Chapter Nineteen
Derek saw Danette sitting with Melissa and Chloe, and since the three seemed to be having a good time, he opted to delay going over to her. So, instead, he found a chair and reclined in it, only half paying attention to people as they danced.
Instead, he tried to figure out why Danette enjoyed balls so much. He supposed looking at the dresses would appeal to a lady, though it did little to interest him. However, it was somewhat interesting to watch everyone.
There were even a couple of humorous moments. One lady got her hair stuck in her fan. Then there was a lady whose dress ripped in the back when she sat down. On the other side of the room, a gentleman was talking to a lady when the violinist nearby lost control of his bow and the bow hit him on the behind.
The one that made Derek laugh out loud involved three people who were victims of circumstance. There was a gentleman who was pouring himself a glass of brandy. He happened to be standing close to a lady who was sitting. Someone passed by, not watching where he was going and knocked into the poor gentleman. The gentleman, in turn, lurched forward and poured half his glass of brandy into the lady’s hair. The lady shrieked, jumped up, and gave him a good slap before storming off.
Perhaps this was the appeal Danette found when she came to these balls. Simply watching people was turning into an enjoyable pastime.
“They add nothing of benefit to Society,” a familiar voice said. “But we need them.”
Derek glanced over at the two couples who’d stopped close by him. The person he’d overheard happened to be Lord Riggley. Derek’s expression darkened. He’d tried not to think of that day when he’d caught the gentleman slipping out from Christina Leith’s home, and for the most part, he’d succeeded. As Danette had pointed out, so many people had affairs it shouldn’t bother him. But it did. What good were vows if people didn’t keep them?
“Oh, I couldn’t agree more,” Lady Cadwalader agreed as she fiddled with her glove that was too tight for her plump hand. “One almost feels sorry for their lot in life. They’ll never have it any better.”
“You shouldn’t be so cruel,” Lord Cadwalader admonished, though Derek sensed he wasn’t all that upset by her comment. “They have a place to fill. Someone has to be in the lower middle class. Not everyone can be like us.”
“You’re right, I suppose,” Lady Cadwalader relented. “Who else would do the menial work?”
“Exactly,” her brother, Lord Riggley, replied with a nod. “It’s much like the animal kingdom. You have those at the top, like the lions in Africa who roam the open fields, and then you have the rats like the kind we have scampering through garbage. Each animal has its place.”
The lady standing next to Lord Riggley snorted. “No one benefits from rats. They’re filthy creatures. I wouldn’t want one in my townhouse.”
“I wouldn’t either,” Lord Riggley said. “I’m just saying those disadvantaged people are still a part of Society, and we have to bear with them whether we like it or not. There is no getting rid of them.”
“Not with how much they breed,” Lady Cadwalader muttered.
Derek told himself he shouldn’t intervene. He even looked over at Danette to remind himself why he had promised her he’d no longer make embarrassing scenes in public.
But then the lady next to Lord Riggley said, “Maybe if we don’t feed them, they’ll go away and breed elsewhere,” and not a single person protested. In fact, they all laughed.
Derek bolted up from his chair and stormed over to them. “I’m dismayed, truly and completely dismayed,” he snapped, his voice rising with each word he spoke. “How dare you stand here and joke about people who aren’t as wealthy as you?”
Lady Cadwalader narrowed her eyes at him. “People earn the position they’re in, Doctor Westward. If they wanted to improve their lot in life, they would.”
Derek clasped his hands behind his back and directed his attention at her. “It’s not Doctor Westward anymore. It’s Lord Dodsworth. And do you know how I acquired the title? My brother died and left it to me. There was nothing I could have done on my own effort to move up to what you consider the lion of all animals. And what of you, my lady? Did you work your fat bottom up the rung of Society through hard work and effort? No. You were born into a wealthy family. The only contribution you’ve made is eating everything on your dinner plate.”
Lady Cadwalader gasped.
“Meanwhile,” he continued, barely aware the music had stopped and a group of onlookers had turned their attention to him, “the rest of you haven’t done a single bit of work in your entire lives. All you do is run from one social activity to another. Today, it’s the ball. Tomorrow, it’s the theatre. After that, a dinner party. Life is nothing but one big meaningless blur for you. When you’re dead, no one will even remember or care who you are. You will have made no valuable contributions to Society.”
Lord Riggley stepped in between him and Lady Cadwalader. “I will not stand idly by while you talk to my sister and friends this way.”
“You won’t?” Derek asked, recalling that day he’d caught the gentleman sneaking out of Christina Leith’s house. “But you’ll stand right here at this ball and compare the lady you’re siring children with to a rat?” Pointing a finger at him, Derek added, “You know very well I came by that day to pay a certain lower middle class lady a visit to confirm she was with child. But what you didn’t know is that I figured out she’d been intimately engaged with someone in her bedroom, and this person wasn’t her husband. So I waited until you emerged from the back of her house, and I followed you as you scurried away to your townhouse. How many children have you had with her? Do you even have enough decency to help provide monetary assistance for them?”
