Trem hated to see her chastise herself. Particularly when Hartley was such a bastard.
“Don’t blame yourself, love,” he said, stroking her knuckles with his thumb. “He was the one who was not honest with you. If his feelings for you were more than friendly, he should have told you from the beginning. Not hoped that a spell of his tepid lovemaking would win you over.”
Henrietta laughed and the sound kindled something in him that was dangerous. His tenderness for her was becoming an overwhelming sensation. Something so large that it might crush him.
“Is this letter why you insisted on marrying within the month?”
Tremberley frowned at the question. Henrietta had seemed a bit reluctant for his taste in regard to his timeline.
“Partly,” he said. “And partly that we haven’t been careful. You could be with child.”
She shook her head. “I expect to get my courses tomorrow.”
Well, that was a relief. He didn’t relish having to explain to his best friend why his sister had delivered an unusually robust baby eight months after their wedding.
“We should be more careful until the wedding. And after if you don’t want a child.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Well, you should. It is easy to get caught up in the moment. But such moments have consequences.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” She gestured towards the letter.
“I wasn’t suggesting that you didn’t.”
“I know, I’m sorry,” she said, catching her lip between her front teeth. It was a tantalizing sight. “Everything has been happening so fast.”
“It has. But the truth is that I want it to happen fast. I want to marry you within the month. I don’t want to leave anything to chance.”
She squeezed his hand. “Me either. But you can’t duel Hartley. I beg you.”
Trem warmed at her prohibition.
“I wouldn’t dream of it. Lose my life to this fool? Not if I can help it.”
“I am scared, Trem. Justin—well, last night, when he made that announcement, he didn’t seem himself. He seemed rather addled. I don’t trust that he won’t do something mad.”
“Don’t worry,” he said, trying to think of how he could soothe her. He hated her distress. “I will take care of him. I won’t let anything happen to you. Or myself.”
“I fear you aren’t taking him seriously enough. He is not well. You must understand—I truly gave him no sign that I would develop feelings for him. We had a very clear agreement. Cass said that she saw his inclination for me and I grant I may have missed it. But his words were very misleading.”
Her breath caught and he was alarmed to see tears fill her eyes.
“He promised me that he had no serious intentions,” she continued.
“He manipulated you,” Trem said, anger flaring in him. He had taken Hartley as a love-sick idiot, but his fiancée’s tears made the prospect of twenty paces more appealing.
“I see now that he hoped to persuade me…” she said, trailing off, her voice still wobbly, her blue eyes flashing. “But, yes, I do feel manipulated. He all but assured me nothing of this sort would occur afterwards.”
Trem hadn’t fully realized the scope of Hartley’s deception. He had assumed that it had been a youthful, friendly tumble, not thought through by either party. But what Henrietta described now seemed like a much more malicious calculation.
“Henrietta,” he said, grasping her hand more firmly. “I promise that you won’t have to deal with Hartley alone. Ever. If he continues to vex us, I will see to him. I’ve dealt with such fellows before and I won’t hesitate to do so again.”
As soon as the last sentence had escaped his mouth, he realized he had said too much.
“You’ve done what before?”
“I—well—” He had not intended to give any indication of what he had done in the past. For her. A long time ago. In fact, before this moment, he hadn’t even hinted at it to a soul. The only one who had any notion of what he had done was his butler, Perkins, whom he had needed to wind some bandages over his midriff once the deed was done.
