"ARE YOU SURE you want to do this my lady?" Millie bit her lips nervously, "You could always speak to the earl or duke."

Vivienne clutched her pendant, determination flooding her body. She could no longer sit around and be compliant after knowing about the betrayal. It had been a rough week. The few times she ventured out to the modiste for her gown fittings on Bond Street, the ladies and gentlemen had all gawked at her. The storekeepers had been a bit more sensible, but Vivienne knew that once she left, they had gossiped about her. Vivienne was going to confront the person who leaked the information to the gossip columns. She was not expecting it to be a pleasant conversation, but it could bring her a form of solace that had been missing from her life over last week.

Vivienne and Millie walked across the corridor before they headed downstairs. A few of the servants gave them peculiar looks but did not say anything. Her popularity with the servants had not increased either. They tolerated her, but Vivienne knew the reason for the lack of respect was because of Lady Westmorland. If their mistress did not treat her kindly, the servants mirrored that behaviour.

Vivienne did not bother knocking on the unmarked door as she pushed it open. Chrissy jumped from the bed, "You cannot be here."

Millie, on her heels look nervously around the room.

Vivienne turned to her lady's maid, "will you give us a moment please?"

Millie bobbed her head, "I'll be waiting outside my lady if that is alright with you."

"Yes," Vivienne said softly waiting as the door clicked shut behind the lady's maid. She turned back to Chrissy who was glaring at her.

"What do you want from me? You cannot simply come in here as you please!"

Anger flashed in Vivienne's eyes, and she took a step closer to the maid, "Sit down. I believe it is a wonderful time as any to have a discussion as to why you visited Mr. Ackerman and released my story to the gossip columns."

Chrissy paled, but her face quickly morphed into one of denial, "I don't know what you are talking about."

"I have eye-witnesses Chrissy. Not to mention when I sent a generous donation to Mr. Ackerman's print, he was quite willing to divulge some of the secrets of his business."

"I ain't have nothing to say to you," Chrissy spat.

Vivienne looked at the pathetic creature in front of her coldly. She had told the maid to stay out of her way, but Chrissy just could not help herself. "You will inform Lady Westmorland tonight that you are leaving your position."

"And why would I do that?"

"I've sent Mr. Ackerman an interesting note detailing your history of theft from multiple aristocrats. I am sure the ladies of the ton will be out to get your blood once they find out. They can be quite vicious upon learning that their jewels have been taken. A hanging only seems as sure as the sun rising from the horizon..."

"You wouldn't."

Vivienne shrugged her shoulders casually, "I think it would be best if you didn't test me on this. If you leave now, I shall not inform anyone. However, if I see even a glimmer of you sniffing around this household in the morning, I will be sending a missive to our favourite editor," she said sweetly.

"But where am I to go?"

"I don't know and frankly Chrissy, I'm not one to care. You've hurt enough people that you could be homeless or be taken into a whore house, and I would not bat an eye."

With her parting words, Vivienne spun around and opened the door. Millie straightened her back from where she had been listening through the keyhole. Vivienne merely raised an eyebrow at her lady's maid, "Come," she said over her shoulder, "our business here has concluded."

***

There was a little cough and Vivienne's quill pen moved in surprise and her hand blurred the ink. She sighed in frustration. She would either need to begin again or send Fiona the ink-blotted letter. There was a reason she preferred writing in her room rather than the parlour and it was because nobody disturbed her.

"Vivienne," her aunt said stiffly.

Vivienne dropped the pen, and turned to look at her aunt, "yes?"

"Stand up and let me see your dress, I need to make sure that it is appropriate."

Vivienne glanced at her blankly, "And why exactly do you need to do that?"

Her aunt had never cared much for her wardrobe and to be invested suddenly, was quite suspicious.

Her aunt cleared her throat and Vivienne's eyes narrowed when she saw that Lady Westmorland was wearing a fancier gown than usual. "There is someone who would like to meet you."

Vivienne frowned, glancing at her ink-stained hands which she quickly hid. She was surprised to have visitors. There had been no callers in some time—not that she was exactly complaining. The only person who had visited her at the earl's home was Fiona, but Vivienne was sure her friend was still in Bath with Lord Berkeley.

"Who is it?" she asked curiously.

Lady Westmorland waved her hand, "Never mind that. He shall be here soon."

"He?" Vivienne asked but she did not get a response.

Her aunt merely crossed the room and picked up an unfinished piece of needlework before passing it over to her. "Here, look busy."

Bewilderment spread through Vivienne's body as she gazed at the needlework. Why on earth was Lady Westmorland giving Vivienne her unfinished needlework? She didn't have much time to think as the door to the parlour swung open, and the butler entered, followed by an older gentleman whom Vivienne had never seen in her life.

"Mr. Eastoff," the butler announced.

Vivienne was still confused as the man came towards Lady Westmorland and bowed. "My lady, I am honoured that you would consider me." he said, his voice was gravelly, almost making it seem as though he was parched. Vivienne thought it rather sounded akin to a frog being stuck in his throat.

His gaze moved to Vivienne as he inspected her from head to toe. Whatever he saw seemed to satisfy him as his lips curled up slightly, "She'll do spectacularly."

Vivienne stiffened at the attention and words, unsure of what to do and who exactly this man was. She did not like the way he was looking at her and it made her uncomfortable. Glancing at her aunt, she gave her a questioning look.

"Mr. Eastoff here has asked for your uncle's permission to court you."

Vivienne's faced blanched upon hearing those words. She stayed frozen in her spot, blinking slowly. Mr. Eastoff was significantly older than her. For goodness sakes, he almost looked as though he was her uncle's age!