Lord Riggley’s face turned as white as a ghost. He fumbled around for something to say, but nothing came out that was coherent.
“I don’t think this is appropriate,” Lord Cadwalader barked.
“In my opinion,” Derek said, ignoring Lord Cadwalader, “the real rats in London are standing right in front of me.”
Then, since they happened to be close to a table with an assortment of foods, Derek picked up two handfuls of cheese and tossed it at them, only finding mild satisfaction as they squeaked and scampered to get away from him.
“The lot of you disgusts me,” Derek shouted over their protests as they struggled to get bits of cheese out of their hair and off their clothes.
Done with his rant, he spun on his heel and headed straight for the exit, much as he had in the past whenever an evening turned sour. It wasn’t until he was almost out of the room that he remembered he’d come with Danette. And worse, she had seen the entire thing.
Deciding he’d already done enough to embarrass her, he left. The last thing he was going to do was put her through any more humiliation by going over to her.
***
Danette could feel everyone’s gazes going right to her as Derek left. Next to her, neither Melissa nor Chloe spoke. In fact, no one said anything. The room had gotten so quiet a person might hear a pin drop. She was too stunned to move, let alone grasp what had just happened.
And then, out of nowhere, Logan got up on a chair and clapped his hands. “I couldn’t have said it better myself. I think it’s about time we stopped acting as if we’re better than everyone else. Why, my darling wife had a father who worked hard to get to where he’s at today. He didn’t have much to his name when he was a lad. But today, he’s wealthier than half of the people in this room. That shows what determination and hard work will do. I’m proud to be his son-in-law.”
Danette glanced over at Melissa, wondering what she thought of being singled out like that. After a moment of shock, Melissa’s lips curled up into a smile.
Lord Edon pulled up a chair next to Logan and stood up on it. “I was born into wealth. I did nothing to earn it. Well, I did win a lot of wagers and games—”
“You won all of them,” Mister Christopher Robinson called out.
“My point,” Edon continued, “was that I didn’t have to work for it. It came easily to me. And I bet if you weren’t born into it, you married into it. I know Lady Cadwalader and Lord Riggley were born into their money. Lord Cadwalader married into it. As for the lady standing next to Lord Riggley, she wants to marry into it. All of us are here tonight because we were fortunate enough to be born into it, or we hope to marry into it.”
“Some even come here to make wagers in hope of gaining wealth that way,” Logan added. “All Lord Dodsworth did tonight was stand up for a group of people who aren’t here to represent themselves, and I say it’s long overdue we stopped criticizing people when we haven’t been in their situation.”
Melissa pressed her hand over her heart, her smile growing wider. “Sometimes he makes me so happy I married him.”
Then, without another word, she went over to him and got up on the chair next to him. “This is our ball, and we fully support what Lord Dodsworth did this evening. If you feel it necessary to speak rudely about people who aren’t here to defend themselves, you may leave.”
For the longest moment, nothing happened. They all stood completely still, no one moving or even blinking. Danette wasn’t even sure they were breathing.
Then, with a loud huff, Lady Cadwalader said, “I didn’t create Society the way it is, but since we are allotted our certain station in this life, then I see nothing wrong with sticking to the social order of things. Otherwise, we’d have chaos.”
She proceeded to leave the room, her husband following close behind. Other people—probably about half the room—also hurried out, and Danette couldn’t help but notice Lord Riggley was one of them.
Danette frowned as it finally dawned on her that Lord Riggley was the gentleman Derek had been talking about the day he’d come home upset over finding out one of his patients was having an affair. At the time, she’d figured it was nothing to get upset over because so many people found lovers. It’d just seemed to be the way things were in London.
But to realize Lord Riggley could have an affair with a lady and refer to her in public in such a degrading way proved just how shallow the Ton was. No wonder Derek despised the Ton.
Seeing how those prominent members of the Ton cared so little for others made her understand how useless their opinions really were. Why should she care so much about them? What mattered were the people she loved and cared about.
She turned to Chloe, who hadn’t seemed to come out of her shock yet. “I need to find my husband,” Danette said. “Thank you for bringing us together.”
Danette rose to her feet and hurried to find him.
Chapter Twenty
Derek had just finished packing enough clothes and grooming supplies to get him through the next few days when Danette came running into his bedchamber.
“I’ve been looking all over for you,” she said, nearly out of breath. When she saw the valise on his bed, she frowned. “Are you leaving me?”
Noting the hurt tone in her voice, he asked, “Don’t you want me to leave after the way I embarrassed you this evening?”
“You didn’t embarrass me.”
“I didn’t?” Because he was sure he had. This evening had been worse than when he’d called Warren and his friends miserable. There was no getting away from this.
“No, you didn’t.” She sat on the bed and looked up at him. “I learned something tonight. It’s something my mother and Regan have been telling me all along, but it took what happened tonight for me to really understand it. I spent so much of my life worrying about what others think. Because of it, I’ve missed out on so much I should have enjoyed.”
Surprised her thoughts should take such a tangent, he settled beside her. “I didn’t realize you weren’t enjoying life.”
