He raised his own gun and shot. His hole was far closer to the middle. Smugness radiated off him in waves. A muscle worked in the duke’s jaw.
Oh, very well, Clio could see why Phoebe was entertained, she supposed. It was the same kind of thrill from watching fencing. Except fencing would have beensafer, and wasn’t that a thing to think.
“I’m not going to leave her to hang,” the duke growled after a moment. He picked up another gun and fired again. This shot was better, but still not as good as Aaron’s.
“So, I was right,” Aaron said with the smug attitude of someone who was winning. It was clearly more about the conversation than the shooting. Clio wanted to bash them both over the head with their weapons.
“It’s not fair to leave an innocent young woman to suffer the social consequences of something we did together … even if I maintain that nothing improper occurred,” the duke continued.
“Or, in other words, I was right,” Aaron repeated.
“Aaron,” Clio said through gritted teeth.
Both men ignored her.
“I agree,” the duke told her brother, “that marriage is the right solution.”
Aaron looked like the cat who had gotten the goddamn canary.
Clio was happy for him, at least, since this counted among the most humiliating moments of her entire life.
It was bad enough that she was the talk of Society. It was bad enough that Gwanton was apparently getting away without ablemish on his reputation, even though the whole thing really was his fault. It was bad enough that she was being shuffled off into marriage by a man who was willing to take her with only the utmost reluctance.
It was all of thatandthe fact that they were talking around her, like she was some sort of idiot child who couldn’t even advocate for herself.
She wassickof it.
She pushed past them; both men let out a simultaneous cry of dismay as she walked between them and the targets, never mind that both their weapons were already spent.
She ignored them. It wasn’t as though they deserved any less, given how they were ignoring her.
Aaron grabbed her arm, though, his grip gentle but unyielding.
“Clio,” he said.
The acid response was ready on her tongue—Why should I even stay if I’m apparently unnecessary to this conversation?—but Aaron took one look at her stormy expression, and the stubborn iron went right out of him. He gave her a nod so full of understanding that Clio felt her anger doused as effectively as if he’d thrown a bucket of water over her.
“I will, of course, need to speak to my sister,” Aaron said smoothly, giving Clio a tiny nod of reassurance. He glanced back at the duke. “Privately.”
Only then did the Duke of Metford glance over in Clio’s direction. There was some kind of turmoil in his eyes, but Clio didn’t know how to read him the way she knew how to read her brother.
Didn’t know how to read himyet,something inside her chimed. If this went the way it seemed like it was going, she would have the rest of her life to figure out all of the Duke of Metford’s expressions.
She … wasn’t certain how she felt about that.
“Very well,” the duke said after a long moment. “But I have lingered long enough. I do not have more time. Come to me when you have your answer.”
And then, with no regard at all for decorum or manners, he dropped his gun and strode from the park, not pausing for so much as a good day, leaving a parade of staring faces in his wake.
It was foolish, but Clio felt strangely tempted to smile.
CHAPTER 9
Hector wasn’t all that surprised, ultimately, when she came to him that evening.
She was quite the little puzzle, after all. He was learning that more and more with each encounter.
Well, good. It wasn’t interesting to fix something simple. He welcomed her complexities.
