Amelia stared at their backs as they walked away. While she was relieved to be able to escape that man's presence she also dreaded the things he could say to Dario.
The marquis had never hurt her directly before, because he'd never needed to. He seemed to have the ability to make others resent her which he had used every opportunity to take advantage of in the past.
For this reason it was hard to bear having to tear her eyes away from the conversing men, especially seeing how the marquis ocationally glanced her way as if he was gloating.
But because her behavior seemed to have started attracting attention she could not continue to just look at them. The surrounding nobles were no longer generous enough to hide their stares while the duke was away and she could even hear them whispering.
She went and got a drink and poured the alcohol down her throat in an attempt to soothe the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach, but it only served to make her feel nauseus.
"Did you see how she looked at Marquis Radford before? Do you think she knows?"
Amelia was just about to take another sip of her drink despite the discomfort but paused as she overheard a young lady whispering to another. The two ladies glanced towards her, perhaps in their own minds discretly so.
"If she does then I feel bad for her. Imagine what it must feel like, seeing the duke speaking with the person who reported her family" the other lady whispered.
It felt as if the world collapsed beneath Amelias feet and as she realised the meaning behind those words.
The marquis was the one who had exposed her father?
She tried to surpress the panic that was rapidly revealing itself but her hand had started shaking to the extent that it was difficult to keep the glass steady. She knew that she couldn't stay there with all those eyes on her.
The only place she could think to go to in her frazzled mind was the terrace. It had to be empty because of the cold temperature outside, at least she desperatly hoped so.
Although she just wanted to run and get away from the crowd as quickly as possible she somehow managed to keep her conduct when walking through the ballroom by focusing on simply putting one foot in front of the other.
Just like she'd hoped the terrace was completely empty. Amelia swiftly closed the door behind her and pulled the curtains shut so that she wouldn't be seen by the people inside the ballroom. Only when she was certain that there were no longer any eyes on her could she let her emotions show.
She placed the glass on the terrace's railing and leaned her trembling body over its edge.
Choked, almost gasping sounds escaped from her throat and no matter how hard she tried to surpress it she could not stop them. She could only hope that the noices couldn't be heard by the people inside.
The cold night air wrapped around her skin like an icy blanket. Amelia did not mind it though, rather it seemed to have the effect of calming her racing thoughts.
The panic subsided faster than she thought it would and eventually the only feeling that remained in it place was resentment.
She didn't know whether it was towards the marquis or herself for still letting herself be affected by him.
When she'd first met the marquis at the age of fourteen he had been kind to her. In place of her distant father and brother he had been someone for her to lean on during her time of grief after her mother's passing. At that time Amelia had always looked forward to his regular visits to her father's estate.
Marquis Radford only revealed his true intentions gradually. It had been so subtle that Amelia hadn't notoced it at first. A suggestive comment, a light touch on her knee.
The only thing that had made her aware of what he was truly doing was the feeling of discomfort that completely erased her excitement to see him at some point.
Since the age of sixteen Amelia had always done her best to avoid the marquis every time he visited, even though her father considered these actions impolite which warranted punishment. It had still been better than the emense discomfort that she always experienced around that man. His touches, the words he spoke and even the way he would look at her made her feel utterly disgusted.
But her father's punishments became harsher and her family's resentment towards her grew more overt over time. Their anger usually stemmed from something she had done to offend the marquis. It could be anything; not showing up to dinner, lacking in her etiquette or being seen by Radford acting a bit too friendly with a male servant.
Eventually it had all become too much and she gave up on trying to avoid Radford. He welcomed her back with open arms and the punishments briefly stopped at that point.
And in the end, when she had been completely scrutinized by her family after she turned seventeen, the marquis was the only one who comforted her.
She hated him for it. She hated him the most for putting her in the situation where she sought comfort from him who had also played a significant roll in her suffering.
That's why she had refused him one night when he'd offered to bring her with him as his mistress to escape the abuse of her family, even though the offer was so very tempting at first.
This had taken place only about a month before their execution.
The marquis had become angry with for her refusal, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her to her father to demand that he could take her. He had stated that he would be doing the family a favor since no one would ever marry someone like her anyway.
To her relief her father had refused the marquis, saying that it wouldn't be a good look for the family to send her as a mistress to a married man that was nearly double her age.
Even though Marquis Radford had seemed to react fairly well to her father's reasoning Amelia noticed that he had a sharp look of malice on his face when he left the following morning.
'Father rejected his offer and hurt his pride so Radford made sure to kill them? Was that the reason?'
Amelia squeezed the freezing cold railing so that her palms hurt.
The thought seemed far fetched but the gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that her assumption could very well be correct.