong words to Lady Colette’s family herself if this was much of the same thing. Amelia knew that her father wanted to speak to the other girl’s father about her actions if he hadn’t heard about it already. Accusing another lady of something and being proven false was definitely going to be the talk of the ton for a while.

If she was aware of that, why would Lady Colette come back? She couldn’t think that this was a good idea.

Nevertheless, Amelia’s interest was piqued.

It wasn’t long before Lady Colette joined her, and she slowed when she saw Amelia. They glared at each other, Amelia with her arms folded as she waited for the other woman to start talking. But Lady Colette was silent, simply glowering at her.

Amelia sighed.

“I’m not here to play games, Lady Colette. You have a lot of nerve coming here after what you’ve done.”

“You deserve to know this, Lady Amelia.”

“Know that I’m doing what I want with my life and refuse to be dictated to by other people about what I should do with my future?” Amelia shot back. “You’ve already embarrassed yourself in front of others by falsely accusing me of being a loose woman, and you’re aware that my parents are furious with you. Do you think coming here to do that again is a good idea?”

Lady Colette arched an eyebrow.

“If you think that I’m coming back to accuse you of what I did, why did you agree to see me?”

“Because I’m a glutton for punishment, perhaps. I want to tell you one last time to stop harassing me. Otherwise I’m going to be the one giving your parents very strong words about how you have behaved. I doubt they raised you to be so rude and disrespectful.”

Lady Colette shrugged.

“I was just playing a part, that’s all. It was all part of the plan.”

“What plan?”

“To get Lord Silverwood more endeared to you. He was meant to be there and rescue you from our public tirade, after all.”

Amelia was more confused than ever. What was going on here? Lady Colette was talking about this as if there was some devious plan going on.

“What…I don’t understand. What do you mean by that?”

“You haven’t figured it out by now?”

“Figured what out?”

Lady Colette giggled. It didn’t sound very nice.

“Well, I knew you were a little soft in the head, but I didn’t think it was this bad.”

“Stop insulting me, Lady Colette, unless you want me to do something very unladylike.” Amelia indicated their surroundings. “There’s nobody here to witness us. So I suggest you speak plainly and refrain from being rude because my patience is wearing thin incredibly quickly.”

“You’re threatening me already? That’s not very polite.”

“Neither is what you did, so why don’t you get to the point instead of throwing more barbs in my direction. After what you did, I’m in no mood to listen to anything further you have to say regarding me. So speak about what you came to say and then leave.”

Lady Colette’s eyes narrowed. Amelia wondered if anyone else had spoken to her like this. She knew that she was being somewhat rude, but she didn’t care. She wanted the girl to leave. Dancing around the subject wasn’t going to make her feel any better.

“Fine. If that’s how you want it.” Lady Colette straightened up, her eyes gleaming. “Your courtship with Lord Silverwood is fake. He never came to court you because he liked you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It was a bet. Lord Sutton made a wager with him to court you for a month and then break it off at the end. Nobody believed that you would actually accept it, but if you did, then Lord Silverwood was to end the courtship after a month while making you believe it was real.”

The words felt like Amelia had been slapped. For a moment, she didn’t believe them. Edmund was not like that. Why on earth would he do something as horrible as this? That was just cruel.

Amelia didn’t want to think that he could do something like that. But there was something nagging at her, making her aware that there was some semblance of truth to it.

“I…why would he do that?” Amelia asked faintly, trying to keep her composure. “Why would he agree to something as horrible as to court me for a month and then cut me off?”

“Because you’ve rejected so many people in the past,” Lady Colette sneered. “Those rejected were unhappy and wanted to get their own bit of revenge.”

“By doing something as childish as this and bringing in one of my friends?”

Lady Colette barked out a laugh.

“Friend? Lord Silverwood has never been your friend. He doesn’t even like you. Despite what happened yesterday, he doesn’t care for you at all. That was all part of the act to endear him to you. It’s all acting.”

Amelia felt her chest tightening, and she felt sick. Of course, this could all be a ruse and Lady Colette was doing this to upset her, to put a wedge between her and Edmund, and yet she didn’t think this was a ruse. The girl was telling the truth, and she appeared to be reveling in it.

“What do you get out of this?” Amelia asked, swallowing back the bile in her throat. “Why are you telling me this now?”

