In five strides he could reach her side, in ten he could have her out of here, away from her mother’s condemnation and his brother’s cold judgement. His gaze flicked to Tobias whose stance was so rigid it looked like he might snap.
Damnation! He had barely thought about him and how he must be feeling in this moment. They may not be close, but he knew Tobias to be a good man, a man who was considering Emily for his bride. As far as Freddie was aware, Emily was the only woman his brother had ever thought of in this way and Freddie had ruined it. So intent had he been on getting what he wanted, he had not thought of that once. Freddie should be on his knees grovelling to everyone, but his body was as frozen as his mouth.
The tableau in front of him was a waking nightmare. Tobias began to arrange himself by the fireplace, one arm resting on the mantle as if he were trying to play the character of a ‘relaxed man’. The firm set of his jaw belied his stance. For the first time in his life, the disappointment Freddie had caused was legitimate. He’d tried to learn to read, had put a lot of effort into it and had failed. He hadn’t wanted to fail at school and university, but he had, because his brain hadn’t worked. Those things, objectively, weren’t his fault but this…
He deserved every ounce of disappointment thrown at him, but although he hated the idea that he had let his family down once again, he would never regret kissing Emily. It had been the summit of all his dreams, better than he had ever imagined, and he’d always believed getting to hold her in his arms would be spectacular. One day, hehoped he was able to tell her it had been a perfect moment for him, that it had been the very pinnacle of all his days, but he could not say that now. Not when the silence building up in the duke’s Blue Lounge was slowly suffocating all those who stood in it.
In front of him, Emily’s mother bristled like an indignant cat, anger coming off her in waves. Behind her, Emily stood, her hands clasped to her stomach, seemingly in physical pain, her head down as if studying the duke’s carpet was a competitive sport and she was desperate to beat the competition into dust.
Behind them, loitering at the door, was Edward, the only one not drowning in the loaded quiet. There was no reason for him to be in the room, no reason to witness the fallout that was about to occur. He was clearly only there for the entertainment value, but despite the smirk Edward was no longer bothering to hide, Freddie was glad to have one of his younger brothers there for the support.
At least Freddie was dressed now. He’d stripped off earlier, hot beyond belief while making the playhouse, and for a reason he couldn’t now remember, he’d wandered off to the part of the garden he’d thought of as Emily’s. Tom had left him to build the playhouse alone after all and Freddie had been searching for some sort of connection to another person but he hadn’t thought she would actually be there.
His heart had crashed around in his ribs at the sight of her sitting on the bench he’d made for her and the next time he’d had any coherent thoughts he was pulling his shirt back on and hightailing it up to the house for the berating of a lifetime.
Now he was here, no one was saying anything and that was somehow worse than the high-pitched hysterics of Mrs Hawkins. Unfortunately, he did not have to wait long for her to begin.
‘This,’ said Emily’s mother, ‘is an outrage.’
Freddie waited for Tobias to say something, anything, to smooth over the situation, but he didn’t. Of course he didn’t. He never did.
‘Mr Hawkins ought to callhimout.’ Mrs Hawkins had gone back to the pointing, her trembling finger directed at Freddie’s chest.Thatdidn’t worry Freddie. Mr Hawkins was unlikely to want the level of scandal a duel would cause and besides, Freddie was a crack shot. He was highly unlikely to lose to Emily’s portly, inherently lazy father. But he didn’t want to add killing Mr Hawkins to his list of problems.
Still no one in the Dashworth family said anything, the deafening silence painful. Emily glanced at him, her eyes tight. He half took a step towards her, but Mrs Hawkins pulled herself up to her full height, reminding him that they were being watched. Right now, he did not want to do anything that would get Emily more tongue-lashing from her mother. She did not deserve that; it had been Freddie who had taken off his shirt, admittedly because it was hot and not because he was trying to seduce anyone, but still. He had been half-naked and he had kissed an innocent young woman. If anyone had to pay a price for this morning, it should be him. It was just he was not entirely sure what price Mrs Hawkins wanted.
‘Emily’s good name is ruined,’ declared Mrs Hawkins.
Freddie tucked his hands behind his back to hide his clenched fists. He understood why Mrs Hawkins was upset. He wasn’t so hen-brained as to think that seeing your daughter kissing a shirtless man was agoodthing, but it did not have to be a disaster. There was no need for anyone to find out what had happened in the garden. Neither he nor his brothers would ever mention it again and Emily and her mother would surely keep their mouths shut. There was no need for anything to happen to Emily’s name. It was on the tip of his tongue to say so when Mrs Hawkins continued.
‘Your family needs to make this right.’ Mrs Hawkins turned so that she was fully facing the duke. ‘He had his hands all over my innocent girl. You must see thatyouneed to make amends.’
