Chapter 6

CHAPTER6

“Nothing happened.” The words were out of Emily’s mouth before she could think much of them.

The way she and the Duke of Thorne had stood so close together implied the opposite. The Duke backed up from her, stumbling and sitting down on the bench he’d vacated just minutes before. He hung his head forward in his hands, his heavy sigh filling the air between them all.

Guilt raged within Emily. She tried to swallow, but her mouth was suddenly dry. She looked at Daniel and Rachel, feeling their palpable disappointment. Emily would have happily reminded them of their own meeting in a garden that had led to their marriage, but now was not the time.

Rachel’s glare became so strong that Emily shifted, her hands fidgeting as she stared at her sister in the moonlight.

“I’ll tell you later,” she managed to mouth to Rachel, who clearly found it was not enough. She shook her head and stepped forward, reaching her husband’s side.

“An explanation is in order. Now,” she commanded. There was such strength in her tone that the Duke of Thorne looked up from the cover of his hands.

“My wife is right.” Daniel shifted his hands to his hips.

“Daniel, I —” Emily began but Daniel matched his wife’s glare.

“Not now, Emily.” He looked back at the Duke of Thorne, clearly demanding some sort of explanation from him.

“Nothing happened,” the Duke seconded Emily’s words. “We were merely talking. Arguing, actually.”

“Alone in a garden,” Daniel said pointedly. “You are no fool. Hence you have managed to avoid complete scandal for years despite your reputation.”

“I am speaking the truth.” The Duke lifted his head and looked at Bridget. “I know I have hardly covered myself in glory here, but Lady Bridget, believe me. We were just arguing.”

“It’s true, Bridget.” Emily looked at Bridget but met a gaze that was still as unreadable as before. Bridget had barely blinked, but beyond that, Emily could tell nothing. She didn’t fidget or shift her feet, but stared forward, as still as the cherubim statue that stood between them.

A strong curse escaped Daniel’s lips, one so violent that Rachel offered him a censured look, one he ignored.

“Oh, come on. I’m hardly going to be dancing for joy right now, am I?” Daniel challenged his wife. “Had anyone but us seen them…”

“I know.” Rachel agreed with him. “Fortunately, we are the only ones that have seen them out here together. No one else needs to know of it.”

Emily backed up, hurrying around the cherubim statue with her hands over her mouth as she realized the full implications of what had passed. Had she and the Duke of Thorne been seen out here by anyone else, then they could have found themselves in a hasty marriage. Clearly, her family now hoped to avoid that eventuality.

“Bridget?” Daniel moved to her side. “You are content for the betrothal between you and the Duke to be called off?”

“Most content,” Bridget said tightly. Emily looked at her sister again, trying to put as much apology as she could in her gaze, but Bridget didn’t return that look. She stared elsewhere instead.

“Your Grace?” Daniel appealed to the Duke of Thorne who nodded.

“Yes, but I do not wish there to be a scandal. For Bridget’s sake,” the Duke said, motioning toward Bridget who flinched at that hand.

“And Emily’s,” Rachel pointed out, her voice deep. Emily now shifted her focus to Rachel, finding herself on the end of such a censuring glare that her spine crumpled. She dropped down onto the other stone bench, her body feeling strangely cold.

“Then this is what we shall do,” Daniel stepped forward, taking control of the situation. “We’ll explain to Lord Pratt and your mother, Your Grace, that you have both decided on reflection upon meeting one another that though you respect one another…” he paused.

“Some respect,” Rachel murmured.

“Yes, thank you,” Daniel said wryly to his wife, then continued with his original statement. “That you two are not suited to one another. We’ll explain it to friends and simply say that you decided to be friends. With a little luck, the scandal sheet writers will accept it for what it is, and they won’t go hunting for any hint of scandal. Is that agreed?”

Bridget was already nodding, clearly eager for this meeting to be over as hurriedly as possible. The Duke of Thorne stood and nodded too.

“May I extend my apologies to Lady Bridget?” He asked for permission. Daniel waved a hand, urging him forward, but unsurprisingly, Rachel stood in the way and blocked his path to her. “Ah…”

“I protect my sisters with ferocity, Your Grace.” Rachel held her own, her chin lifted and her presence formidable. Not for the first time Emily was reminded just how strong her sister was, though at that moment, her visible strength made Emily feel weaker still. Her whole body crumpled on the bench, and she laid a hand beside her, trying to keep herself in some semblance of an upright position. “You can say your apologies from here, but do not think I am letting you near my sister again.”

“That is understandable.” The Duke of Thorne’s eyes flicked to Bridget over Rachel’s shoulder. “I am truly sorry, Lady Bridget. I know none of our conversations have been as smooth or as easy as we both would have liked, but believe me when I say, I had not wished it to end like this.”

“I appreciate your honesty.” Bridget managed the smallest of polite smiles and bowed her head in acknowledgment of his words.

“I shall take my leave then.” The Duke of Thorne made ready to leave when Rachel moved in his way again. “Or not?”

“Certainly not.” She shook her head.

“There is another matter here to discuss.” Daniel moved to stand beside his wife and folded his arms, then he looked in Emily’s direction.

