“As do I, my lady,” Whit added smoothly. “And I won’t be afraid to use those details to protect my sister as I must. I’m sure you understand.”
“Please, Your Grace,” she entreated. “I meant no harm. You cannot go to my husband with what you know. It would be disastrous for me.”
“I don’t suppose Heathcote is a very forgiving man, is he?” Aubrey asked idly.
“I don’t reckon he is,” Whit agreed. “It would be a pity to have to sow marital discord, but if I were to learn that tongues were wagging about Lady Rhiannon again, I would have no other choice, I’m afraid.”
“Nor would I,” Aubrey added. “Especially not since Lady Rhiannon has done me the great honor of agreeing to become the next Duchess of Richford.”
Perdita gasped. “You’re marrying her?”
“Yes.” Aubrey grinned, his split lip hurting like hell. “I am.”
Perdita shook her head. “I promise never to speak another word against Lady Rhiannon.”
“See that you don’t,” Aubrey told her.
The carriage proceeded on,the next destination Whit’s town house, where Rhiannon awaited their return.
“Do you think Carnis and Lady Heathcote will heed our warnings?” he asked Whit into the awkward silence that had fallen.
“I think they had better, or they will face our wrath,” Whit said. “And the outcome will be even uglier than your face.”
He winced and then winced again as the action shot pain through him. “Careful. You may wound my poor feelings.”
“You’re fortunate I didn’t kill you.” Whit raised a dark brow. “You have a great deal of explaining to do, Richford.”
“I am sorry for the way everything happened,” he told his friend at last. “But I cannot say I’m sorry that it happened. I love your sister.”
“Like a grasshopper or some such rot,” Whit muttered.
“It was a conversation we had about Eos and Tithonus,” he began.
Whit held up a staying hand. “I don’t want to hear about your romance with my sister, if you please. All I want to know is why you didn’t bloody well tell me that the hoyden had found her way into Wingfield Hall the moment you realized it.”
Why, indeed?
“I was being selfish,” he admitted. “I wanted her to stay. If I’m perfectly honest with myself, I can admit that I have harbored…tender feelings for Rhiannon for some time.”
“Christ.” Whit wiped a hand over his face as if he’d just been splattered with something dirty.
“Not always,” he defended himself. “In the last year or so, I’ve found her increasingly difficult not to notice. She’s wild and bold and…” He allowed his words to trail off, feeling embarrassed heat creep up his throat and make his ears go hot. “Well, I’m sure you see what I mean, given that you’ve newly fallen in love yourself.”
“What happened between the two of you after the house party?” Whit asked, his brow furrowed. “What took so long for you to come to your senses?”
“You know my past,” he said quietly. “I was fearful because of what happened. I thought that she would be better off without me, that I couldn’t love her as she deserved. Truth be told, I’m still not certain I can love her as she deserves. She’s far too bloody good for me. All I can do is promise that I’ll love her and protect her with everything in me, as long as I’ve breath left in my lungs.”
Whit stared at him in a tense silence for a few moments, seeming to look straight into the depths of Aubrey’s soul. He didn’t care. He had nothing left to hide. He stared back, unrelenting.
Finally, his friend gave a jerky nod. “If Rhiannon wishes to have your sorry hide, then I wish both of you happy.”
Whit’s approval. Relief hit Aubrey in the chest. He could breathe again.
“Thank you, Whit. You won’t regret this, I vow it.”
His friend gave him a pointed look. “If I do, then I’ll be decorating that ugly face of yours again. Only next time, I won’t be so gentle.”
Aubrey chuckled. “Touché, old chum.”
