“Viola, I’m sorry.” Now Alexandra was full of contrition. “But it was only a little kiss! Nothing more. Surely you don’t think I’d forget myself enough to do worse.”
“I don’t know anything. You slipped away with a man and went into the dark library, which looks very guilty. Girls have been ruined for doing that.”
“Ruined! It was nothing!”
Viola stopped. “A little kiss is nothing. But what would have come next?”
Alexandra blinked. “Nothing! Newton would never—”
“Perhaps not, but you don’t know him well enough to be certain of that. I would hate to see you make a terrible mistake next time.”
Alexandra flushed from her neckline to her ears. “Next time?”
“If you can do it once, you can do it again. The next time a handsome man whispers pretty words in your ear and begs you to sneak out with him, you’ll be more likely to go. After all, you got away with it before and bore no consequences.” Viola raised her brows at Alexandra’s shocked expression. “Don’t tell me it’s impossible. In London there will be many handsome men wanting to dance with you and kiss you, and some of them will not have restraint or honor.”
“But I never have a chance to do anything!” the girl protested, tears thickening her voice. “I’m always behind Serena, waiting for her to find a husband. Well, now she’s been jilted and I’m still waiting. All the gentlemen look at her first—next spring even Bridget will be out with me, and I shall just be the Cavendish sister in the middle. I’ll end up like Aunt Sophronia—”
Viola rolled her eyes. “Only if you wish to.”
“Newton’s very handsome! And eligible! Don’t you think Gareth would approve of him, if he knew?” she argued.
“If he knew,” repeated Viola with meaning. “I shan’t speculate on what your brother might do or say, if he knew, since neither you nor Lord Newton took the time or trouble to seek his approval before sneaking off for a bit of kissing. What do you think he’d say now?”
Alexandra bit her lip. “I shall explain to Mama. Mama will understand.”
“I hope so.” Viola was relieved that Alexandra had grasped the import of this moment. If the dowager could see that it was a harmless kiss, nothing much would come of it. No one else had seen anything, and even if the other guests had noticed Newton and Alexandra leaving together, that was proof of nothing. Viola could even say she had been with them, if it came down to it.
Of course, if the dowager grew upset that her daughter had been able to sneak off with a gentleman, there was one person to blame for failing to chaperone her: Viola.
They had reached the dowager duchess’s suite of rooms now. Viola put her hands on the girl’s shoulders and gave her a firm squeeze. “Chin up. Your mother was once a young woman, hoping to fall in love, flattered by a handsome young man’s attentions. She will surely understand what you’re feeling. But that’s no excuse to be foolish, and risk your reputation for a few moments of excitement. And don’t blame Lord Newton; unless he carried you off to the library against your will, you are as much to blame as he. You are a young woman now, Alexandra, and must take responsibility for your own actions. Be honest and true with your mother, and I have faith she’ll treat you fairly.”
The girl stared at her with dark, worried eyes. “Isn’t it monstrously unfair that such a trifling thing could cause such trouble?”
Yes. Viola felt uncomfortably aware of all the impure thoughts she had had about the Earl of Winterton recently, and how easily she could have been the one caught kissing in the library. He found her attractive; she sensed that if she gave him any sign, he would kiss her. Perhaps do more. Perhaps she had even agreed to go to the library with him because she knew he wanted to kiss her, and she wanted him to do it.
But she had even more to lose than Alexandra did. “Yes, but that won’t change anything. ‘It’s not fair’ is rarely a winning defense.”
A spark of pique animated her face for a moment. “It should be. Lord Newton won’t be judged so harshly over a trifling little kiss.”
Viola sighed. “His uncle looked very displeased with him. But that doesn’t affect you, which is why you must speak to your mother before anyone else does. Own your mistake and learn from it, so you don’t make a worse one later.”
Alexandra wilted. “All right.” She put back her shoulders and knocked on the door. It opened almost immediately, and Ellen let her in. Viola waited until the maid had closed the door before she let out her breath.
Chapter 8
Viola dutifully returned to the drawing room, but thankfully everyone else was ready to go to bed. No one asked where Alexandra or Lord Newton had gone, although Sophronia did murmur something about Lord Winterton with a sideways glance at her. Viola let it go. Tonight had been hard enough already.
So she did something she rarely did and helped herself to a bottle of port from the tray in the drawing room, then climbed the stairs to her rooms and shut the door.
Just looking at her apartment gave her a pang. The duchess had given her a luxurious room by servants’ standards, a comfortable bedroom with an adjacent sitting room. It was small, but it was private and it was hers. Even more, it wasn’t on the servants’ floor but tucked at the end of the corridor where the duke and duchess had their rooms, almost like a member of the family. That was to make it easier for her to answer the bell that hung discreetly near her bed, of course, and it was right next to the servants’ stair, but it still made all the difference. She could pretend that she was more Cavendish than servant.
It was shocking
