Audrey gazed at her father and brother, determination shining in her emerald eyes.
She demanded that her father tell her about all the family's dirty dealings over the years.
Looking at his daughter's serious expression, Earl Hall fell into a strange daze.
Was... was this still Audrey?
Was this still his sheltered daughter, who knew nothing of the world?
Was this still the little girl who loved wheedling affection out of him?
Was it because of the recent news...? Earl Hall instinctively began analyzing the situation.
The newspapers were full of the Hall Family's scandals. Although he had done everything he could to keep his wife and daughter from seeing those reports, rumors were flying everywhere. They had inevitably learned something, especially with the nobles around them scrambling to keep their distance...
Every time, Earl Hall had patiently explained to Audrey that these were slanders spread by fools, that those people envied the family's success and wanted to sully the Hall name...
"Audrey, you don't need to feel hurt by these foolish remarks, or saddened by the shortsightedness of those around you. Time will prove them wrong."
But Earl Hall knew that repeating the same words too often robbed them of their effect. Worse still, the Hall Family's situation had not improved. It had only deteriorated.
As the "war" neared its end, the family was running out of "ammunition." Once the money dried up, their control over the media gradually slipped away, and unfavorable reports naturally became more and more common.
Things might still be tolerable in East Chester County, where news traveled slowly. But Backlund, the eye of the storm...
Of course, Viscount Scott might also have said something to Audrey...
He couldn't be entirely blamed for that. To help, he had to understand the situation.
Besides, Viscount Scott