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Authors: Julia Templeton,Tracy Cooper-Posey

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Elisa was glad to see the girl’s shoulders were square and straight and knew Vaughn had kept her pride intact.

When he reached her side, he picked up her hand. “Come with me,” he said, his voice low. But the resounding silence from the avid witnesses in the room meant his every word was quite audible.

He led her around the Munroes towards the other end of the ballroom. People made way for them without a word.

Elisa looked past Vaughn’s shoulder and stiffened. Rufus sat in the corner, in the same spot and possibly on the same chair upon which he’d sat at the soiree. This time, though, there were no fawning associates about him. He sat entirely alone and he looked quite ill. His face was flushed its usual red from excess drink, but he was much changed. The bones beneath his wattled skin seemed to have shrunk, leaving the skin loose. Where it was not touched with red, the flesh had an alarming gray pallor that looked not at all healthy. Even his hair had lost its iron constitution and lay in wispy silver strands about his head. His hand on the top of the cane shook even with the support.

Rufus had become an old man.

Elisa almost felt sorry for him, but when his eyes met hers she saw a loathing so intense, she shivered.

Rufus shifted in his chair as he watched their approach. He glanced about, patently unhappy with the unavoidable confrontation in such a public place.

He would have killed us both
, she reminded herself.

“You whore!” he swore at her as soon as they were within a few feet of him. “You would come here and humiliate me in front of my friends with your immorality?”

“Rufus, you will speak with a civil tongue,” Vaughn said. “Or you and I will reach an agreement right here on this spot. Not outside, but here, where there can be no doubt about the outcome or the methods used. Do you understand me?”

Rufus glowered. “Yes,” he spat.

“Elisa…” Vaughn pulled her to his side and closer to Rufus. “He will listen now,” he assured her.

She looked down at Rufus, but the shrunken old man stared down at his breeches, refusing to meet her eyes.

“I know what you did to hold me to you, Rufus. I know that you lied about looking for my son. I know that you told my son I was dead.”

“You lie!” Rufus declared and glanced around the room. That told Elisa that he made the accusation not because he was afraid of what she thought, but what everyone else in the room thought.

“You poor old fool!” she railed at him. “Did you really think Vaughn would not find him? Raymond is with me, now and he does not lie. We know you paid to have him hidden from me. You failed.”

“You should know, Rufus, that I intend to marry Elisa at the soonest possible opportunity,” Vaughn said. He did not speak with any sort of intensity, but the whole room seemed to draw a shocked breath in reaction.

Rufus’s head lifted quickly. “I could have your title taken away,” he said, his teeth clenched.

“I could have you put in Newgate Prison,” Vaughn shot back. “Shall I show everyone the fresh scars beneath my shirt? The scars left by your pistol?”

Rufus swallowed hard, his narrowed eyes finding Elisa once more. She blanched under his stare. “He will leave you one day, when you are older and he is still a young man.”

“You tried to kill us both, Rufus, because you’re an unhappy man who can’t abide joy in anyone else. All I feel is pity for you. You’ll die a lonely old man.”

Rufus looked back at Vaughn. “Take her then,” he said. “I care nothing for her. But I can strip you of your title, your lands, and your money.”

“If you want to let the world know I am not your son, then so be it. I don’t need a title. I have my mother’s home, Kirkaldy, and that is all I want. You are not my father…and for that I thank God.”

Rufus looked down at his lap once more and Elisa realized that his sting had been pulled. The last shot he had thought to be such a powerful one had had no effect whatsoever. Again, facing the truth squarely had disarmed the enemy.

Vaughn took Elisa by the hand. “One last thing,” he murmured. He led her to the middle of the dance floor and everyone again silently moved out of their way. Vaughn walked a full circle around her, confronting everyone, before halting to face them all.

“My name is Vaughn Wardell, Viscount Rothmere and this,” he said, motioning to Elisa, “is the woman I intend to marry.”

Gasps filled the room.

“You all believe Elisa a wicked woman, but she has been wronged by all of you who refused to consider the truth because it is unpalatable. Her husband was murdered, her son taken from her, and her reputation ruined.

