“Let’s get you back up to your room.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stay down here so long.” She let Lady Carleton help her back to her feet. “I should go pack my things.”
“Hush, this is my house and what I say goes. You’ll stay and get some food in you. I can’t imagine you’ve eaten much in the last day.”
Genny pulled away from Lady Carleton so she could look the older woman in the eyes. “Why are you being so kind to me? Shouldn’t you be on their side?” Genny nodded toward the door, where she was sure some of the other houseguests were still listening.
“Never you mind them.” Lady Carleton brushed the hair away that stuck to Genny’s face. “I’ll send a maid up to help you with your things. But I’m not letting you leave until you eat something.”
“Can I leave in the dead of night?” Genny looked down at her disheveled dress. “I don’t want anyone to witness my departure. I already feel dreadful.”
“Of course. I’d say you can stay here indefinitely, but we both know that not even my name can stand up to the gossips’ lashing tongues for acting against society.”
“Thank you, Lady Carleton. I know I don’t deserve such kindness, but I can’t refuse your help.”
“Think nothing of it.” Lady Carleton wrapped her arms around her back and led her toward the door. “Now, let me walk you up to your room.”
Genny was thankful for that because she needed someone to lean on as they passed nearly everyone in the house on their way up to her room. Most of the ladies cut Genny on sight. The gentlemen snickered and turned their backs. The only person she did not see was her cousin. She wished she could convey how sorry she was to Charlotte. Would she ever see her cousin again? The thought saddened her as much as Ponsley’s words had.
* * *
Lady Carleton had generously offered her a carriage to take her wherever she needed to go. Genny knew she had to leave sooner rather than later.
After a day of dealing with the repercussions of being discovered with Barrington, she’d hidden in her room and plotted the rest of her life. There wasn’t much to plot, for she had few options open to her.
The only certainty she had was that she would never play the role of companion again. She couldn’t even show her face in society after this.
She needed to talk to the woman who had started all of this.
She’d chosen the quiet of midnight to leave her comfortable, meek existence behind so no one could further witness her humiliation, aside from Lady Carleton.
Though she’d saved over the years, and received a small inheritance from her great-aunt Hilda on her passing, it wasn’t enough to live on for the rest of her days. If she no longer had any relatives she could rely upon, she would start with the Dowager Countess Fallon. She was the cause of all this. Not that Genny hadn’t been a willing participant in her affair, but she had to wonder if Leo would have pursued her if his friend hadn’t insisted on her game of ruin.
The one good thing in all this was that Charlotte’s reputation was spared. She’d grown fond of her cousin in the last few months and wanted her to do well in life. Wanted her to have the comforts that Genny would never have.
She rapped her knuckles lightly on Lady Carleton’s bedchamber door.
A maid opened the door in a trice. “That will be Miss Camden, Irene. Tell her to come in.”
The door swung open, and Genny slipped through. Lady Carleton was at her boudoir, her hair half down from the updo she’d had it in. The maid returned to her mistress’s side and removed the remaining pins.
Genny approached, feeling a fresh wave of embarrassment infuse her cheeks and speed up her heart.
Lady Carleton met Genny’s gaze in the looking glass. “You wish to take me up on my offer?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Do come closer, dear, and stop bowing and scraping. You knew perfectly well the danger of your activities. At least have the gall to face me like a grown woman and not a simpering miss. I never thought you missish.”
“I can’t express how sorry I am for my untoward behavior, my lady.”
“I doubt you’d have changed your actions any had you known you would be caught.” At Genny’s blank expression, Lady Carleton said, “Sit down, dear. Let us speak frankly.”
There was a tasseled velvet stool next to the countess, so Genny pulled it away from the wall and perched herself on the edge. Would the woman Genny respected as she did her own mother reprimand her? Or offer sage advice on the next steps she should take in life?
“You know I am almost twice your age.”
She gave a slight nod of her head, though she’d assumed only a dozen or so years separated them in age.
“You remind me of me when I was younger. When you first came to stay with us five years ago, I wanted nothing more than for you to make a good match. I naïvely thought Barrington would offer for your hand on your second summer here since he was smitten with you.”
“My lady, he was no more than a friend.”
The countess arched one eyebrow in disbelief. “Don’t think I don’t know everything that happens under my roof.” She pointed at her in the mirror with the silver brush she’d been using. “I was no more blind to your affair with Barrington four years ago than I am this time around.”
Genny’s brows furrowed. Leo had told her that a friend had figured out their affair. “Why did you never say anything?”
“It wasn’t my place.” The countess gave a deep sigh filled with remorse. “You are the daughter I would have wanted had God ever gifted me with children. You were always a bright girl, and I knew that the decisions you made were ones you would be able to live with, even if you couldn’t get that stubborn man to marry you.”
“I feel undeserving, but thank you for your high regard.” Genny ducked her head, feeling like a bigger disappointment knowing Lady Carleton thought of her like a daughter. “I was naïve enough to believe that I could change him.”
Lady Carleton turned in her seat and reached her hand out to pat her affectionately on the cheek. “Oh, you’ve definitely changed him.”
Genny couldn’t explain the whole sordid tale so she gave the countess a weak smile.
“You’ve hit a patch in your life that is sure to try your patience at every turn. Just remember that you will always have a friend in me.”
“I don’t want to damage your standing in society by associating with you.”
“I’m too old, child, to care what my peers think. While I cannot allow you to stay on for as long as you wish right now due to the other guests in residence, know that my home is open to you at any other time.”
Tears leaked from Genny’s eyes. She couldn’t stop them this time, and she didn’t care to.
“I can’t thank you enough.” This was singlehandedly the kindest thing anyone had ever done for her.
“Thank me by promising to visit after you marry that rascal.”
She did weep then but not terrible wrenching sobs, just a quiet sound of heartbreak passing her lips. Lady Carleton offered up a folded and pressed handkerchief, which Genny took to mop up her leaking eyes and blow out her nose in the most unladylike fashion imaginable. When she was done she looked up to the older woman. The countess’s expression was sincere, not dismissive.
“I’m sad to say that my circumstance with Barrington doesn’t lend itself to a happy ending.”
“I have every bit of faith that he’ll not let you languish in ruin for long. And should he be foolish enough a man to hold out for any length of time, you should go to him, and demand he do the right thing.”
If only life were as simple as that. Genny would not go back to him so he could stitch the remnants of her reputation back together.
“He did not take advantage of me. What we had was something mutually agreeable for the time we were together.”
“I never took you for a fool, Genevieve Camden.”
She could only shake her head in disagreement because she was the greatest fool there ever was.
Pulling herself together, she took in a deep breath and composed her wayward emotions. She had but one goal in mind. “Might I borrow your carriage as far as the next posting inn?”
“You may take my carriage to whatever location you need to in London.”
“You’ve been so kind to me that I wouldn’t wish anyone to see your emblem emblazed on the side of the carriage with me inside.”
Lady Carleton stood from her gilded velvet chair and took Genny’s hands to lead her from the room. “Did I ever tell you how Lord Carleton came to be my husband?”
She shook her head, not sure why Lady Carleton was asking such an odd question.
“He kidnapped—for lack of a better term—me right out of my bed and we traveled in an unmarked carriage all the way to Gretna Green.”
Genny gasped. “I had no idea.” They wound their way down the servants’ stairs that Genny had become familiar with over the past couple of weeks.
Opening the door at the bottom landing, the countess ushered her through the kitchen and out the back door. “While he had never put me in a compromising position, he was intent on marrying me. But what a scandal it made! Of course it wasn’t nearly as disastrous as yours and Barrington’s.”