She leaned back and her elbow accidentally brushed the ivory keys of the pianoforte. A terrible note drifted in the air, terrifying the occupants of the parlour. Her aunt glared at her, but Vivienne remained silent. They could not possibly believe she would even consider courting such a man. Vivienne was certain that her aunt was trying to get her married to decrease the scandal surrounding the Westmorland name. It was not going to work, she rather run away than marry whoever this gentleman was.

"Does she not speak?" Mr. Eastoff asked, his head swivelling back to Lady Westmorland.

"She's terribly shy," her aunt said. "I'm sure however if you take a turn about our gardens, the two of you can talk a bit more."

Horror lit Vivienne's eyes even as satisfaction filled Mr. Eastoff's. "Yes, I do believe that would be most appreciated."

"Yes, well if you would just step outside for a moment, I'll ring for a maid to act as a chaperone."

Mr. Eastoff laughed grimly. "Is that truly necessary?"

Vivienne watched her aunt bore into the man's gaze until he coughed awkwardly, "Yes, I'll be right outside..." he mumbled.

As soon as he left, her aunt walked towards her gripping her elbow and pulled her up. "What are you doing?" she hissed, eyes blazing as she bore into Vivienne. "Acting mute in front of the man? He came all the way from the east side of London so he could speak to you. I don't know if you've noticed but there aren't any other gentlemen flocking to the door."

And there it was, her aunt was afraid with lack of prospects. Briefly, she wished she had accepted Captain Gronow's proposal so she would be out of this miserable place, but it was too late, she had no saviour. She was not going to go back to the duke's place and Vivienne did not even know where Lady Torrington lived. This was her life now, and she had to be patient.

"I do not need a gentleman to save me," Vivienne said firmly.

"And I did not need your scandal to be brought into my house," her aunt said sardonically. "Look at how you've ostracized me from the very society I was a part of. I knew it would be a terrible idea to take you in, but the earl had other ideas. You will speak to Mr. Eastoff today, you owe me that much."

Vivienne wanted to shout that she did not owe her aunt anything and it wasn't her fault that her father had been murdered. However, she also knew that faster she spoke with Mr. Eastoff, the quicker she could get him to leave and return to her letter.

"Fine," she said coldly, shaking her wrist out of her aunt's grasp.

She left the room, walking to the back of the house and out to the gardens where Mr. Eastoff stood. A few distance away, she spotted a maid casually keeping an eye on the man.

"I'm very delighted to have finally met you Lady Selina," Mr. Eastoff walked towards her until his jacket was brushing her dress. He gave a slight glance towards the maid in the distance before dismissing her with a flicker of his gaze, "Shall we take a round?"

"Yes," Vivienne said stonily, although she did not see the point as she would make it clear to Mr. Eastoff soon enough that she was not interested in marriage—to him.

As if noticing her emotions, Mr. Eastoff was wise enough not to offer his elbow. Instead, they walked side by side. The earl's home had a modest garden by standards of other houses and so they strolled around slowly, taking in the small plants and flowers in bloom.

"Beautiful weather, isn't it?"

"I suppose it is," Vivienne said dutifully.

They walked past a large tree, and Vivienne stared a beat longer at the leaves, rather than the man beside her.

"I must say, I am quite taken a back by your shy demeanour. I would have thought that Lennox would have debauched you quite thoroughly."

"Excuse me?" Vivienne spluttered, horrified, and shocked that someone would speak to her in such a manner.

In a flash, Mr. Eastoff pushed her into the tree, her back hitting the trunk with a thud. His breath closed in on her face, as his arms held her in place. "Come on, give me a small taste, I want to sample the goods before we are married."

"Unhand me at once!"

Mr. Eastoff ignored her pleas as his lips drew closer. Vivienne acted on instinct, raising her knee into his groin. He gasped, releasing his grip on her as he fell to the grass.

Her eyes were glazed and blurry in anger as the feeling of a flame erupting inside her belly took over. "I do not know what you believe but let me make it clear to you. The duke was nothing but honourable and Lady Torrington can very much attest to that. To insinuate otherwise is quite a farfetched idea, much like your proposal. You are a worthless shrivelled creature who preys upon young ladies, and I would have never accepted you to be my husband."

She watched as his eyes flared with hatred and he strained out the words, "You need me you wrench. You have ruined yourself with your scandals. Nobody will have you now."

Vivienne lifted her shoulders haughtily, "I do not need anyone." she said coolly.

Before he could respond, Vivienne turned around and briskly walked towards the door that led inside the house. Footsteps followed behind her and she spun around for a brief second to meet the gaze of the maid. The unspoken words drifted between them. The maid would not share what she had seen or heard today. 

It was preposterous. To think Mr. Eastoff believed he could take such liberties in the presence of a maid, what would he have done to her without anyone watching? Vivienne shivered at that thought.

As she turned into one of the corners of the house, she saw her aunt and uncle speaking to one another.

Her aunt's gaze snapped up to Vivienne's face, "How did it go? Should we be expecting to place an announcement soon? The country home would be—"

Vivienne ignored her aunt and looked her uncle in the eye. "If you ever pull something like that again without my consent, I will run away before you have the chance to even utter the gentleman's name."

Her uncle did not respond as his dark eyes, so different yet similar to his brother's, seemed to understand that she meant every word she uttered. Once he gave her a small nod, she let out a breath she did not know she was holding. Spinning once more, she ignored the gaping look on her aunt's face. Her hands were shaking but she hid them in the folds of her dress. Vivienne did not care about the lot of them, if today showed anything, she would have to be the one to take care of herself. 

---------------

Like many of you guessed, it was indeed Chrissy who revealed the information about Vivienne. Also, Mr. Eastoff was terrible, but are we not proud of Vivienne for standing up for herself?