A Fallen Woman by Kate Harper

that it felt like twenty) was very
conscious of her own respectability and even more concerned with
her husband’s. It must be a source of considerable annoyance that
James continued to see his family after Rachel’s fall from grace
but there were some things even her easygoing brother refused to
countenance, and cutting his own family was doing it far too
brown.
    This gathering would be different, of course. Usually
Charity’s patent disapproval was always tempered by the family
rallying round to support Rachel. They all considered Charity a
necessary evil, something that must be endured if they wished to
see James and everybody took great pleasure in subverting her
conversations. It was always entertaining, listening to one of her
family lead Charity away from whatever topic she was focused on,
frustrating her with ever increasing irrelevancies and
observations. Liza was particularly good at it, although one had to
be careful she did not go too far and push Charity into one of her
sick megrims. James bore the brunt of such occasions so they all
tried very hard not to go too far. But this visit would see Charity
with at least one supporter. It would be difficult to escape both
Worsley’s enmity and that of her sister-in-law and there was always the
following evening’s dance to be endured. Dealing with two people’s
hostility would be doubly unpleasant, while seeing neighbors she
had not seen for years was enough to make her spirit quail. She had
been quietly dreading the whole affair, even though she was the one
that had encouraged her mother to go ahead with the
arrangements.
    Leaning back in her chair, Rachel ruefully reflected that being a
social pariah had its drawbacks. If she’d been in possession of a
stauncher character she would have taken herself off somewhere. The
carriage house was empty at the moment and she briefly toyed with
the idea of removing into it whilst the festivities were underway.
A moment’s reflection produced one major drawback to this excellent
scheme. Her family would never allow her to do such a thing. If
they had not distanced themselves immediately after her shocking
behavior with Salinger, they were hardly likely to do so
now.
    She sighed, returning her gaze to Worsley (for he was not
difficult to look at, especially when his face was lit up with a
smile, as it was just at this moment as he listened to something
her lively sister Liza was saying – the shy young man had blossomed
into a very attractive creature indeed). How could she fix this?
Would it help if she found a quiet moment to apologize to him? The
idea of bringing up anything so personal with a man who clearly
disliked her was hardly appealing but she knew it would be the
right thing to do. Perhaps it was one thing she could do to try and
make amends for the past. She would try and offer her
apologies. If the opportunity presented itself. And if she found the courage.
    After a time, Liza came and propped herself on the arm of
Rachel’s chair. She had been told on innumerable occasions that young ladies
did not sit thus, but such admonishments fell on deaf
ears.
    ‘ What’s wrong?’ she demanded with her customary
bluntness.
    Rachel smiled.
‘Why should anything be wrong?’
    ‘ You are too quiet and you are sitting a little apart. Is it
because of him?’ Liza tilted a small chin towards
Worsley.
    ‘Not at
all. I am sitting back a little so that I can better enjoy Adam’s
and Charlotte’s reunion. They are like two lovebirds cooing
together, don’t you think?’
    It was
the right ploy to distract her sister. Fond as she was of both
Charlotte and Adam, she found their doting affection to be entirely
sickly. Predictably, she curled a lip. ‘Is that what being in love
is all about? I suppose it is not as bad as Mrs. Radcliffe makes it
out to be but it is still very silly.’
    ‘Elizabeth Sheridan, how do you know what Mrs. Radcliffe
writes about?’ Rachel demanded, slightly appalled. ‘You know
perfectly well