The thought would not leave him be, filling him with restless energy as they entered the house. Henry was not yet there, having no doubt travelled to London to see Louisa, if Annabelle had told him she was staying there. Louisa had then left him a note to return here.
“Better we confront him here,” she said comfortably, sitting herself down as though she had been here countless times before. “Then you may pursue Annabelle more easily.”
“What about Henry?” Jacob paced rather than sit. “Will he not insist on accompanying me? Or going without me?”
“I shall keep him here.”
Jacob ran a hand through his hair, which had seen so much of the same treatment no sign of his Brutus style remained. “You seem extremely confident of that point, Louisa.”
“That is because I am.”
“And there is no potential for doubt?”
“Not when he sees that you are in love with her,” she said placidly, and at the sound of footsteps, she nodded, a hard glint in her eye. “He is here.”
Henry stalked into the room, baulking at the sight of Jacob standing by the window. Jacob did not so much have time to adopt a fighting stance before Henry had him by the collar, his cravat crumpling irreparably under his fist.
“Where is she?” he spat.
Jacob quirked an eyebrow, his own anger burning in his gut. On the way, he had resolved to put their differences aside for Annabelle’s sake, but this was the man who had chased her away.
If he wanted a fight, he was more than happy to oblige.
“I might ask you the same question,” he said.
He didn’t even see the blow coming. It cracked across his brow, hard enough that his head rocked back and he saw stars.
Good, it felt good to be fighting again.
“It’s not enough for you, is it?” Henry demanded. “First you need to corrupt Louisa and now this. Mysister.”
Jacob tilted his head back up, curling his lips in a smile that felt more like bared teeth. “If you think Louisa needed any corrupting, you don’t know her as well as I do.”
The next blow caught him across the cheek, sending pain splintering back into his head, and he smiled, the pain a balm. “Excellent form,” he said conversationally. His pulse pounded in his ears, all the frustration he’d tried in vain to tame with debauchery finally finding an outlet. “Go on. Show me what you think of me. Beat me to a bloody pulp in front of Louisa. That is what a future earl does, is it not? Comports himself with a lack of dignity?” He grinned, feeling blood on his teeth. “Or is that my job?”
“Really,” Louisa drawled from where she was still sitting. “You should both be ashamed of yourselves.”
Henry dropped Jacob and whirled, taking Louisa in for the first time. Jacob straightened, taking perverse enjoyment in what was about to happen.
“If you’ve finished brawling like schoolboys, perhaps you might sit down so we may discuss this like adults,” she said, sparing Jacob a cutting glance that was enough to assure him of her irritation at his having used her to taunt Henry.
Well, it wasn’t his fault that this staid, duty-obsessed man had loved rebellious Louisa, or that he had done his best to turn Annabelle against Jacob. Or that he had tried to force Annabelle into a marriage with another gentleman.
Suddenly, he wished he had punched Henry in return.
“Louisa,” Henry said blankly. “Why are you here?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Sit down. And I hope you have an excellent explanation for trying to force Annabelle into marriage.”
Henry stiffened. “I hardly see why that’s any of your business.”
“I rather think the fact she wrote to me in order to ask me to cover for her makes it somewhat my business,” Louisa said icily. “And you did not answer my question.”
Henry scowled, but finally sat. “I was trying to protect her. The world is not kind to an unmarried lady and she would be happy with Mr Comerford if she gave him the chance. I made it plain I would not force her into matrimony.”
Mr Comerford? Jacob swallowed the absurd burn of jealousy and flexed his fingers.
“And did you ever ask her what she wanted?” Louisa asked, and before Henry could speak, she answered for him. “Of course not. If you had, we would not have been in this mess.”