“Lord Silverwood is mine. He doesn’t know it yet, but he and I are meant to be together. But because of this bet, he’s not paying any attention to me, and I’m fed up with this. It was amusing in the beginning, but it isn’t anymore.” Lady Colette looked smug. “So I want this to stop, and then I can step in and be the proper future wife that Lord Silverwood deserves.”

“With your attitude? He wouldn’t look twice at you.”

“Oh, he does. Trust me on that.”

Amelia didn’t believe it, but she did believe that Lady Colette wanted Edmund to herself. She was willing to blow this out of the water to get what she wanted, and she was content to hurt people in the process.

Taking a deep breath, Amelia stepped around the other woman and started walking towards the house.

“You know your way out,” she said curtly. “It’s best that you leave.”

“You deserved to know the truth, Lady Amelia,” Lady Colette called after her, her tone mocking. “I would hope someone would tell me if I was in the same situation.”

Amelia didn’t respond. Much as she wanted to go back and put her hands on Lady Colette, she stopped herself. It might make her feel momentarily better, it would fade after a while.

She was also close to bursting into tears, and Amelia wasn’t going to give the girl the satisfaction of seeing her break down over what she told her.

***

Edmund was still angry the next day. Mathilda had done her best to calm him down, but Edmund was not to be pacified. John and Lady Colette had attacked Amelia’s character in the middle of the street and humiliated her. It had been satisfying to see Lady Downe scold the pair of them, but it wasn’t enough. Edmund wanted to do that himself.

He wanted to know why his friend had suddenly done this. If it was to tip the bet in his favor and make Edmund lose, then that was bad conduct. It wasn’t gentlemanly behavior, and yet John chose to do this. Edmund wanted to shake him and demand to know what was going on in his head.

So once he woke up and had his breakfast, Edmund headed over to John’s house. His mind turned over everything that had occurred the day before, seeing the genuine hatred in his friend’s face. He might have been acting, but his emotions were real. All that was due to him being turned down by Amelia?

Edmund didn’t blame her for that, not when John was reacting this way.

He was admitted, much to Edmund’s relief—he had visited often enough that he didn’t need to send his card ahead—and he found John in the morning room. Lady Colette was with him, and that made Edmund stop in surprise. She had looked somewhat smug while she looked at John, but that changed when she saw Edmund come in, her smile fading.

Edmund was now on his guard. They were definitely up to something, but what? John recovered first and approached Edmund with a wavering smile, looking unsure of himself.

“Edmund, this is a surprise. I wasn’t expecting you…”

“Obviously.” Edmund’s growl was enough for John to stop where he was. “What are you playing at, John? Are you that fragile that you want to ruin a woman’s life with stupid lies?”

John blinked.

“What?”

“Don’t play dumb with me! I was there, remember? And I heard what you said about Amelia. That would be disgusting aimed at any woman, but to do it in a public way? What did you hope to gain by doing that? Did you want to make yourself look worse with such stupid actions?”

John held up his hands.

“Careful there! You’re going to burst something if you keep this going.”

“Well, then explain yourself!” Edmund snapped. “All of this because someone said no to wanting to be courted by you? How childish can you be?”

“Childish? You agreed to the bet yourself. I’m not at fault here!”

“You’re at fault for attempting to make Amelia look like a harlot!” Edmund shouted, making both John and Colette jump.

“I get that you’re not happy about being turned down, but it happens all the time. You just have to swallow your pride and move on and not waste your time over someone who doesn’t want you around. Do you think being upset over someone saying no is an excuse for your behavior? I can see why Amelia turned you down now. She must have seen something in you that said you were not going to be a good match for anyone.”

“It was her idea!” John suddenly pointed at Lady Colette. “If she hadn’t goaded me and suggested we do this, then it wouldn’t have happened!”

Lady Colette’s head snapped up, and she stared at John open-mouthed.

“What…you agreed that we should do this?” she protested. “It wasn’t all about me!”

Edmund thought he had misheard. They had planned it together? The guilty look on Lady Colette’s face suggested that she had absolutely done this, and that she was the instigator. Edmund stepped towards her.

“What did you hope to gain from that?” he asked coldly. “Why would you do something as awful as this?”

Lady Colette shot to her feet, pointing at John. Her eyes flashed.

“You’re not going to blame him for any of this?”

“I’ll blame as many people as possible who were involved yesterday. Just tell me what was going on in your head and why you thought it was a good idea.”

John snorted.

“You haven’t noticed? You didn’t realize that there was someone who wanted your heart and was better for you?”