“Well, I did as long as things were predictable and safe. But predictable and safe are also boring. Regan was the one exciting thing I had in my life, and she’s neither predictable nor safe. She does what she wants, and if someone doesn’t like it, that’s their problem. As I was trying to find you tonight, I kept thinking of how much better my life is with you in it. You make it worth living.” With a glance at his valise, she added, “Please don’t go.”
“I wasn’t going to go because I wanted to,” he whispered. “I thought you wouldn’t want to have anything else to do with me. I had promised you on our wedding day I wouldn’t cause a scandal. That promise didn’t last long.”
“I think some promises are better not kept. Derek, I don’t want you to change who you are. You’ll lose what I love most about you if you do. I’d rather have you in my life than attend balls and listen to people gossip. To be honest, this evening was the most exciting ball I’ve ever been to, and it was only because you were there.”
Despite the way things had turned out, he chuckled. “Well, I do have a way of making people remember me.”
She chuckled along with him and took his hand, clasping it between both of hers. “Lord and Lady Toplyn, Lord Edon, and Mister Robinson even told everyone you were right and that if anyone didn’t like it, they could leave.”
“They did?” That had never happened before.
She leaned into him. “It turned out half the room agreed with you but were too afraid to stand up to the Ton to say anything. Only a gentleman of great courage would risk his reputation to speak the truth. I wish I had the kind of courage you do.”
Funny she should word things like that. He was reminded of Ethan’s plea that he go back to White’s and help the other gentlemen gather the strength to go up against Warren. Nothing Christopher or I say makes enough gentlemen want to tell him no. They secretly want to, but they’re afraid of him. Maybe the fact that Derek was bold in his speech wasn’t a bad thing after all. Sure, it had upset people like his brother, but his brother had been of the same mindset as Lady Cadwalader and her ilk. Apparently, there were others who thought more like him, and what they needed was someone who wasn’t afraid to come out and speak his mind.
Leaning toward her, he gave her a light kiss. “I suppose there’s something to be said for a gentleman who isn’t afraid to upset the Ton.”
“Yes, there is. What you say is right. Those people shouldn’t be so quick to criticize others when their own behavior isn’t that noble. I’m sorry I tried to talk you out of being who you are.”
“You don’t need to apologize for that.”
“Yes, I do. You accepted me as I was. Never once did you ask me to do something differently. I wish I’d done the same for you, especially when you’ve been nothing but kind to me.”
He reached up and cupped her face in his hands. He could see she was struggling with guilt, and he needed to do something to absolve her from it. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we put all of that behind us and make a fresh start? There’s no sense in worrying over something you can’t change.”
She relaxed, but only slightly, so he brought his lips to hers and kissed her. The action seemed to be exactly what she needed to fully believe him, for he noted the last of her resistance melting.
He’d thought for sure she wouldn’t want him to stay in the same townhouse with her after the scene he’d made at Lord Toplyn’s ball. But the opposite had occurred. He’d become aware of how much she did want him. And for that, he’d always be grateful she was the one selected to be his wife.
***
Late the next morning, Derek had some free time after tending to one of his patients, so he decided to stop by White’s. As he and Danette were eating their morning meal, she’d looked at him in a way that let him know she was proud to be his wife. In that moment, he knew she’d support him no matter what.
So he felt free to go to a gentleman’s club and enjoy himself. After years of feeling like an outcast, it was liberating to know there was someone who fully accepted him. It gave him a place he truly belonged. And that, in his opinion, was better than all the money gentlemen valued so much. His brother had been right. Wealth was an empty thing unless a gentleman had
someone special to share his life with.
Someday, there would be children. Whether they were boys or girls, he didn’t really care. He’d seen enough ladies and children die to know there was more to having them than passing on a title. It wasn’t something he’d told his brother, of course. His brother wouldn’t have listened. Even on his deathbed, his brother had thought what really mattered was having a son to inherit a title.
But life was more than money and worrying about someone who would inherit it. Life was about taking each day and enjoying it to the fullest. It was about spending time with people a gentleman cared about. And the gentleman who found a wife who esteemed him as highly as Danette did was truly rich.
So it was with a confidence he’d never experienced before that Derek entered White’s. At first, the gentlemen stopped talking when they saw him. The moment would have been awkward if this had happened a day ago. But today, it didn’t bother him one bit. In fact, it was on the tip of his tongue to joke that he knew how to stun a room full of people simply by showing up.
But as he opened his mouth, half the room began clapping. Ethan and Christopher came over to him, laughed, and patted him on the back.
“Of all the things you’ve ever done at a ball,” Christopher began, “last evening’s was the best. My wife couldn’t stop talking about it.”
“Mine neither,” Ethan said. “She couldn’t decide if it was more shocking than the time she saw you take off your shirt at her father’s ball.”
“My wife thinks last night was much more shocking,” Christopher replied. “She said it took up two whole pages in the Tittletattle. The shirt incident only took up a half a page.” Looking back at Derek, he added, “She thinks the more the Tittletattle reports, the more important something is.”
Her Devilish Marquess Page 17
