Chapter 21

CHAPTER21

“Ireceived an invitation this morning,” Gerald announced during breakfast the next morning.

Katherine was still feeling brittle from their conversation the previous night, but he appeared his usual self. She could only guess that he was attempting to bring things back to how they had always been.

“What for, Your Grace?” she asked quietly as she put a piece of pound cake in her mouth, not looking up at him.

“My mother had invited us to a dinner party,” Gerald said casually, causing her to look at him in concern.

“It couldn’t possibly be a good idea to attend,” Katherine retorted, her mother’s words ringing in her mind as she thought of showing her face in public. “We have a supposed scandal on our hands. A false one, but a scandal nonetheless.”

“A poorly created one as well.” Gerald sighed, dropping the envelope onto the table. Katherine looked at it intensely. “If I were to be a nosy member of the ton, I would have ensured my rumors to be backed by evidence.”

“My limp serves as enough evidence to them,” Katherine commented, her knife cutting into a piece of meat with increasing vigor. “It’s an eyesore to them.”

“Yet, if we do not show up, might we be acknowledging that the rumors as true?” Gerald asked.

Katherine felt bile rise in her throat as she thought about attending the dinner. More faces turning to stare at them, soft whispers following them. Yet, she couldn’t deny that he had a point.

“How stupidly childish this entire rumor is.” Katherine shook her head. “Causing a quarrel if we are to attend an event or not due to fear of the false rumor spreading.”

“I suggest we attend. Prove that the rumor is nothing but exactly that, a rumor,” Gerald said, placing his cutlery on his plate. “Put an end to it all.”

“I suppose you are right.” Katherine sighed.

No single part of her wanted to attend. She would have been much more at peace if left to her painting. Yet, she knew the importance of quashing the rumor. Both for herself as well as her husband.

* * *

Gerald smiled down at Katherine as they alighted from the carriage, flickering lights illuminating the party before them. They had to quash the scandal, and they knew exactly how to do it.

Katherine couldn’t help but smile back at Gerald, the two of them ready to face the world together. “Who might be attending tonight, in your opinion, Your Grace?” she asked as the two started to walk down the pathway, their arms linked.

“I suspect the usual people that my mother has befriended over the years. But I wouldn’t put anything past her. My mother has a tendency to surprise me at times with strange acquaintances.” Gerald chuckled, his voice growing softer as soon as people started to come into view.

A few, unfamiliar faces stared back at Katherine with raised eyebrows. This would have unsettled her, but confidence had surged within her as she made a plan with Gerald. He had a tendency to instill some strange, otherworldly confidence in her at the most unexpected of times.

Katherine felt at peace as she continued to navigate the crowd alongside Gerald, until some familiar faces caught her eye.

Simon stood near a corner, in the company of none other than Charlotte and Elias. Two of the last people that Katherine had expected to see. As she looked over at Gerald, he appeared just as perplexed about the presence of the Viscount and Viscountess.

Across the room, Katherine spotted none other than her own parents there as well, both sipping on glasses of bubbly golden liquid, silently judging all who walked past them.

“My goodness,” Gerald huffed under his breath. “I believe we might have a longer night than intended.”

“Your mother had invited the worst possible people to attend tonight,” Katherine muttered, scanning the room in fear that more questionable acquaintances might be awaiting her around the corner.

“Ah! Gerald!” the Dowager Duchess said cheerfully as she glided toward them. Katherine took a small step back, fearing that the older woman might crash right into them. “I see the two of you had decided to come.”

“We couldn’t possibly miss out on such a lovely evening,” Gerald replied, a bitter edge to his voice.

Katherine couldn’t help but wonder if her mother-in-law was too intoxicated to be reminded of their previous meeting. How she and Simon had stormed off after he had attempted to steal the candelabras.

“I see you have invited some unusual guests, Mother,” Gerald remarked, his gaze fixed on Elias and Charlotte, who were laughing along with Simon.

“Oh,” his mother said as she noticed who he was referring to. “I just wanted to keep friendly, so I invited them. I was out in town a few days ago and bumped into dear Charlotte. It would have been improper if I did not invite her.”

Gerald didn’t reply but gave a small nod in response. His eyes darted away to face the large dining table in the center of the room, servants already having started to lay an array of delicious dishes on it.

“The dinner party looks just lovely,” Katherine piped up, wanting to ease the tension between them.

The Dowager Duchess looked at her as if she had just intruded on their conversation. She gave a small nod in a fake gesture of thanks.

“I don’t know what my mother was thinking,” Gerald spat out as soon as his mother moved on to the next guests. “I would not put it past her to invite them all in an attempt to make us more uncomfortable.”

“Is it likely that she is still bitter about how I caught Simon stealing candelabras?” Katherine whispered, hoping there might be some way to clear the air with her mother-in-law, but she doubted it.