“What…”

Then Edmund realized what he meant. He stared at Lady Colette, who was still showing her anger, but tears were filling her eyes. He felt nauseous as clarity set in.

“You did this because you wanted to be in Amelia’s place?”

Lady Colette snorted.

“She never had a place beside you. That was always going to be mine. You were just using her for a bet, and I was fed up. I couldn’t wait a month.”

“And you never considered the fact that I might not think the same way?”

“How do you know if you don’t try?”

Edmund barked out a harsh laugh, which made both John and Lady Colette jump. Edmund paced away.

“I can’t believe this. You two wanted to humiliate Amelia so John could win the bet and Lady Colette could have me instead? Could you two be any more childish?”

“Lady Colette is a better choice for you…” John began, but Edmund cut him off.

“Absolutely not. I wouldn’t have looked at Lady Colette even if I wasn’t a part of this ridiculous mess. She would have found that out eventually.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t want it to be this harsh, but she was going to find out sooner or later. To do this to get my attention? That’s just pathetic and makes me wonder if she would be a good partner for me, anyway.”

Lady Colette’s face paled, her mouth dropping open as her eyes widened. John looked equally surprised.

“You would prefer Lady Amelia over her?” he sneered. “Someone who wouldn’t give anyone else the time of day?”

“I would absolutely prefer Amelia over anyone else.”

Edmund was adamant about that. He didn’t care if they thought it was ridiculous; he would pick Amelia first over everyone. He loved her, after all.

The knowledge that he loved her settled on his shoulders and Edmund felt something shift inside him. It made him feel good but uncomfortable at the same time. He was going to have to tell Amelia the truth about the bet and hope that she would forgive him.

He glared at John, who still looked surprised at his outburst.

“Your pride is more important than anything else, isn’t it? I don’t know how you and I have been friends for so long. All of this because of a bet you wanted to use as a way to humiliate Amelia?”

“You got involved as well!” John protested loudly. “You agreed to the bet! I’m not the only guilty one here!”

“And I sorely regret it because now I need to have a long talk with Amelia about it and hope that she’s not going to pull away.”

“She already knows,” Lady Colette murmured.

“Edmund spun around and stared at her.

“What?”

“I went over to tell her the truth about what was going on.” Lady Colette lifted her chin and gave him a defiant look. “She knows that you took part in a bet that was revenge for her actions. To say she was shocked was an understatement.”

Edmund couldn’t believe that Lady Colette even thought that was a good idea. Now Amelia was aware that he was just as awful as the pair before him.

Fighting back his anger, Edmund took a deep breath.

“You are awful people. The pair of you. I was prepared to make things right and set things straight with Amelia, and you two just made a mess of it.”

“So what?” John scoffed. “If she’s upset about it, she deserved it.”

Edmund reacted without thinking. His fist hit John in the face and his friend staggered back before falling to the floor. Lady Colette screamed, her hands over her mouth. Edmund flexed his fingers, feeling the throbbing in his knuckles. John sat up slowly, his fingers touching his nose, which was now bleeding.

“Not very gentlemanly, I will admit,” Edmund said, his heart pounding. “And doing it in front of witnesses is not ideal, but I’m at the end of my tether with the way you’ve spoken about a woman who’s done nothing except be herself. I’m ashamed of your behavior, and I’m embarrassed that we were ever friends.”

John didn’t respond. He just stared in shock at Edmund as if he never expected this. Edmund ignored him, turning to Lady Colette, who was looking like she was beginning to realize the repercussions of her actions.

“As for you…” Edmund took a moment to compose himself before he said something that would make their ears burn. “Never come near me again. I don’t care if we’re at the same social gathering, you will stay away from me. I don’t want to interact with you once I step outside this room.”

“Please, forgive me!” Lady Colette begged. “I only did…”

“I know why you did it, and it’s just made you look even worse than you already are.” Edmund headed towards the door. “If you’re going to plan anything more, I’ll find out, and I won’t be as restrained next time. Not after the way you’ve hurt Amelia.”

“She deserved it!” John shouted. “She needed to be put in her place!”

“If you don’t want me to beat you again, I suggest you shut up.” Edmund glanced back as he opened the door, seeing John’s face blanche. “You know I will always win.”

Then he left, hurrying out of the house. If he was quick, he could get to Amelia and explain everything. And it would be a waiting game to see if she forgave him.

Even as he told himself this, Edmund had a sinking feeling in his stomach.