I was a victim of gossip and it was awful, when expecting my first baby I was asked "what happened to the other baby did you have it adopted".  It turned out that because my first husband and I married quickly some people presumed I was pregnant and when no baby arrived they spread the rumour that I must have had it adopted!!!! you can imagine the distress this caused, especially when I confronted the people concerned and they just shrugged and said "if you say so". It still rankles 20 years later.