Simply Scandalous (46 page)

"But if you were never engaged to him . . . " Juliet
bit her lip in confusion. "Why would he tell me he was engaged to you if it isn't true? Why would he make
such a point of asking my permission to place the
notice in the newspapers?"

Serena shook her head. "Oh, Miss Wayborn!" she
cried softly. "I am very sorry for you because I can see
that you really care for the brute. But I can tell you something about Lord Swale that will cure you of that."

"You are mistaken, "Juliet said coldly. "I will be sick
forever!"

"I wish for your sake I were mistaken," Serena
replied sadly. "I'm afraid it is the talk of London.
When you beat him in the race, his lordship vowed
revenge.

"That is all in the past," Juliet scoffed. "That was
before he met me."

"Indeed! He vowed to follow you into Hertfordshire
and make you love him, ruin you if he could, and then
abandon you. I am sorry to pain you, Miss Wayborn,
but I heard it from Mr. Alexander Devize with my own
ears. They are taking bets in London as to whether
or not he will succeed in seducing you."

"I don't believe you," Juliet whispered, fighting off
a horrible feeling of dizziness. "He loves me! I know
it. He would never abandon me. You heard him say
he was engaged to me! So did Horatio!"

"But has he ever actually asked you to marry him?"

Juliet felt her blood run cold. The hairbrush fell
into her lap. "No," she admitted in a hollow voice that
exactly matched the hollow feeling in her chest.

"Has he ever declared his love for you?"

She shook her head. "He has never said it. Not even
in Latin," she added bitterly.

"If he has told you that he is engaged to me, it could
only have been to make you jealous, Miss Wayborn.
There is no truth to it. He never sought my hand, and I certainly would never have bestowed it upon him.
I don't know if I will ever recover completely from my
attachment to Horatio."

"Then it was all a lie," whispered Juliet, tears spilling
from her eyes. "He told me he was your betrothed to
make me jealous. And it worked. I was horribly, insanely jealous. Oh God, what a fool I have been! I
daresay he kicked off your shoe so that I would have
the pleasure of watching him restore it to your pretty
foot! The fiend!"

She struggled to breathe. "Why do we let them do
this to us?" she groaned.

"They use us however they please," said Serena bitterly. "They use us against one another. They use us
for their pleasure. They use us as broodmares like my
poor sister! From this day on, I am no more a romantic, Miss Wayborn. The facts are too much against
it. You are fortunate to discover his perfidy now. It took
me seven years to realize the truth about Horatio."

Juliet covered her face with her hands. "It does
me no good. It is too late for me now. He's done it!
He's done everything he set out to do. He has seduced
me. He has broken my heart. He's ruined me. And
if I sue for breach of promise, he will make my disgrace public. How could I be so stupid? He isn't even
handsome! "

Serena shook her head. "I'm very sorry for you, Miss
Wayborn. One thing I have learned though-they are
not worth drowning ourselves over!"

She smiled through her tears, but Juliet could not
smile back. "They may be worth being hanged for
murder for!" she answered, jumping to her feet.
"Please excuse me!"

She went directly to her brother's study.

Benedict was seated behind his desk. Swale was sitting in the armchair on the other side of it, cracking his knuckles. Both gentlemen rose as Juliet entered the room, and Benedict started forward. "How
is Lady Serena?" he asked his sister. "Is she quite
well? Does she require anything? Should I summon
the doctor?"

Juliet ignored the barrage of questions; strode past
him to Swale, who was grinning at her; and cracked
him across the face as hard as she could with the back
of her hand.

`Julie!" he spluttered. "What-"

Mercilessly, she struck him again, then doubled
over in pain, nursing her hand.

Benedict was too shocked to speak.

"You ... serpent!" she hissed at Swale, her face livid
in some parts and white in others. "I have just had the
most interesting conversation with Lady Serena, my
lord." Wincing as excruciating pain traveled through
her hand, she paused to rub it. Beyond an expression
of surprise, Swale seemed undisturbed by the two
blows he had received.

'What did the silly cow tell you that made you want
to hit me?" he demanded. "Whatever it is, it's a lie!"

"Is it?" she shrieked at him. "Is it a lie?"

"Calm yourself, Julie. You'll burst a blood vessel,"
Swale murmured, his face turning pale, except for a
pink mark her hand had left on his cheek.

