"You may say so at present, but sooner or later you'll come to see I'm right. Hopefully sooner."
He turned to meet Blake's gaze directly. "By the way, I think you need to know the latest on-dit. Leonore Ross has been giving out that Arabella is your mistress, a prostitute you have rescued off the street from your clinic."
Blake opened his mouth to retort.
Philip clamped his hand down on his forearm, surprising him with his vast strength. "No, Blake, don't go flying off the handle. Everyone is looking at you. I tell you this so you will know that your behavior and hers has seemed odd. I know it's because you both work hard, but these idle people who have never known a day's toil or deprivation can't understand that."
"But why--"
"Arabella had not been allowing visitors, and she has not been around the best houses. Hence people believe the two of you have something to hide. You're going to have to let her chaperone take her around.You too are going to have to do your part. They will quiz her, of course, but she will hold her own and disprove Leonore's gossip. But it will take time to undo the damage Leonore has done to Arabella. Don't ever underestimate the fury of anyone scorned or wronged."
Blake stared at the tall man, roughly his own age, but so much more world-weary with it. "Why are you helping me?" he asked suspiciously.
"You are a friend of Thomas's. He's been my best friend for many years, even when I was overseas. And you need my help."
Blake's brows knitted. "Thank you, I think. I shall consider what you have said."
"Try to smile, for Heaven's sake," Philip warned in a undertone, casting his eyes around the elegant drawing room. "It looks as though you've eaten broken glass. Arabella will wonder what has happened."
Blake scowled. "Then I shall just leave her with her cousins. She appears to be having a nice time."
"Always remember that in our sphere, appearance is everything except reality," Philip warned, with an odd look in his sherry brown eyes.
Blake smiled tightly. "Thank you for telling me about Leonore."
"It's not the sort of news you wanted to hear, but you needed to know. Make sure you keep an eye on Matthew Dane as well. He has heard the rumor and thinks she's an easy mark."
Blake went over immediately to remove Arabella from Matthew's clutches under the pretext of needing to ask Lady Pemberton's advice on her being given a carriage of her own.
A general discussion followed, in which everyone got the chance to see how simply and unaffected, but definitely well-bred Arabella was.
Blake boiled with fury for the rest of the evening, but left his ward to enjoy the society of the others without anyone thinking that he was being especially solicitous of her.
Arabella had to admit that she had enjoyed herself, but she would have preferred a quiet evening alone with Blake.
They chatted on the way home for some time, until she asked, "What do you make of Philip Marshall?"
"I'm not sure," he admitted. "What do you think of him?"
She shook her head. "There's something there I can't quite put my finger on. He is very witty and charming, but it's like, it's like looking at a reflection in the mirror. There is nothing of him there, it's all him reflecting back onto you. Like he's trying to hide something."
"Yet he and Thomas have been great friends ever since Eton. I recall Thomas saying something about him having suffered badly before we Rakehells were all off to Oxford. Some sort of family tragedy." He shrugged.
"He is nice enough. I can't fathom where he ever got such a fearsome reputation from. He had never been the slightest bit flirtatious with me."
"He respects your decency and intelligence far too much, " Blake said truthfully.
"Kind of him, I'm sure," Arabella said with a grin.
They pulled up to the curb and he helped her down.
"I shall see you in the morning, bright and early for the clinic."
Blake stiffened as he recalled what was being said. "Er, Arabella, perhaps it's not such a good idea-"
She stared at him in surprise. "Why not?"
He wracked his brains for an excuse. "Because, because I have been thinking about what you said about a charity drive. I think you would do much better to call on some of the society matrons to see if you can't get some subscription money out of them. You and Mrs. Evans really do need to pay some calls, especially after tonight."
"Very well, if you're sure," she said doubtfully, but she acceded to his request.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Leonore's nasty rumours about Arabella being a fallen women Blake was fobbing off as his ward were soon scotched thanks to Blake and Philip making a concerted effort to re-instate her reputation. Once everyone who counted in Society met the fresh-faced young girl with raven locks and the most bewitching pair of blue-violet eyes, no one could find anything objectionable about her conversation and person.