She shook her head. “You could not. I already think him to be an ogre of the highest order. What he is doing to me is bad enough. But it seems he has some vendetta against you, as well.”
He nodded. “He does. And I fear you may have been placed in the middle of it. He despises me and would do anything to destroy my happiness. It is possible he…no, I will not speculate.”
She stared at him as the meaning of his truncated sentence became clear. “Do you think he bought my father’s debt as merely a means to lord it over him and force this marriage? Just to thwart you?”
Aaron searched her face, and she saw just how emotional this situation made him. Still, he did not touch her as he sighed. “Perhaps. I would not put it past him.”
Amelia lifted her cold hands to her suddenly hot face and shook her head in horror. “And I shall marry this man!”
“Is there no way out of it?” Aaron asked, his tone very soft.
“I cannot think of one that would be honorable,” she whispered.
He opened his mouth as if he would speak, but before he could they were interrupted by a sudden and horrifying arrival. As if he had been conjured by their whispers, Brighthollow himself stepped into the room. Amelia saw him before Aaron did, and she skittered backward in surprise at his presence there.
He was staring not at Aaron, but at her. Those dark eyes were stormy clouds, hiding an explosion that was yet to come. Then his gaze flitted to Aaron and there was no mistaking his hatred for the person she cared so deeply for.
Aaron froze at her expression and slowly turned. Fear washed over his face as he stared at the intruder.
“B-Brighthollow,” he stammered. “I didn’t hear you knock.”
“Ididn’tknock,” Hugh said, his voice rough with emotion. It was the first time she’d heard such a thing in him. He was normally so controlled. He looked past him and toward her again. His tone was surprisingly gentle as he said, “Miss Quinton, go to my carriage.Now, please.”
Her lips parted. “No, I will not leave you alone with him.”
Aaron broke the stare between the men and gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s all right, my dear. I’m certain the duke would not be so foolish as to hurt me when he knows you are a witness to his barging into my home uninvited. You may go to his carriage.”
She jerked her gaze between them, once again stripped of any choice or power in this beastly situation. Then she did as she’d been told and left them alone. And feared what would happen once she was gone from the room.
Hugh’s hands shook with rage as he watched Amelia slide past him from the chamber, her shoulders trembling and her mouth a thin, white line of displeasure. When she’d gone, he reached behind himself and yanked the door shut. Then he turned on this man he had hated for over a year.
All of Walters’ false kindness and gentleness was gone now that his audience had departed, and he smirked at Hugh. “I can always depend on you to destroy my best plans, can’t I?” he said with a laugh. Like they were equals. Like they were partners. Like they were friends.
“You bastard,” Hugh growled, just barely containing himself.
Walters shrugged. “Not everyone has your advantages, Your Grace. You are quick to judge what you don’t know. One must make a way in the world however one can.”
Hugh glared at him. “You think your position in life can excuse your actions? You prey on decent women, you use them, ruin them and take what you want. All for a chance to earn their purse.”
“Do you think Iruinedyour…I suppose she is your fiancée now, isn’t she?” Walters smiled, and it was smug and ugly. “Do you think you’re getting my seconds, Brighthollow?”
Hugh’s stomach turned at the thought that this self-satisfied pig had laid so much as a hand on Amelia’s body. It must have reflected on his face, for Walters let out a chuckle that grated along Hugh’s spine. “You ask her.”
It was enough. Too much. With a growl of feral anger, Hugh launched across the room and caught Walters by the lapels. He might have slammed him through the wall if the door behind them hadn’t opened. They both turned as a half-dressed, bed-messed woman stepped inside. She was haggard-looking, tired. A lightskirt—Hugh would lay a bet on it and know he’d win.
She glanced at them, seemingly unworried about the two men fighting in the parlor. “Is she gone? Can I take my money and go now?”
Hugh glanced back at Walters, who shrugged. “I get what I want when I want it,” he explained.
Hugh shook his head as he released him and backed away. “The circumstances of this situation keep me from destroying you. But I’m pleased to have bested you.”
Walters’ eyebrow arched. “Did you? You’ve disrupted me at most. And now you’ll marry my leftovers and I will go on to find a better, richer heiress to woo. Whileyouare forever locked in a trap of your own honor.”
Hugh wanted to be the bigger man. The better man. But he couldn’t. He swung on Walters and connected squarely against his cheek, sending him flying backward across the room and into the wall beside the fireplace. Walters grunted in pain as he reached up to touch his already swelling eye.
“Stay away from my sister,” Hugh panted as he shook out his tingling hand. “And my…my wife.”
He said nothing more, but pushed past the bored prostitute and out of the house. Toward his carriage, where he’d now have to deal with Amelia. And hope he could recover the calm than he had lost with Walters.