She shook off his hand. "Is it a lie that you vowed
to seduce me, to make me fall in love with you and
then abandon me? Is that a lie, sir? Because, you
know, they are making book on it in London! Did you
come here to ruin me? Has it all been a game?"

"Oh, that," he said roughly. "Damn it!"

"Oh, that! Is that all you can say to me?" she cried,
shaking out her hand.

"Here." He clawed at his neckcloth until it came
free, then offered it to her. "Wrap up your hand,
you silly girl!"

She struck out at him wildly and missed.

"For heaven's sake," he said, sidestepping her easily.
"I will not let you hit me again until you have learned
how to do it without breaking your own hand!"

Juliet collapsed into a chair, weeping bitterly. "I
should have let Benedict throw you out when he
wanted to!"

"I daresay," he murmured. "I'd give you my handkerchief to cry on, but I seem to have already given
it to some other weeping female."

Benedict stepped forward with his. "Calm yourself, my dear," he said gently as she blew her nose.
"Now that I know absolutely, beyond a shadow of a
doubt that you are not engaged to him-"

"Engaged to him!" cried Juliet, flinging up her
head. "I had rather marry an organ grinder's monkey.
Indeed, he is the last man on earth whom I would ever
marry! I loathe him! Make him go away, Benedict! I
never want to see him again."

"For God's sake, Julie," shouted Swale. "I didn't
come here to seduce you. I went to Hertfordshire to
seduce you!"

"Oh!"

"I think you had better go, my lord," said Benedict
coldly. "You have upset my sister. You are no longer
welcome in my house. I will contact the Post and
have the announcement universally contradicted.
Good morning, sir."

Juliet sniffed loudly. "What announcement?"

"Never mind," her brother said gently. "I will deal
with the matter myself. Try not to worry, Juliet. Why
not go to your room and lie down?"

"What announcement?" she repeated.

"She gave me permission," said Swale, starting forward. `Julie, you know you gave me permission to put
that in! I dare you to deny it."

"You don't mean to say-" cried Juliet. "You don't
mean to say you actually did it?"

"Certainly I did."

"But you can't have done! You couldn't! Ginger, you
can't go about the place announcing you are engaged to people you are not, in fact, engaged to!"

"Not in fact engaged to! I like that, miss! "

Benedict hastily folded up the newspaper on his
desk. "My sister has told me in no uncertain terms that
she is not engaged to you. This announcement is meaningless, and the Post will be forced to print a retraction
or suffer a lawsuit! Juliet is a minor, and I never gave my
permission to print any such announcement."

"Let me see that!" Juliet demanded, jumping to
her feet.

"It will only distress you, my dear," said Benedict.

He tried to keep it from her, but Juliet succeeded
in wresting the newspaper from his grasp. She gasped
in shock, and all the color drained from her face. "It
says ... it says that you are engaged to me," she panted.
"Oh, Ginger!"

"Indeed," said Benedict, shaking his head, "printed
one thousand times!"

"That cost a pretty penny, let me tell you!" said
Swale.

"Not half as much as my lawsuit will cost you," Benedict snapped. "You can't go about the place, wil you
nil you, putting announcements in the paper ...

Juliet, meanwhile, had fallen back into her chair. She
looked at Swale shyly. "And the sandwich boards too?"

"Sandwich boards!" Benedict's eyes started from his
head. "What sandwich boards?"

"Two dozen," Swale confirmed, "walking up and
down Hyde Park at the fashionable hour between five
and six every evening for a month. `Geoffrey Ambler,
Lord Swale, is pleased to announce his engagement
to Miss Juliet Wayborn,' printed fore and aft. I think
I shall add the words Amor vincit omnia, my love.
`Love conquers all."'

Juliet pressed her hand to her breast. "But-my
name, Ginger? My name in giant letters on the sandwich boards?"

"Absolutely! "

"Oh, dear God!" Benedict whispered, turning on
Swale with fury. "How could you do such a thing? Are
you perfectly insane? Have you no regard for the
feelings of other people at all?"

"It was her idea!"

"And the commemorative plates?"Juliet inquired,
her eyes shining.

Swale shrugged. "Ready in six months."

Benedict watched in helpless astonishment as his
sister threw herself into Swale's arms and began to kiss
him passionately. `Juliet!" he cried, shocked. `Juliet,
stop that at once!"

Neither Juliet nor Ginger paid him the slightest
attention.