Across the room, Katherine caught her mother’s eye. Prudence’s entire body tensed up. Katherine could only assume that her mother was upset to see her walking about when she had instructed her firmly to stay out of sight. Her mother scowled at her.

“Should we approach them?” Gerald asked, subtly nodding toward her parents.

“I suppose we have no other option, do we?” Katherine sighed, once again linking her arm with his before slowly starting their walk toward them.

“Good day, My Lord, My Lady,” Gerald greeted in a charismatic voice.

Prudence and Peter looked up at Gerald, a bit startled by his tone.

“Good day, Your Grace,” Peter returned, reaching out a hand to shake Gerald’s.

Prudence continued to scowl at Katherine. “Katherine,” she hissed as she inched closer to her daughter. “Did I not ask you to keep out of the public eye? What madness had caused you to attend?”

“Mama, we have it all under control,” Katherine said calmly.

Prudence bit her bottom lip in both anger and anxiety.

Katherine had to make her best effort not to leave the party at once, knowing she had duties to attend to. The only thing keeping her confident at the moment was the dear presence of Gerald, who was unmoving in his stance.

“I see the guests taking their seats at the table,” Gerald commented. “I think it best if we take our seats too.”

Katherine nodded gently, then briefly waved a hand, excusing them from the conversation. She could feel her mother’s nervousness even though she had started to walk away. They must have already caused quite a stir by showing up in the first place.

“Someone does not appear to be so happy about the fact that we had decided to attend.” Gerald let out a chuckle.

He tried to suppress it in order to look sophisticated, but his efforts were in vain. A couple of people turned their heads toward him as he cleared his throat in an attempt to hush his chuckles.

The two sat down right at the middle of the table. A position that allowed them to be the center of both attention and conversation.

Katherine shifted around nervously for a minute but found all her muscles relax under the gentle touch of Gerald’s hand on her back. They were in a poor position. In fact, everyone looked at them as if they were in a horrible position. But Katherine waited patiently, knowing the perfect moment might arise to quash the rumors.

“Might I offer you a bit of wine, Your Grace?” a maid asked as she stood promptly at Katherine’s side. “A great selection had been brought out for tonight.”

“Oh, no, thank you,” Katherine responded with a wave of her hand.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Charlotte raising her eyebrows at her refusal. But she merely continued to smile as the maid moved on to the next guest.

Gerald quietly thanked the maid as she refilled his glass. As he raised his glass to take a sip, a high-pitched clinking noise rang out in the room. Everyone’s heads turned toward none other than the Dowager Duchess.

She stood up with her glass raised in the air. “Thank you all for attending this lovely dinner,” she began, a fake smile spreading across her face so obnoxiously that Katherine wondered for a moment if she truly was the same nasty woman she had come to know. “I appreciate your efforts to attend, and I heartily hope you’ll enjoy the meal. With nothing else to discuss, I invite you all to start to start the first course.”

A small pause followed, before voices started to fill the room once more.

“When might we speak?” Katherine whispered as she leaned closer to Gerald. She plastered on a smile in order to make the conversation appear less suspicious to any onlookers.

“I believe the correct timing would be indicated, thus I believe no worry is necessary,” Gerald said, returning her smile.

Beneath the table, he quickly reached out to grab hold of her hand, giving it a slight squeeze before releasing it.

“You have come, Brother,” Simon said with a scowl from across Gerald.

Katherine looked up, fearing they would start arguing before the first course was over.

“Indeed, we have. One can not miss out on such a luxurious meal,” Gerald replied promptly, smiling at him as if they had never had a single quarrel in their lifetime.

Simon appeared as if he wanted to say something back, but he pursed his lips instead. He took a slow sip of wine while glaring at Gerald.

The meal progressed uneventfully. Just a couple of strange glances directed at Katherine, especially from Charlotte, who didn’t sit far away from the pair. Katherine could only continue to smile as if she were living the most blissful life in the entirety of England.

“Well, I might as well follow my mother’s methods,” Gerald murmured, picking up an empty glass from the table along with an unused teaspoon.

Katherine watched as he pushed back his chair, before rising from the table. She felt her heart practically leap as she realized that this was the moment he had deemed perfect.

“May I have your attention?” Gerald called, clinking the teaspoon against the glass.

Katherine found the teaspoon unnecessary, his voice already strong enough to carry across the room.

The hushed conversations died down as all guests turned to face Gerald. His mother looked at him in utter horror.

“I have an exciting announcement to make,” Gerald said with a large smile on his face, his eyes crinkling. “I apologize to my mother for using her dinner party to do so, but I saw no better opportunity than tonight.”

A couple of whispers ensued, which Gerald eagerly allowed as he stared at the guests, the same smile still on his face. Katherine held her breath.

Gerald waited for the noise to die down once more. Even the servants had stopped what they were doing, turning to listen to him.

“I am pleased to announce that my wife, the Duchess of Powell, is pregnant.”