Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Edward breathed a sigh of relief as the music began to fade, indicating he would finally be rid of Alice. If she had not asked him to dance with her in front of several members of the ton, he would never have agreed. However, she continued to insist on Edward spending time with her, especially in front of everyone.

He knew what she wanted, but he was never going to give it to her.

Instead, he just wanted to find Ophelia. He had already danced twice with Ophelia, and if they danced a third time, it would appear rather rude and suspicious to the ton, and he had no desire to have any unnecessary eyes on him. Despite everything, he simply could not stop looking at her, his heart accelerating since the moment she had descended the stairs to leave for the ball.

In her pink gown, she was a vision.

I have never wanted anyone as much as I want Ophelia.

However, she is the one thing I could never imagine having. After the way I treated Margaret and caused the death of my very own sister, I do not deserve happiness. The guilt consumes me in a way where even if I were to have Ophelia in my life, it might not bring me happiness. I was unnecessarily mean to my very own sister and deserve to suffer for that.

The set finally came to an end, and Edward bowed down.

"Thank you for the dance, Lady Alice."

"Thank you, My Lord." He watched as Alice curtsied, her leg suddenly twisting as she fell to the ground.

Edward immediately held her shoulders, trying to pick her up, but looking closely at her face made him realize she was only pretending to be hurt. He was certain she could have fallen on purpose as well, just to have Edward closer to her.

He wished to leave her there on the dance floor, but since everyone around them had already noticed Alice falling, he could not be ungentlemanly in any way.

"I feel extremely faint, My Lord," Alice said, trying to sound in pain. "Will you please help me walk to the side?"

"Of course."

He allowed her to drop her weight on his shoulder as she stood up, walking towards the side with Edward's help. He wanted nothing to do with her, but he knew as the gentleman who had just been dancing with her and the one she was forcefully clinging to, he had no choice. He only hoped that Ophelia would not see him with her and draw wrong conclusions.

"Sit down here." Edward cleared an unoccupied chair for Alice by the refreshment table, making her sit down while she continued to act as if she was in extreme pain. He brought her a glass of lemonade, and she took one sip before discarding it, beginning to rub her hand over her chest. Edward stayed completely silent, unwilling to be a party to this absurdity.

"Lord Cavendish, I am unable to breathe."

"Pardon?"

"I feel constricted in the ballroom. It is much too dark, and I need fresh air, or I shall faint, and you will be to blame for not taking proper care of me. Will you please accompany me to the gardens?"

"Lady Alice, the ballroom is extremely airy, and I do not feel constricted at all. I believe you are imagining it."

"Oh please, Lord Cavendish, you do not understand. If you were a lady, you would know how tightly they wound our corsets, making breathing impossible. My head hurts, and my chest is beginning to feel heavy. I must go into the fresh air right now, or I will pass out." She fanned herself for added effect. "I am already feeling faint."

"Of course, I will accompany you," Edward sighed, never having felt more helpless in his life.

A smile suddenly came on her face, but she turned her expression, wounded again as if she was still in great pain. Holding onto Edward's arm, Alice forced him to make their way to the open balcony doors, which led straight to the gardens. Edward was not planning to go any further than the balcony, but the moment they stepped foot on it, she started walking even further ahead.

"Here is just fine," he said sternly, but Lady Alice, being the manipulator she was, almost began to cry.

"It is crowded with couples still. All I require is a few moments of peace so I can breathe in the open."

Arguing with her had not proven effective until now, and knowing Alice, she could attempt another act, which was to faint right in front of everyone again. Hence, all Edward needed to do was entertain her for a few more minutes before finally returning back inside. He wanted to look for Ophelia, realizing how horrible he had been to her during the dances.

His guilt had continued to consume him, making conversation impossible.

Edward breathed in deeply, realizing that in his daze, he had continued walking into the gardens beside Alice. They were already far away from the lights of the ball, right at the beginning of the dark hedges. Edward hastily stopped, not wishing to go any further. No one was around them, and if anyone found them here alone, things would be extremely unexplainable, only making the two of them seem guilty.

"We will be returning to the house now." He started to turn around, but Lady Alice blocked his path, standing in front of him.

"We are already here, My Lord," she smiled nauseatingly. "Just a little further from here won't hurt anyone."

