(Sorta how I imagine Cassandra)

The flash of golden lights and sparkling gems danced about the room among the tantalizing blur of colors and laughter. The heady smell of fine perfumes almost made her lose herself into the aching pain of her headache. This must have been how Lavinia felt, Cassandra thought to herself, pressing her lips into a firm line. Poor Livy had been dragged to every social event of the year against her wishes, and now, Cassandra finally knew how it felt.

Painfully shifting her weight from one aching foot to the other, she struggled against the yawn rising in her throat at an almost irrepressible speed, vainly attempting to appear present and cheerful despite her desire to run out of the Drummond ballroom as fast as her heeled slippers would allow. But, she thought with a sigh, she couldn't do that. Papa was counting on her to be here when he got back, and besides, she couldn't let them think that their snide remarks were getting to her. Oh, no, not in a million years.

Grinning suddenly, she wondered what Lady Giselle Montague's response would be if someone were to drop a live mouse down the gaping neck of her bodice. Forcing herself to keep her laughter down, she imagined waving a fat field cricket in Lady Cecilia Marie's face. Unable to resist, she broke out into a full smile at the thought of piling a fresh cow pie on Kitty Morgan's head. She would most certainly be banned from every social gathering of note, but it would be beyond worth it.

The flirtatious vipers had once claimed to be her best friends, and now, it was they who spread the most malicious stories about her, they who, with their finely dressed groups of friends, snubbed her as best they knew how, and they who mocked Livy for running off to Scotland with a man who had nothing to offer but his love. Oh, yes, they had been her friends once, but she despised them with cold fury now.

"You're looking unusually happy tonight, Cassandra." The smile slid from her lips as she looked up into Benjamin Morgan's drooping face.

"As though I'm planning my next conquest already?" She raised a coldly imperious brow. No one had tried to hide the gossip from her, and she knew full well what they were saying of her. Wasn't she suffering because of it?

"No—that is—er—you just look happy." Benjamin stuttered, his features turning a blotchy crimson. "Look, I know you and Kitty didn't part well—"

"Part well?" Cassandra scoffed. "She called me a sloppy paramour directly to my face and asked her group of friends how they thought a woman with such a vulgar reputation dared show her face in a church."

"And you called her a trollop who thinly veils her behavior with a coating of prudish slime and our father's title, and you asked her if she were still counting the number of men she had taken to bed just like her over-exaggerated ego demanded." Benjamin replied dryly, raising a tufted brow. "You never were one to mince with words."

"I never saw the point. Either speak your mind to someone or don't, but never go in between; it's sloppy and ill-bred." Cassandra shrugged. "Besides, how was I to know she'd set her heart on wedding Frank Miller. Really, I think it was for her own good. For a clergyman, he certainly has a heightened awareness of his good looks. Has she never seen him pause before every mirror he passes for a quick glance at himself?" A smile touched her lips. "I take that back. I believe I did her the greatest disfavor the world would have to offer by chasing away the only man who could possibly be as stuck on himself as she. I've never met someone who thought they were such a rare gift to mankind."

"Look, Cass," Benjamin's voice turned serious. "You and she aren't friends anymore; whether you have good reason or not is beside the point, but is there really any reason that the two of us can't get on in the same, old way? Perhaps better?" Cassandra looked up into the hopeful eyes and felt a sharp dart pierce her heart at Benjamin's expression. Could this be another victim to her foolish flirtations.

"Oh, Ben," she smiled. "Of course not. You and I will always be friends. You're like a brother to me." A faint tremor of distaste briefly slid across Benjamin's features before he smiled.

"It'll really nettle Kitty that I'm stooping myself to behave the same toward you, too." He grinned, a glint of satisfaction in his eyes.

Cassandra laughed aloud. "Don't tempt me to be more affectionate toward you." She said wryly.

"I wish I could!" Startled by the exclamation, she looked into his dour, blue eyes so abnormally filled with hope for a single moment before quickly turning away.

"Ben—"

"Don't, Cass. I know you don't care for me like that now, but all I'm asking is that you give me a chance. Right now, all I want is your friendship, because my life would be dull and insipid without it, but if you give me a chance, just the slightest chance, I could show you how much I truly love you."

"Oh, Ben," Cassandra smiled sadly up at him. His features had never reminded her more of a loyal hound dog than now. "Think of your parents. What would they say?"