She was cut off from the world she knew, shunned by all. And for what?” He scanned the room. “Because her husband had been unfaithful.”

“For god’s sake, man, this is not the place!” a man called out. “There’s women here, innocents…”

“They more than anyone else here need to hear this!” Vaughn shouted back. “Every man here already knows or suspects the truth of what happened to Elisa’s husband, but you have turned your backs on that truth because it was easier to believe the story that was concocted instead. Elisa was innocent of all but loving her husband. All of you here know that Roger was a blatant womanizer.”

There was a feminine gasp at this outrageous statement, but Elisa noticed that Caroline and other women of her age did not gasp. They knew, or suspected, the truth.

“We all know the woman in whose bed he was found and we all know the husband that was forced to take up the duel against him. When Roger conveniently got himself shot for his efforts, the husband found it would be less embarrassing if he claimed that it was he who dallied with the lovely, untouchable young wife—Elisa—rather than admit his own wife had strayed. And you, all of you, supported him in this effrontery! You did nothing while this young woman lost everything.

She did nothing to deserve such cruelty.” Vaughn spun on his heels, pointing at them. He was furious—the tendons in his neck straining as he shouted at them all.

Elisa saw that some of the men were nodding. And she realized with a welling sorrow that Vaughn had it right: the men, many of them, knew the truth, or suspected it. They had let her be cast out from their world in order to support their fellow man.

Vaughn shook his head. “I’m going to marry this woman,” he said, lifting her hand to his lips. He smiled warmly. “I don’t care if you approve or not. I’m marrying her because I love her and you can all go hang.”

He smiled at her and tugged her gently toward the door. “It’s over,” he murmured to her. “We can leave and never look back.”

The silence that followed them was deafening. It was a roar and Elisa held her breath, half expecting a bullet to shatter that silence.

But what did shatter it was a single clap. Vaughn stopped in mid-step, as did she. They both turned, seeking the source of the clap, as another clap sounded.

Behind them, walking the length of the ballroom floor towards them, was Natasha, slowly clapping her hands together, a fierce, determined look on her face, her tear-stained eyes glittering with intensity.

Another clap joined hers. Elisa spun to find the source and saw Caroline had joined her hands together. Tears streaked her face, too. Next to her, William also began to clap.

The clap was taken up by others, more and more quickly, until it had spread about the room, gaining in intensity until they turned to face a crowd that no longer condemned, but who had obviously, by their acclaim, accepted them for who they were. The clapping grew to a thunderous applause
.

Vaughn turned Elisa around to face him, and before the entire room took her face in his hands and kissed her thoroughly.

More historical romance in the Scandalous Sirens series:

Dangerous Beauty
.

During the night of the annual, prestigious Sweet Pea Ball, two lives are about to be changed completely.

Natasha is one of the most beautiful women in London.

Thanks to Vaughn Wardell, the man she once thought she loved, she has learned not to suffer fools and finds most men arrogant beyond tolerance. Her mother, however, will have her married before the end of this, her third season, no matter what it takes and Natasha will fight her every step of the way.

Seth Harrow is an uncouth Irish sea captain fresh from the colonies of Australia.

He’s dressed as a lord and carries a secret that will tear London society apart.

He’s in London for one small task before heading to Ireland. He has no time for giddy debutantes and the hypocrites of society, but must deal with them both to achieve his goal.

In one watershed night, Seth and Natasha will face hatred, bigotry and soul-searing passion. The outcome will plunge them into a maelstrom of love, life...and death.

Look for
Dangerous Beauty
on Amazon!

_____________

Other books by Tracy Cooper-Posey

Eyes of a Stranger
, Contemporary Romance

Chronicles of the Lost Years
, Romantic Mystery

Case of the Reluctant Agent
, A Sherlock Holmes Mystery

Dare to Return
, Romantic Suspense

Diana by the Moon
, Historical Romantic Suspense

Red Leopard
, Erotic Romantic Suspense

“
Solstice Surrender
” in
Winter Warriors
, Erotic Paranormal Romance

Heart of Vengeance
, Historical Romantic Suspense

Silent Knight
, Romantic Suspense