She froze.
“How did you know?” she whispered.
“It is the only thing you would be this desperate to hide,” he said quietly. “And the only thing I have been trying not to think about every day since I put you back into that carriage.”
Her vision blurred. Tears burned. “Do not say it. Do not make fun of me. I know how ridiculous it is. A girl in love with a duke who has told her very firmly that he will never marry her.”
He flinched as if she had struck him.
Before he could speak, before she could gather herself, the door to the study flew open.
“Gwendoline,” Howard barked.
The sound of her name in that voice hit like a bucket of ice. She twisted in Victor’s hold, her heart plummeting.
Howard stood in the doorway, his face a mask of fury and triumph. Beside him hovered the Dowager Duchess, pale and grim, and behind them two other guests, a baronet and his wife, their eyes wide with horrified fascination.
All of them stared at the scene.
The Duke of Greystone on the floor of his study. Lady Gwendoline Reeves sprawled on top of him, her hair disheveled, her cheeks flushed, their bodies tangled in a way that admitted no innocent explanation.
For one suspended moment, no one spoke. Then the room exploded.
“What in God’s name?” Howard roared dramatically. “Get your hands off my daughter!”
The Dowager Duchess closed her eyes very briefly, as if in pain, then opened them again, already calculating.
The Baronet’s wife clapped a hand over her mouth. The Baronet himself muttered something that sounded very much like, “Good Lord.”
Gwen felt the world tilt beneath her.
They were caught.
Victor’s hands tightened on her waist, steadying her. He did not look at the others. He looked only at her.
CHAPTER 27
Howard’s fingers clamped around Gwen’s wrist like an iron shackle. “Get up,” he ground out.
Victor’s hands fell away from her waist as Howard seized her. She stumbled to her feet, half dragged upright. The letter she had written crumpled further in Victor’s fist.
“Howard, please,” she heard her mother beg, but Howard paid her no attention.
Gwen could barely think. Her heart thundered. Her cheeks burned with shame. The room spun around her in a whirl of bookshelves, carpet, and horrified faces.
Howard yanked her toward the door. “You have disgraced us for the last time!” he snarled. “I will not stay another moment in this house!”
“Howard, she tripped!” Cordelia cried from the corridor, her voice quivering. “You cannot be certain of what you saw.”
“I saw enough,” Howard snapped.
He pulled Gwen into the corridor, and her shoulder collided painfully with the doorframe. She bit back a gasp and forced herself to keep her feet beneath her.
“Stop this instant,” Victor ordered behind them, his voice low and dangerous.
Gwen twisted around, catching a glimpse of him striding after them, his jaw set, his eyes blazing. He quickly tucked the letter into his coat as he approached.
The Dowager Duchess stepped into his path. “That is enough, Victor,” she said sharply.