"I don't care! They can say what they like, but you—well, if you say there's a chance you could learn to love me even the slightest, I," he cleared his throat. "Cass, I'd walk through fire for you, and at the moment, all the things everybody would say seems pretty small compared to that." Cassandra thought her heart would break. She despised even the thought of hurting him. "I see I've ruined everything. I intended to wait until a more proper moment, but now that's spoiled. I've surprised you in a terribly ungentlemanly manner." Ben looked away from her, his lips twisted into a grim smile as though he were waiting for a blow to descend. "Like I said, please don't give me your answer now. I'll wait for you as long as you like."

Cassandra drew a shaking breath, dreading the moment she would have to tell him she could never give him what he wanted. The air between them seemed suddenly thicker and somehow drier, and had her mother and governess not spent excruciatingly long hours training her in the ways of a proper lady, she might have swayed on her feet. Instead, she exhaled, biting down on her lower lip. For as long as they had been friends, Ben had been the annoyingly little pest who followed her and Kitty around. She had never known—curse her for a blind fool, she'd never realized he'd fallen for her.

"Come on; let's forget all this! How about a dance?" Ben's cheerful mood was never long gone, and his large, white teeth were displayed in a full, straight smile as he offered her his hand.

Drawing another deep breath, she smiled, forcing herself to forget what he had said. After all, it didn't matter now, did it? No, and she couldn't let it make her time here even worse.

"Well, if you think you want to be at the receiving end of Kitty's tirade, I'd be honored to dance with you, sir." She curtseyed and took his hand, following him gracefully onto the dance floor as the musicians began to play.

Moving through the dance steps with practiced ease, Cassandra glanced around the room. Every eye seemed to be trained on her, and she could feel the hatred radiating off of the onlookers. Fine. Let them stare. She threw back her shoulders and spun on Benjamin's arm with the gracefulness that once had every observing gentleman jealous of her partner.

Her feet remembered every flourish and skip, and she gave her full skirts and extra flounce at every opportunity. They thought they were punishing her with their exclusion and cruel words, but they had forgotten who she was. She would remind them.

A figure detached itself from the crowd, making its way toward her. She ignored it. Ben suddenly halted, and she found herself looking up into a pair of leering, gray eyes.

"I don't imagine you'll mind me taking over from here, boy." Lord Smithers' throaty voice made her want to shudder. He had once been Kitty's especial friend, and Cassandra had loathed his wandering eyes from the moment she met him.

"Actually, I do mind. You can wait." Benjamin made as if to continue the dance.

"I knew you wouldn't." Shoving Ben aside, Lord Smithers pulled Cassandra into his arms, spinning her away from the comfort of Benjamin's presence.

"You never had much in the way of manners, did you, Robert?" Cassandra said contemptuously.

Robert raised a brow. "Perhaps not, but honestly, dancing in the arms of that clodhopper didn't seem fitting for you. You move with far too much grace for him." The gray eyes examined her figure with obvious delight.

"I don't see how that has anything to do with you." Cassandra snapped, glaring up at the man.

"It doesn't, but I wanted to test your skills for myself." His hand moved a little lower than the dance required.

"Stop it." Cassandra said firmly.

"I don't believe I want to." Robert jerked her closer. "You see, I want something you have to offer." He glanced down at her body as though he could see through the silk material of her gown.

"You'll get nothing like that from me, Robert." She spoke with forceful surety.

"Oh, really?" Robert chuckled. "Look, my dear, you're tainted goods. I could have you any night of the week I wanted, and no one would think any different. I'm offering you the choice to come willingly." Sparks flew in Cassandra's brain.

"How dare you!" She raged.

"I dare because of who you have become. Everyone in the ton is talking about how loose you are, and they would simply think you'd come to me." His grip tightened on her, and she could feel his warmth through her layers of clothes. "No one would believe the sob story of such a woman as you."

"Let go of me." Cassandra snapped, trying to shake free, but he was far too strong for her.

"I'll have you, my dear, one way or another, and if you think you can escape me by running to your father, think again. There's nothing he can do. Like it or not, you've been ruined. I simply want to take my piece before every other man in London gets the same idea." He bowed over her hand as the dance ended. "Until our next meeting, dear." He grinned, and she had to fight every instinct within her that told her to run. She couldn't let him see what he had done to her. "It'll be very soon, too. I don't think I'll be able to wait very long to come to you." He leaned close, and his hand slid up the front of her bodice before he broke away and left her standing alone on the dance floor.

Staring after him, Cassandra realized he was right. Who would believe the story she told? She looked around the room at all the unfriendly faces. Who would stand up for her? No one paid any heed to the screams of a tainted woman. Because she was surrounded by scandal, she was now free game for the pleasure of every rake in England.

She moved off the dance floor and into the crowd of people, struggling to breathe. She was trapped. There was no way out. Lord Robert Smithers would only be the first. It was only a matter of time before the others came.