Society's Most Scandalous Viscount

The words struck her with unexpected hope. Had Father learned something of value? Could she dare believe her sister would be found? And what if Helen was discovered? The complicated tangle of secrets and lies created further confusion as each layer peeled away. “Yes, of course.” The words rushed out on an eager breath though she fought to squelch the simultaneous clash of optimism and distress. How many times had she anticipated success only to be disappointed in the end? And how did one measure victory if it caused a loved one heartache?

Her father appeared void of the conflicted emotions Angelica harbored.

“As Brighton is en route to Spetisbury, I couldn’t pass the thoroughfare without seeing how you fared.”

Assuring himself she resided where she should, no doubt. Checking she hadn’t taken flight. He stated the words as if genuine concern prompted his detour, but Angelica knew better than to mislabel his sentiment as compassion. The earl wished for his plans to proceed uninterrupted and her compliance and obedience were key in his intentions. The same had prompted her trip to Grandmother’s. While she had no desire to run away as Helen had, she wouldn’t commit herself to pious dedication without a firm hold on her emotional future. What was it she wanted from life? And how would it be accomplished while keeping peace with her father? He’d already lost one daughter.

“I hold hope for encouraging news. I miss Helen dearly.” She didn’t elaborate, the implications of the conversation heavier than her heart. Her father had all but banished Helen when he’d discovered her indiscretion. Angelica had never felt the absence of a mother figure more keenly. Instead, Helen had turned to Angelica for assistance and she’d given her the only advice she could fathom. Flee. Run as far away as possible, although the decision had cost her more than the purse full of coins she’d stolen to abet her sister’s flight. She missed Helen with a bottomless ache she could never express with tears or words. Relationships between sisters, separated by a mere ten months, were profound, intuitive, and theirs was no exception. Helen had won her freedom at a dear price: never returning home to her family. Angelica would lose her freedom and keep the latter. Life proposed a delicate balance, often disrupted by the flow of one’s choices. No matter they were two of a kind; they existed on opposite sides of reality now. The subject remained off limits with Father and Grandmother, so the frank disclosure struck everyone as unexpected.

“For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice—”

Angelica mentally silenced the list of sins, accustomed to her father’s pious lectures.

“—deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly.”

He paused in his sermon though she knew better than to interrupt.

“All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” He eyed her, waiting for a response.

“Mark 7:21.” She begrudgingly answered the unspoken question.

“Have you come to accept our discussion of your future or are you too preoccupied enjoying the shameful freedom your grandmother allows whenever you visit?” He swept his eyes across the landscape as if they stood in a disreputable back alley instead of a lovely seaside garden. His eyes settled on her neckline, a conservative scoop on an otherwise plain muslin day gown, yet she felt compelled to raise her hand to her throat, as if the censure of his eyes wrapped around her neck and applied pressure. She would get her words out.