“What are you wearing?” Robert whispered.
Emilia cast him a beseeching look. She would return the pendant immediately, but that would associate them in a way she now knew she could not bear. She wouldn’t declare herself all but engaged to a man whose heart would never be hers, especially before Viscount Dunreid.
“You wish this man spared?” Viscount Dunreid asked, his tone officious.
Though she knew Robert wouldn’t hang on the viscount’s word alone, and likely had resources at his disposal, she also knew many among the Scottish peerage bore no great love for their English cousins, so she turned to the viscount and nodded. “I would. He was defending my honor, mistakenly thinking it is his place to do so.”
The viscount’s smile was slow, almost stunned, but ended as a smirk. “Very well. For you, Miss Glasbarr, I shall drop my complaint against him.” He tugged at his jacket, pulling the brocade fabric straight.
“What does this mean?” Robert asked, his voice barely audible, his gaze locked on the pendant.
“It means, my dear chap, that you lose. Again.”
Emilia wished she could punch the viscount, as well. She raised beseeching hands to Robert. “It means…it…” She shook her head, unable to find the words. She sucked in a shuddering breath, turned on her heels, and ran.