Freddie’s world stopped. Everything inside him froze, his breathing becoming shallow, as it finally dawned on him the price Mrs Hawkins was demanding. All along she had wanted a duchess for a daughter and, even now when she had discovered her daughter in the arms of another man, she was still going to make a play for it. He’d be in awe if he wasn’t so disgusted.
Mrs Hawkins was not as upset as she appeared; this was like a poker game where she believed she held a royal flush. If she played this moment correctly, she could land the biggest prize currently on the marriage mart. The Dashworth family had caused this situation and so her daughter would have to marry. But not Freddie, the man who had been kissing her as if his very life had depended on it. Oh no,hewas not good enough. Mrs Hawkins was out for the top prize. She wanted Tobias to step forward and solve the situation, for her daughter to become the Duchess of Glanmore.
And maybe Freddie should let that happen. Tobias was better for Emily in almost every way; he’d already come to that conclusion. Only moments ago, Freddie had been almost suffocating in his own guilt at having the woman Tobias had been considering courting in his arms, but deep down, Freddie was a selfish, desperate man. There was no way in hell he was going to let Tobias hear Emily’s breathy moans as he kissed down the length of her neck. Even though he knew it was unfair to Emily, that it was a solution that benefitted nobody but himself, he stepped forward. ‘Miss Hawkins and I will marry.’
‘Oh no,’ said Emily, the words hitting Freddie harder than a punch to the gut, her look of distress like her other fist hitting again, harder and deeper. ‘That will not be necessary. Will it, Mama?’
‘You must marry, Emily. That man has ruined you.’ Mrs Hawkins didn’t acknowledge that Freddie had spoken, didn’t dignify his statement with a response. Freddie didn’t blame her. She was obviously still holding out for the duke and not his half-witted younger brother who never applied himself properly to anything.
But Freddiehadspoken. His marriage proposal, if you could call that bold statement an offer, was out there. Tobias would not contradict him now. If Emily had to get married because of what had happened in the garden, then it would be to Freddie.
‘But Mama, nothing happened,’ Emily pleaded, and Freddie fought the instinct to fall to his knees and beg her to consider him. He knew marriage to him was not what she wanted; her look of horror could not make it clearer.
‘Nothing happened. Nothing!’ If Mrs Hawkins’ voice went any higher, glass would shatter. ‘I saw the way he pawed at you.’
Freddie’s chest was tight. He was in the wrong for his actions, but Mrs Hawkins was making what had been the greatest few moments of his life tawdry, destroying the perfect memory with her screeching. He glanced at Tobias, but it seemed his brother was not going to weigh in to this argument. It would fall to Freddie to make this right and to do that he had to get Mrs Hawkins to stop denigrating her perfect daughter.
‘That’s enough,’ said Freddie, his voice sounding far firmer than he felt. ‘Emily and I will marry. Simon de Beauvoir, my brother’s secretary, will be in touch with the financial settlements and will see about the marriage contracts.’ Freddie had no idea if this was true, but it sounded right and Tobias didn’t correct him.
Mrs Hawkins turned to look at him, her eyes narrow, her lips thin. She could not have regarded him worse if he were a bug she had squashed beneath her boot. This was not the marriage proposal she’d wanted, not when there was a far bigger prize to be caught, but it wasthe one she was going to get. Hopefully, he would get a chance to talk to Emily once Mrs Hawkins had calmed down. If she did not want to marry, then he would not force her, but the offer was out there. She would not be ruined because Freddie had not kept his hands to himself.
For her part, Mrs Hawkins could not turn down Freddie’s offer of marriage to her daughter, as she had already claimed that Emily needed to marry and Tobias had not stepped up to the occasion. Mrs Hawkins had found out that her royal flush was merely a trick of the light.
Freddie held his breath as the afternoon ticked slowly on, everyone waiting for Mrs Hawkins’ next move. Without Tobias’ lofty title as a draw she would probably pull out of the arrangement now. Freddie tried to force himself to feel some relief that he would not have to marry after all, but the feeling did not materialise. Inside, he was left with a dark pang around his heart, as if the worst had already happened. He’d been tantalisingly close to his heart’s desire only to find it might be snatched away at the last moment. It was an absurd emotion to feel. He’d never truly considered binding Emily to his side for the rest of his life. He’d longed for her, yes, but in a way that wasn’t a fully formed idea, more of a nebulous dream. But now… now it was nearly possible, nearly in his grasp and he found the idea of letting it go was akin to slowly having his teeth pulled out.
‘Frederick is my heir.’ All eyes swung to Tobias, who had dropped his arm from the mantlepiece and was now glaring at the room as if waiting for someone to contradict him.
