Chapter Nineteen
“Hugh, stop!” Aaron barked the word but little good it did. He had to duck down to avoid the blow that was aimed by his brother. Hugh narrowly missed him, with his fist skimming past Aaron’s hair before he could stand straight, hurrying back again. “Hugh – stop this now. I will not fight you over this.”
“It has been coming for ages, hasn’t it?” Hugh asked, reaching forward, and trying to grab Aaron’s lapels.
“We have not fought since we were boys.” Aaron pushed Hugh off. Aaron was both the taller and the stronger, but he knew with the venom that was clearly lodged in Hugh’s chest at this moment, he would take some beating in a fight. “I am not fighting you now.”
“That is not your decision.” Hugh aimed another blow at Aaron, but he was too slow. Aaron was able to vault over the terraced garden wall behind him, landing on the lawn just a foot beneath them. In the scramble as he turned back to look out onto the terrace, he saw Jane’s expression standing a few feet away from them.
Is she smiling?
She was. It was plain to see. She was smiling as she looked between them, watching on.
“Are you enjoying this?” Aaron asked her, practically shouting in her direction. For one awful minute, Aaron was reminded of when he was but a boy, a memory that he had lodged deep within him and forgotten all about.
He and Hugh had been playing out on the lawn with toy soldiers when Jane had been brought round by her parents. She had claimed to Hugh that Aaron had stolen one of his soldiers. It was hours later before they realized Jane had had the toy all the time.
“You did this all,” Aaron murmured in realization, pointing straight at Jane. She lost her smile and affected an innocent look, but he was not fooled.
When he had come out here to talk with her, the last thing he had expected was the way she had advanced toward him, saying that there would always be this bond between them, despite what had happened. Aaron had denied it, explaining that whatever he had once felt for Jane was gone, but she would not have it. That is when she had reached up and kissed him. He had been too shocked to push her off at first, not until he realized they had an audience. Then he had shoved her away.
“Aaron! Come back here.” Hugh was hurrying to the steps in the terrace garden, trying to hurry down to the lawn. As he reached the steps, Aaron clambered back over the wall, determined to keep distance between them. “Stop this now.”
“You stop, you fool,” Aaron called back to him. “I am not fighting my own brother over something this pathetic.”
“Pathetic? You kissed my betrothed!”
“She kissed me!”
“I reckon this was a tough time to walk into this conversation.”
Oh no…Aaron turned around, recognizing the voice that had entered at that moment. Lord Bolton was standing in the doorway that led back to the house, his expression perfectly grave, despite the humored words.
“Miss Drew, is it?” Lord Bolton asked, turning his gaze on Jane. “And your maid?”
“Yes,” Jane said and affected a curtsy, with the maid closely behind her.
“I think it best you both go inside.” Lord Bolton hurried the two of them away.
“Aaron? Get back here.” Hugh was back on the terrace again, advancing toward him.
Aaron held up his hands, trying to ward off Hugh like a wild animal as he backed up.
“Hugh, I didn’t do anything wrong.Shedid it!”
“What kind of fool do you take me for?” Hugh asked, reaching for him and trying to grab his jacket another time, to pull him back for a strike.
“A great one indeed as you will not listen to me.” Aaron’s words made Hugh’s face turn a darker shade of purple in the moonlight. As Hugh wound his arm up to deliver a blow, Lord Bolton appeared at their side.
“All right, that’s enough.” He easily took hold of the scruff of Hugh’s jacket and jerked him backward. As tall as Aaron, he was able to stop Hugh advancing anymore as he stood between them.
“Step out of the way,” Hugh ordered. “This is between my brother and me.”
“Wrong, I’m part of this now as Lady Emily is my sister,” Lord Bolton said, folding his arms. These words made Hugh pause, his gaze settling on Lord Bolton. “You,” Lord Bolton looked back to Aaron. Aaron felt seared by that gaze, never having seen his friend so serious or so irate. “I will deal with in a minute. First, you,” he looked back to Hugh, “need to calm down.”
“I will not.”
“How do you expect to resolve this with fists?” Lord Bolton asked. “They don’t do much good for explanations.”
