He arched a brow at her harsh self-assessment. “Perhaps not, but I had made my claim. Your father had approved the match. Abernathe should not have so publicly denied me. Now I am the laughingstock of the shire. Everyone whispers when they see me, they laugh behind their hands. That shall not stand.”
She caught her breath, for she saw the dangerous light of his stare. “What—what are you going to do?”
“Take what’s his,” he said softly. “To even the score.”
He moved forward again and Emma yelped in terror as she swung out at him wildly. Her nails raked his cheek, leaving a swollen welt, and he growled out pain and increased anger.
“You have fight,” he said, pushing forward. She slid along the wall, watching for a chance for escape, but wherever she moved, he followed. “I like fight.”
Her heart throbbed. He was herding her toward the dark, empty stalls at the back of the big room. She let out a scream and he jumped, tackling her at last. Her shoulder hit the corner of one of the stalls and a burst of pain ripped through her.
He covered her mouth with his palm. “Hush now, no one is coming for you. Save all that noise for later.”
She struggled, but he was surprisingly strong for a man of his years. In that moment she realized she was trapped. She was caught. And he was right—there was no one coming to help her.
Chapter Twenty-One
James looked at the beautiful woman standing across from him, her slender hand touching his chest. There was no denying Lady Montague was charming and the tales of her sexual prowess were well known. Once upon a time, he might have been taken in by her, but now he stared down at her and felt…nothing.
He didn’t want a dalliance with a skilled and jaded lover. He didn’t want a mistress, as Lady Montague had just offered to become in no uncertain terms. It turned out he only wanted Emma.
“You are quiet, Abernathe,” Lady Montague purred. “I am shocked you don’t have a more immediate response to my…suggestion. After all, a discreet affair is common in our circles. Iknowyou have indulged before, as have I. And I think we could be…good together.”
He stepped away, forcing her hand to drop to her side. “I appreciate the offer, my lady. And perhaps you are correct that wecouldfind pleasure together. But I am about to be married and I…” He shook his head at what he was about to say. “I intend to be faithful to my wife.”
Lady Montague wrinkled her brow. “Faithful?” she repeated, like she didn’t understand the word. “Truly?”
“Yes.”
She stared at him for a long moment, then shrugged. “You are a singular creature then, Your Grace. And Miss Liston is…lucky to have inspired such fealty. It is uncommon enough.”
He nodded, for he knew that to be true. He just hadn’t known he wanted to be one of the few in their circles who remained true to his bride until he had been offered a chance to be something else.
“Excuse me, my lady,” he said with a gentle motion that could only encourage her to leave him. “I have much to prepare in this last hour before my wedding.”
She nodded with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Indeed. Good afternoon, Your Grace.”
He turned and left her, heading back into the house. He strode though the hallway toward the stairs, determined to find his fiancée. Though he had no idea what he would say to her when he did.
He passed through the foyer, turning to go up the stairway, when Grimble stepped up to the bottom of the stairs. “Your Grace?”
He heard the tension in his butler’s tone and looked at him, even though he wanted to just rush up and find Emma in that moment. This sudden wedding had put a strain on his staff, and he owed them his attention. “Yes?”
“Sir, I’m sorry to interrupt, I know you have much to prepare, but…” The butler shifted. “I thought you should know that Miss Liston was looking for you earlier.”
“Emma?” James asked, his pulse leaping. “Where?”
“She went out to the terrace to talk to you just moments ago,” Grimble said. “But within a very short time, she came hurrying back through the house and went out the front.”
James drew back. If Emma had come out on the terrace recently, she had not spoken to him. Of course, he had been preoccupied with Lady Montague.
His stomach dropped. If Emma had seen him with the lady, with her hand against his chest, she might have thought…
“Damn it,” he muttered. “Out the front, you said?”
“Yes,” Grimble said. “I watched her go toward the stables, but the bend in the path prevented my being able to track her much further than that.”
James rushed past him, out the door and down the same path Emma had apparently taken a few moments before. His head spun as he rushed to find her. After everything she’d been through, everything she’d watched her mother endure with her wayward father, if she’d seen him with Lady Montague, no one could blame her for expecting the worst.