Edward stared at her, completely confused. Every respectable lady of the ton was well aware of the consequences of being seen with a gentleman in the dark part of the garden. It damaged her reputation, and often, in most cases, they were forced to marry the men they were seen with to protect them from becoming complete social outcasts.

Oh good God.

He immediately understood her intentions, no longer fooled by her act. She was trying to do exactly what every young lady wished to avoid, which only meant that this was all her plan to trick Edward into marrying her. If they were discovered together and her reputation suffered because of him, he would have been too much of a gentleman not to marry her immediately, and Lady Alice would have been using that. She would simply go to any lengths to convince Edward to marry.

"I am disgusted with you right now, Lady Alice," his tone was stern, "we are going to return to the ball this instant, and I will pretend this did not happen."

"No, we won't." Edward backed away from her as she stepped towards him, her words uttered with extreme firmness.

"We will."

Edward began to walk back when she grabbed his arm, her other hand shooting up to his face as she pulled him closer. In his shock, Edward did not know how to fight her off for a few seconds, and she came even closer, standing on her tiptoes while she tried to kiss him. Once he realized what she was trying to do, he immediately pushed her away, walking back towards the house.

"Edward, stop!" she shouted, running towards him. She tried to stop him again, but Edward easily backed away, his anger rising.

"You need to stop with your scheming, Lady Alice," he tried to control his voice, "your plans are not going to work on me. Not at all."

"If you are not going to court me and marry me, I will have to find another way to make it happen."

"What other way? For me to compromise you so you can guilt me into marriage? You think we will have a happy relationship after you force me to enter a marriage I have no desire for?"

"I do not care!" she shouted, "Once we are married, you will learn to love me."

"Lady Alice, you must understand that I have never been interested in you in any capacity. I do not like who you are as a person, and I have never had any feelings for you. Your recent acts have only made me dislike you even more, and every time we are together, I cannot wait to get rid of you. I will never be happy with you or learn to love you."

"You are not going to ruin my plan," she said, clearly furious, "I am certain someone might have already seen us."

"I can assure you no one has, and no one will," he sighed, trying to calm down, "and if you do try to trick me into marriage through any means, I will make sure your reputation is torn to shreds, and you are ruined beyond repair. In any case, you will never be able to marry me. Remember that."

Edward began to walk away when she shouted again.

"Are you doing all of this because of Ophelia? Because you are apparently courting that nanny in front of the ton?"

How does she even know?

"Whatever could you mean?"

He watched as Alice's gaze narrowed, and she walked closer, appearing even angrier than she had moments ago.

"Oh my goodness, have you fallen in love with her?" she said insultingly, "how could you possibly love a servant?"

Edward immediately knew he shouldn't have reacted in this manner. Lady Alice was both cunning and cruel, and if she got the slightest hint of Edward's growing feelings towards Ophelia, she might take drastic actions against her and Ophelia did not deserve to be at the receiving end of Alice's hatred.

I must shift her attention away from Ophelia. Right away.

"Of course, I do not love her. She is nothing but a fa?ade to keep women like you from the ton away from me."

"I am not the gullible little fool you think me to be, Lord Cavendish," Alice retorted, "I can see the look in your eyes at the mention of her name, and God forbid it speaks of love."

Edward scoffed.

"I am an earl, Lady Alice," he replied, "I am never going to fall in love with someone beneath my rank. She is entirely unmarriageable and will never be good enough for me. Not wanting to marry you had nothing to do with Ophelia and everything to do with you being the most boring, unkind, and entirely selfish person I have ever met."

"You lie," she said, smirking. "Clearly, you are losing your mind over her and cannot see the love I have to offer you."

"You have nothing to offer me. Period," Edward said with finality. "You are as boring and plain as a woman can be, and you pride yourself on your social standing. You are materialistic, opportunistic, and vile, and you only wish to marry me because I am the most eligible bachelor of the Season. Had there been someone else, you would have been interested in him."

"That is not true, My Lord," she began to plead, but even her expressions reeked of falsehood. "I do love you and have never wanted anything but to marry you."

"I have eyes, Lady Alice. Stay away from me and everyone in my family, or I will make sure you cannot find anyone to marry in all of London, much less France."

Without waiting for her to reply, Edward turned around. He knew he had been harsh, but everything he said was true. However, he only hoped that Alice's focus would no longer be on Ophelia. He could tolerate anything but something happening to her because of him. That was the last thing he wanted, and he would make sure to see to it himself.

He was never going to let her get hurt.