Through gritted teeth, Anna replied, “You are embarrassing yourself, Cousin. Perhaps you should go outside and take in some fresh air. Better yet, perhaps you should leave; you are causing a scene.”
“Only if you come with me,” Benedict hiccupped, his hand reaching out to grab Anna’s arm. “MaybeIshould marry you. You are a duchess with a fine house, finer than that hovel your father left behind, so maybe I shall have it. Clearly, there is no heir if you have been left to do as you please there for all this time, so why should I not have it? A proper manor and a proper title are what is owed to me!”
Jeremy noticed Benedict’s knuckles whiten and the slight flinch of Anna’s mouth. The bastard was hurting her, and that waseveryreason to cause a scene.
“Take yer hand off her, or I will snap it like a twig,” Jeremy warned, his voice a low growl.
“Will you leave us be!” Benedict snapped, turning his nose up. “Who are you? Why are you loitering around my cousin and me? Be gone with you.”
At that, Jeremy grabbed the vile cousin by the collar and twisted, the strength in Jeremy’s arm practically lifting Benedict off his feet. “I am the Duke of Stonebridge,” he hissed in the man’s face. “And ye’ll take yer hand off Anna, or ye’ll lose it.”
Benedict blinked, his hand relaxing on Anna’s arm. “You are the Duke of Stonebridge?”
“Aye. An heirwasfound, and ye’re looking at him.” Jeremy still did not loosen his grip on Benedict’s collar, too incensed to just let the man get away with his disrespect. Toward Anna, most of all.
At that moment, Colin showed up with a worried look on his unmasked face. He had his hands raised in a peace gesture, clearly coming to mediate before his masquerade ball was ruined.
“What seems to be the matter?” the Marquess asked.
Anna wrenched her arm free from her cousin. “It is nothing, Lord Belford. My cousin got a little too much into the character of King Henry the Eighth and has imbibed too much.” She took a breath. “I am sorry for the disruption.”
Colin’s gaze flicked between the trio before he extended his hand. “Then, allow me to remove you from the situation, Your Grace.” He smiled. “Would you do me the honor of dancing the next set with me?”
Jeremy waited for her to decline, a frown forming on his brow as she reached to take the Marquess’s offered hand. He did not like how the man’s fingers curled so eagerly around hers, nor the pleased smile that lit up the Marquess’s face, as if he had won a great prize.
“Gladly,” Anna said, and did not look back as Colin led her through the crush of guests to the dance floor.
In the meantime, likely aware of Jeremy’s distraction, Benedict pulled free from the taller man’s suffocating grip and staggered toward the garden doors. For a moment, Jeremy was tempted to follow and finish what he had started, but seeing Colin and Anna so close to each other kept him rooted in place.
Isn’t this what ye wanted?a mocking voice whispered in his head.At this rate, she might well have a proposal by the time the night is over.
And though it should indeed have pleased him, his hands remained curled into fists, his chest tight, and his eyes blazing as he watched the dance begin.
CHAPTER 13
What on earth was that all about?
Anna needed a moment to steady herself as she stepped into position opposite Colin, her legs trembling too much to dance properly. But she was there, she had agreed to dance, and she could not very well walk away before it started, since that would have reflected poorly on her and her partner.
Colin called out for a country dance, and the musicians started playing a lively tune that sent a shiver of fear down Anna’s spine. She had never been much of a dancer, to the point that she wanted to apologize in advance to Colin for the torment his feet and dignity were about to endure.
She hopped forward, her hand meeting Colin’s.
“I will have your cousin removed from my house,” he said cheerily, as they stepped back and forth in a sort of sway. “Although I am probably the one in peril now.”
Anna frowned as they began to turn in a circle. “Whatever do you mean?”
“Well, it seems the new duke is awfully protective of you,” Colin replied in a tone that suggested it should have been obvious. “I really thought he was going to flatten your cousin. Wring his neck, at least. As much as I relish excitement, that is not the kind of entertainment I seek.”
Shame bloomed in Anna’s cheeks. “I am so very sorry, Lord Belford. I had no notion that my cousin would be here, nor that he would be so… disgracefully behaved.”
Of course, if shehadknown that he would be in attendance, she would have predicted wretched behavior. The awful creature had once accused her of being spoiled, but he was the one who had always been overindulged, to the point where she wondered if he had ever heard the word ‘no.’ Inheriting her father’s land, title, and property had only exacerbated his belief that he was entitled to whatever he desired.
“In truth, he was not invited,” Colin admitted with a grimace. “I have never liked him. I told His Grace that I played cards with your cousin once, and I despised him even then. He is here as a guest of Lord Barton. And as I am old friends with Lord Barton, I felt I could not hoof out his guest.Ishould be the one to apologize for your discomfort.”
Anna relaxed slightly as they turned in the opposite direction, leaping in a circle to the rhythm of the music. “You have no need to apologize. My cousin does whatever he pleases.”
“At least you can be certain that he will not force you to marry him,” Colin pointed out. “I believe evenhewould not be so foolish after what just occurred. The new duke would pummel him to dust if he even approached you again.”
