"That isn't true." The flat resignation in his voice brought tears to her eyes, and she dashed them away with her fists. "Please say you do not truly believe that."
"Percy, for God's sake, don't cry."
Perhaps the intensity of the past month was catching up to her, for all of a sudden she couldn't hold back sobs. "I c-can't help it," she said between choked breaths. "Even if you are a nodcock, I love you. And to th-think you're throwing away your l-life …"
A hunted, desperate look came over his face. "I—I am going to stop. I swear it. I just have to pay these debts to O'Brien, and then... I'm done."
"Do you swear it?" she said with a sniffle.
"Yes."
She wanted so badly to believe him. "And you'll stop the drinking as well?"
He raked a hand through his mussed curls. "Devil take it, do you want to make a monk out of me?"
"I just want to have my brother back," she whispered.
"Bloody hell." His arms circled her in a brief, fierce hug, and she clung to the strength that had always anchored her. Then he stepped back, his lips in their familiar wry twist. "What the blazes do you want that sod back for? He's a feckless fool who'll never amount to anything."
"Do not say that," she said, frowning.
"Why not? Papa did often enough."
"He didn't mean it, not really. He loved you. 'Twas merely his way of trying to motivate you—"
"The way he motivatedyouby filling your head with faerie tales of theton?" Snorting, Paul sank back onto the settee. After a moment, he patted the adjacent seat, and Percy joined him with the wholehearted gladness she'd always felt whenever her older brother invited her along. "So tell me," he drawled, "how goes things with the object of your undying affection?"
She chewed on her lip. "I suppose you mean Lord Portland?"
"Who else?" Paul cast his eyes heavenward. "You've been extolling the virtues of the valiant viscount for months."
"Well, you see... he and I..." Flushing, she looked down at her hands. Yet there wasn't a way of saying it that didn't make her sound like a fickle fool, so she said plainly, "I've gotten over him. He wasn't at all the gentleman I thought he was."
"Not agentleman?" Paul stared at her. "Did he make inappropriate advances toward you?"
Her cheeks burned. "Well, sort of. But it wasn't his fault entirely, you see—"
"The bloody bastard." Paul rose, his hands balling. "I am going to put a bullet through—"
"Oh, no. You arenotgoing to call him out." She sprang up in horror. "You'll just draw more attention to the whole thing, and then I'll be disgraced entirely. Besides, nothing happened. I knocked him onto his, um, backside before anything could." When Paul continued to look at her, a muscle ticking in his jaw, she said in a small voice, "The truth is that I led Portland along as much as he did me. It was all just a mistake. One that would only be made bigger by your interference."
"So that's it. You're done with Portland."
"He wasn't what I wanted. Nor was marrying into theton," she said. "Well intentioned as Papa was, those were his dreams, not mine."
Her brother scrutinized her in an uncomfortably keen manner. Though he might be tap-shackled and worse for the wear, he was still one of the cleverest men she knew. Her shoulders tensed. He hadn't guessed about Gavin... had he? The hothead would never listen to her explanations about the wager. He'd like as not challenge Gavin to a duel—and that was the very last thing she needed.
"Youhavegrown up some, haven't you?" Paul arched a brow. "I wonder at the source of this newfound maturity."
She shrugged, hoping to convey an air of nonchalance. "Every miss has to grow up sometime. I am no exception. By the by," she said innocently, "I've heard from Nicholas."
This piece of information distracted Paul, as she'd known it would. "And what did he say... about my situation?"
"I believe Nicholas' precise words were,I am returning immediately to take care of the matter. For God's sake, tell Paul to keep his damned hide out of trouble until then."
Her brother grimaced. "Never a man to mince words, our Nicholas."
"Honestly, Paul, what do you expect him to say? You should be glad that he will salvage the situation."
