“What is wrong with Mr. Rausch?” asked Mellie.
Eleanor nodded complete agreement. “Of course I left her to dance with him. Apart from being Prussian, he is the perfect man for her. I hope they will make a match!”
“A match? Have you lost your mind?”
“He is not the sort for me, but they are of the same class. He has made his fortune and found way into society. They are perfect together. And now that she must cry off from you, I am sure he will come courting.”
“Cry off?” breathed Trevor, shocked to his core.
To the side, he saw Mellie’s eyes widen in surprise as well.
“Yes, cry off. That was the plan from the beginning. I had hoped to have more time, but you had that argument with your grandfather. And now everyone knows that he paid you to find a bride.”
Trevor’s gaze was on Mellie. She paled at those words, but the information wasn’t anything surprising. Or even news.
“I told him that I intended to marry Mellie, and there was nothing he could do to stop me.”
“You did a great deal more,” Eleanor said, and he realized that the gossips had worked especially hard tonight. There had been a scant few hours since his disagreement with the duke, but clearly, some version of the story was already winging its way about London.
Meanwhile, Mellie spoke, her voice the cool bite of reason that was needed. “Exactly what is being said?”
“That the duke forced him to take a bride, so he selected you out of spite.” Then she touched Mellie on the arm. “But don’t worry. I have already let it about that you have been horribly used by Trevor. That you are an innocent in all this, and that I will continue to sponsor you.”
Damn, Mellie had gone whiter than a sheet. She was withdrawing, and if they were alone, he would wrap her in his arms and kiss her until she stopped hiding inside herself. But they weren’t alone, so he stood apart and tried to soften the blow.
“No one will turn from you, Mellie. Not with Eleanor’s continued support.”
“Exactly. Which is why you must now cry off. I have already hinted as much with Trevor’s mother. We will make it public before her tea—”
Damnation! He’d completely forgotten the tea.
“But there is no reason to panic,” continued Eleanor.
“I’m not panicking,” Mellie said, her voice tight with irritation.
Eleanor just continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “I shall tell you exactly how it will go. First, you will cry off tomorrow. I will cut Trevor and call him the most terrible cad, coming out firmly in your corner.”
“Good,” he said, though inside he was reeling. He wasn’t ready for the engagement to end. His approval was because Mellie could have no better advocate than Eleanor.
“Lady Hurst will still throw her tea to show that there are no hard feelings. She has already begun, you know, decrying the manipulations of men. This whole thing truly is their fault anyway. Imagine paying your heir to court a woman and then disowning him because he’d gone and done what you instructed. It’s madness.”
Trevor heartily approved of anything that put the blame squarely at his grandfather’s feet, but neither woman appeared to care.
“We will go to the tea to show that we are fast friends, and you are a perfectly eligible young woman. I believe I can convince Lady Hurst to invite some scientific young men. And then, between her and me, you will be launched most spectacularly.”
Mellie frowned. “But what of Trevor?”
“Hmm? Oh, don’t worry. Eventually, I will invite him to a ball or something, publicly forgiving him for being a man. That’s what balls are for, you know. To show society that whatever their idiocies, we women will forgive them and still marry them. The men attend because it is the only way back into our good graces. And then we throw girls at them so they can marry and give birth to the next generation.”
Good God, was that truly what happened? Was that…? It was ludicrous, and yet there was a certain twisted logic in it. He shuddered, but then refocused on the subject at hand. “I told my grandfather that I will not give her up.”
Eleanor rolled her eyes. “Of course you did. That’s the gentleman’s way. But as soon as poor Melinda heard that you only courted her to thwart your grandfather, her tender heart was crushed. She throws you over and declares to marry only for true love.”
“What?” Mellie asked.
“Well, that’s what we shall say. Society adores a true love story. Privately, you and I shall weigh the merits of each of your suitors closely, but once you have selected, the two of you shall fall madly in love. The wedding will be soon afterward because it must. People grow bored quickly, and so we shall keep them talking with the wedding. And then probably a month after you return from your wedding trip, you shall visit me, begging me to forgive Trevor. Everything will have worked out for the best, and then I will throw my ball, and everyone will see that he is back in my good graces.”
She slapped her hands together to show how easy it would be. And truth be told, it would be that easy. She was a master at this type of manipulation. Add his mother to the mix, and everything would happen just as they said. Mellie’s suitors and eventual marriage, the forgiveness ball, and mostly probably, his engagement to some woman of their choosing. In their minds, it was all afaitaccompli.