Chapter 304: Chapter Three Hundred And Four

Earl Wilfred laughed loudly, entirely oblivious to their quiet, intimate whispering.

"Come, my dear," the Earl said, offering his arm to his wife. "Let us go and find some of that excellent roasted beef before the other hungry lords eat it all."

The Earl and his wife bowed and curtsied politely. They turned around and left to enjoy the warm food and the lively reception.

But their daughter, Lady Julia Moore, did not leave with her parents.

Julia stayed exactly right where she was. She was wearing a very bright, highly expensive yellow silk dress that was clearly meant to draw the attention of every man in the room. Her hair was styled perfectly with small jewels.

However, the polite, innocent smile on her face did not reach her calculating eyes.

She had not forgotten how Rowan had coldly rejected her offer to dance at the ball just a week ago. She was incredibly bitter, highly jealous, and she was entirely determined to ruin Delaney’s perfect, happy mood.

Julia Moore stepped forward. She dropped into a very low, highly exaggerated curtsy.

"Congratulations, Your Grace," Julia began, looking directly at Rowan with a sweet, fluttering gaze.

Rowan spoke, hiding his disgust behind a polite smile. " Lady Moore, please can you step back a little bit, my wife doesn’t like other women getting close. I don’t want any misunderstanding."

Julia stepped back a few paces and smiled. "Of course, Your Grace."

Then, she turned her head to look directly at Delaney. The sweet smile on Julia’s face slowly twisted into something very crafty, highly condescending, and entirely wicked.

Julia began to speak. She used a very soft, polite tone of voice to completely hide her sharp, wicked insults from the rest of the room.

She wanted to get under Delaney’s skin.

"And congratulations to you as well, Lady Kingsley," Julia said softly, pretending to accidentally use her old title. "Oh, please forgive my silly memory. I must remember to call you Duchess now. It must be so very difficult for someone like you to get used to such a grand, important title so quickly."

Delaney kept her face perfectly blank, but she felt a sudden, cold prickle of deep annoyance.

"It is so incredibly generous of the Duke to marry so hastily," Julia continued smoothly, opening her fan and waving it slowly in front of her face. "Usually, a gentleman of his extreme high standing takes a very long time to find a bride with proper London society training. But His Grace has always been so very fond of poor charity cases. He has such a soft, pitying heart."

Rowan’s jaw locked instantly. His eyes turned completely cold and deadly. He opened his mouth to firmly order the rude woman to leave his house immediately.

But before Rowan could even speak a single word of anger, Julia stepped even closer. She bent low and whispered to Delaney.

"I suppose it makes him feel very noble and heroic to rescue you from your sad, hidden little life as an orphan," Julia whispered slyly, making sure only Delaney could hear her venomous words. "But do not worry yourself too much, my dear. If he ever grows terribly bored of teaching you how to behave properly in polite company, there are people in London who will always be here to entertain him in the dark evenings."

Julia stood straight, fluttering her eyelashes directly at Rowan, making her highly inappropriate, scandalous intentions entirely clear. She was boldly suggesting that Rowan had only married Delaney out of pity, and that he would very soon seek the intimate company of other, more experienced women.

It was a terrible, insulting, wicked thing to say to a bride on her very wedding day.

Rowan was completely furious. The muscles in his neck tightened. He took an angry step forward, entirely ready to deal with Lady Julia Moore.

But Delaney moved first.

Delaney reached out her hand. She placed her palm firmly on Rowan’s chest, gently but entirely stopping him from stepping forward.

She did not want her husband to fight this battle for her. She is now the Duchess of Ford. The evidence is on her finger, and she belonged exactly where she stood.

Delaney was extremely jealous, and she was highly angry. Her heart beat rapidly against her ribs. But she did not sulk this time.

She decided to put this crafty, wicked woman entirely in her proper place.

Delaney stood perfectly straight. She lifted her chin high. She looked directly into Julia’s crafty eyes. She did not use fake, polite society words to hide her anger. She spoke clearly and bluntly, making absolutely sure her voice was loud enough for the few noble guests standing nearby to hear her clearly.

"Do you want to become a mistress that badly, Lady Julia?" Delaney asked bluntly.

The direct scandalous question hit the air exactly like a sharp, loud crack of thunder.

The ladies standing nearby gasped loudly in shock. The older lords stopped their conversations immediately and turned their heads in absolute disbelief. It was completely scandalous and highly improper to use the dirty word "mistress" so openly in a polite, bright ballroom.

Julia’s fan completely stopped moving in the air. She froze entirely in place. Her fake, sweet smile vanished instantly, completely replaced by an expression of stunning shock and horror. Her face turned incredibly pale, exactly like a ghost.

"Wh...what do you mean by that?" Julia stammered quickly. Her voice was shaking violently. She felt completely insulted. She looked panicked that someone would dare speak to her so plainly and so brutally in public.

Delaney did not back down for a single, fleeting second. She took one deliberate, step forward, entirely closing the space between them. She looked completely intimidating and incredibly powerful in her wedding dress.

Delaney continued speaking. Her voice was completely steady, cold, and completely unyielding.

"I mean," Delaney said clearly, staring directly into the terrified woman’s eyes, "why are you throwing yourself at a married man that completely does not want you?"

Julia’s jaw dropped wide open. A bright hot flush of deep red embarrassment completely covered her pale cheeks and her neck. She looked around nervously, her eyes darting frantically. She realized with absolute horror that people were staring at her, whispering rapidly behind their hands about her highly inappropriate behavior.

Delaney was not finished yet. She delivered the final, devastating blow to the cruel woman’s pride.

"Don’t you have any dignity left?" Delaney asked coldly.