She flinched at the strength in that stare. Everyone turned to gaze at her, in much the same way. She felt hated all at once and looked down at her hand clutching the bench.

What sort of sister am I?

She kept wondering about the different ways she should have acted. Should she have told Bridget the moment she realized? No. That was not the answer. Rachel’s disapproval was enough to tell Emily everything she had done wrong.

It was my mischief in the first place. I never should have gone into that corridor and never should have kissed the Duke of Thorne.

“What exactly was happening out here?” Daniel asked, his voice raising a notch in irritation.

“Shh,” Bridget reminded him, glancing away down one of the pathways.

“I may have protected one sister-in-law from your ways, but clearly have not protected the other.” The sharpness in Daniel’s tone earned Emily’s attention and she looked up from the bench. “What exactly passed between you and Emily?”

“Nothing,” the Duke of Thorne insisted. “She escaped Lord Gilchrist’s rather forward attentions and came out here. I wished to speak to her so followed, and we ended up arguing. That is the truth of the matter.”

“You wished to speak?” Rachel said, raising her eyebrows. “About what?”

“Do not tell us some guff about your betrothal to Bridget,” Daniel added. “I thought you a good man, Your Grace.”

“You and I have known each other for many years,” the Duke said, the words escaping him in a rush. “You know I am no saint, but even I am not the foul man you suspect me of being right now. Since I met Lady Bridget, I have pursued no other. That is the honest truth.”

Emily hung her head, thinking of that moment before he had met Bridget. He’d been wayward then, and she’d been enticed by him.

“Then what passed between the two of you?” Daniel asked, his questions relentless.

“Nothing!” The Duke of Thorne insisted so loudly that she looked up, watching him closely. He was red in the face, that pallor visible in the moonlight as he waved his hands, rather manically. “There is nothing between Lady Emily and I, nothing at all beyond cold, hard stares, and a disagreement.”

Nothing.

Emily felt wounded, as if she had been kicked in the gut. She moved to her feet, restless, uncertain why the idea of him dismissing any connection between them hurt her so. It shouldn’t have hurt. She was ready to despise him a few minutes ago. What was wrong with her?

“Now, I have said my piece.” The Duke sighed. “I will do as you ask and explain the cancellation of the betrothal, but I am no great monster. Please, believe that.” The Duke looked between Daniel and Rachel, but he got no answer.

In the end, Daniel nodded for him to take his leave down the garden path. He stepped around the pair and walked away, leaving them alone in the courtyard.

Emily stared after the Duke, uncertain why it disappointed her when he did not look back at her.

“Bridget,” Emily murmured, striding toward her sister.

“Later.” Rachel intercepted Emily and took her arm. “We’re leaving. Now.”

* * *

“What happened?” Seth strode away from the lady he had been speaking to and hurried to Jacob’s side.

“Where’s that brandy? I need another.”

“Take this. I haven’t drunk from it yet.” He pushed his own brandy glass into Jacob’s hands. Jacob downed it. “Woah…” Seth followed this with a whistle. “I’ve seen you in scrapes before, but I’ve never seen you so jittery.”

Jacob wiped his top lip with the sleeve of his jacket, aware that he’d nearly spilled half of the brandy over his face in his effort to drink it.

“I’m a fool. No, not just that. A prize…” He used such a strong curse that a lady nearby heard it and gasped, turning to face him.

“Forgive him,” Seth adopted an easy smile, but took Jacob’s arm rather sharply. “A touch of a fever, would you excuse us?” He dragged Jacob to the door of the assembly rooms. “Something tells me it is time for us to leave.”

“Most definitely.” Jacob put the glass down on a table as they hurried to the side of the assembly rooms. He was in such a rush to leave that he didn’t stop to pick up his frock coat from the doorman but jumped down the front step and hurried to the carriage that awaited him in the street. Seth retrieved the coats instead and caught up with him on the road.

It was just starting to rain, a light drizzle that came down and wet him through, despite its lightness. Seth passed him the coat, but he made no effort to put it on. He merely pushed back the damp hair from his forehead.

“Tell me all,” Seth said and waved a hand at Jacob’s carriage. They both got inside where Jacob revealed being caught in the garden alone with Emily. It didn’t matter that they had not transgressed that night. The Duke of Elbridge and his wife had looked at him with equal fury, as if he had done so.

“What of your betrothed?”

“We are no longer betrothed.” Jacob shook his head as the carriage tossed them from side to side. “I couldn’t even read her expression. That poor lady. How she must despise me. That is not something I intended, Seth. Never.”

“I know.” Seth nodded. “There’s a reason why you always stuck to theatre and opera girls, even shop ladies, is there not? They knew you never intended to offer more than a few nights’ company. You rather feared this eventuality, yes?”

“Yes,” Jacob said tightly. He’d done the very thing he’d hoped not to do. He’d promised marriage and hurt a woman. “I never thought I was this much of a careless, heartless man. Clearly, I am.”

“Are you?” Seth said, sitting back and tapping his head on the wall of the carriage.

“Have you not been listening to everything I have been saying?”

