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Of course, the prince had taken hih the ballroom He had walked out the door with his cronies without a backward glance at herand after that every face in the ballroo to see what his reaction was to being told she was carrying a child

Yet he, if anyone, knew it to be a taradiddle At least, he knew the child wasn’t his Maybe that hy he threw her over so abruptly Perhaps he too believed the stories and thought she was pregnant by another man

The cut direct from an entire ballrooustus, but Linnet’s aunt, Lady Etheridge, known to her intimates as Zenobia She had chosen that nairl that Hortense didn’t suit her personality

"I knew this would co just inside the door and dropping her gloves to the floor rather than handing theht

Zenobia relished a good dra a whole dinner table that she could have played Lady Macbeth better than Sarah Siddons "I told you once, if I told you a hundred tiood And I was right Here she is, enceinte, and all of London party to the news except for me"

"I’m not--" Linnet said

But she was drowned out by her father, who chose to avoid the question at hand and go on the attack "It’s not hter’s fault that she takes after her mother"

"My sister was as pure as the driven snow," Zenobia bellowed back

The battle was properly engaged now, and there would be no stopping it

"My wife may have been snowy--and God knows I’h when she cared to be We all kno fast the Ice Maiden could warm up, particularly when she was around royalty, now I think of it!"

"Rosalyn deserved a king," Zenobia screamed She strode into the room and planted herself as if she were about to shoot an arrow Linnet recognized the stance: it was just what Mrs Siddons had done the week before on the Covent Garden stage, when her Desdemona repudiated Othello’s cruel accusations of unfaithfulness

Poor Papa was hardly a warrior like Othello, though The fact was that her dearest mama had been rampantly unfaithful to hih she was choosing to play ignorant

"I really don’t see that the question is relevant," Linnet put in "Mao now, and her fondness for royalty is neither here nor there"

Her aunt threw her a swooning look "I will always defend your rave"

Linnet slurave And frankly, she thought she iven that the sisters had fought bitterly every tih to her credit, her aunt wasn’t nearly as trollopy as her"It’s gone to Linnet’s head, just as it went to Rosalyn’s My wife thought beauty gave her license to do whatever she liked--"

"Rosalyn never did anything untoward!" Zenobia interrupted

"She skirted respectability for years," Lord Sundon continued, raising his voice "And now her daughter has followed in her footsteps, and Linnet is ruined Ruined!"