Her Devilish Marquess (25 page)

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

D
erek 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.