“I was just wondering why you followed Lady Emily out this evening. For I do not believe you intended to go and seduce her, did you?”

“No, of course I didn’t. I just…” He trailed off, watching as Seth smiled a little. Now, he realized what Seth was hinting at. “I do not like Lady Emily, Seth.”

“You kissed her.”

“That was one night’s transgression.”

“And couldn’t stay away even when you knew you should.” Seth’s plain way of speaking frustrated Jacob now. He tossed the wet frock coat onto the floor of the carriage between them. “Drawn to her, eh?”

“Those are not the words I would use.”

“Fair enough. Those are the words I will just think then.”

* * *

“Out with it. All of it.” Rachel flicked her fingers at Emily and sat beside her on the chaise longue in her bedchamber.

Emily only had eyes for Bridget at that moment. Her sister sat at the end of the bed on a coffer, plaiting her long dark hair. Both she and Emily had undressed from their fine gowns into their night clothes, ready to retire, but it seemed Rachel was not leaving any time soon.

In a distant part of the house, Daniel was talking to their father. They knew from the promises Daniel had made in the carriage on their return that he did not intend to tell Edward everything that had truly passed that night. He sought simply to explain an end to the betrothal by drawing the conclusion that Bridget and the Duke of Thorne were not suited.

“Bridget, please look at me,” Emily begged, her hands falling still on top of the nightgown in her lap. Bridget looked up from where she had been plaiting her hair.

“In case you have not noticed, Emily, I am hardly in the throes of heartbreak, am I?” Bridget asked. “My pride is wounded, certainly, but it is nothing more than that. And pride is for fools anyway, who needs it?”

“You have the best heart I know,” Emily whispered.

Rachel flicked her fingers at Emily again, making her flinch.

“See? When you praise our sister so much, it baffles me that you would willingly be alone with the gentleman that she was going to marry.” Rachel’s expression was unhindered by its anger.

“Hate me for it. I hate myself too,” Emily said in a rush. “I cannot explain it, no more than you can.”

“You certainly can explain something.” Rachel sat forward, unrelenting. “Is what the Duke said true about how you ended up outside tonight?”

“Yes. I thought if I escaped Lord Gilchrist, then I could find a few minutes of peace in the garden. The Duke followed me and we ended up… arguing.”

“Thank God you added that word,” Rachel said tightly. Bridget managed the smallest of smiles.

“I thought she was going to say something else entirely.”

Emily looked at Bridget, startled by her reaction. She had truly thought Bridget would lash out more and certainly be more upset than this.

“Oh please,” Rachel waved a hand at Emily. “A gentleman does not follow a lady outside for the two of them to just spontaneously argue. Something must have led to this.”

“Perhaps,” Emily looked at Bridget again, waiting for her to be done with plaiting her hair.

“Emily!”

“Oh, calm yourself, Mama Rachel, mother bear.” Emily waved a hand at her sister and stood, crossing the room. She moved to Bridget’s side and sat beside her on the coffer. What she had to say was for Bridget, more so than for Rachel. “The first night I met him was the ball when you met.”

“You didn’t say,” Bridget murmured, chewing on her lip.

“Because I did not know it was him. I had no idea that the gentleman I had met that night was the Duke of Thorne.”

“Met?” Rachel queried. “What passed between you? Just conversation?”

“Yes.” Emily lied and avoided looking Rachel in the eye, focusing on Bridget instead. She certainly didn’t want to end up married to the Duke of Thorne because of this whole mess, so she intended to be artful with the truth. “I will not deny, Bridget, then when I met him, there was an…”

“Go on.” Bridget encouraged her.

“An attraction,” Emily whispered, wishing that Rachel wasn’t in the room with them. Rachel heard it regardless and huffed, sitting back on the chaise longue as she threw her hands at the heavens.

“Well, this is a turn-up for the books.”

“Yes, I know, sister.” Emily’s voice grew sharp as she looked at Rachel. “So often you have warned me that my rebellious nature will get me into trouble, and believe me, I am paying the price for it now, but I did not know who he was.” She turned back to face Bridget. “I am so sorry. The moment I realized it was him, I tried to shut down the attraction. Truly, I did.”

“And he is attracted to you too?” Bridget asked, returning to plait the other half of her hair.

How is she so calm throughout all of this?

“Why else does a gentleman follow a lady into a garden?” Rachel asked, not looking up from the chaise longue.

“Shall I remind you of how you and Daniel married?” Emily’s tone grew tart.

“I have explained that a hundred times or more.” Rachel sat up hurriedly now.

“Enough.” Bridget’s voice was calm. She paused with the plait and looked at Emily. “So, he has an attraction for you too?”

“So it would seem.”

“I knew it.” Bridget smiled.

“Yet believe me, it will not be an attraction that matters much to him, not when he is a man of that reputation, wait…” Emily cut herself off and sat taller, staring at her sister in wonder. “Did you just say, you knew it? What!?”

“It was the way you two stared at one another at dinner the other night,” Bridget said with a smile of satisfaction. “Oh, the air crackled! Even I could see it.”

“It is not that strong an attraction. Believe me.”

“Is it not?”