“You damned weasel,” Bran answered. “You were creeping around where I live.”
“No, I was finding the truth about you.”
“The truth about me?” Bran could have laughed, and then realized that perhaps this was good. The time had come to let Christopher know that his pursuit of Kate was over. Bran lowered his fists. “Well, now you know. And you’d best not say anything about it. After all, a lady’s reputation is at stake.” Kate would be deeply embarrassed if she learned they had been seen.
Winderton scrambled up to his feet. “Lady?” He spat the word out, poised to attack again.
Bran raised his fists. “Go ahead,” he said to his ward. “You do remember that I’m known around boxing saloons as a good fighter. Insult Kate and I’ll enjoy hitting you.”
The duke seemed to weigh his odds and then pulled back, his face pinched and pale. “I want you gone from Smythson. You are no longer welcome under my roof. You will leave immediately. And you will have nothing to do with Miss Addison.”
“Ah, there you are wrong.” Bran lowered his fists and decided that now was as good a time as any to deliver some home truths. “If you were peeping in the window—”
“I was not peeping.”
“What word would you like? Doesspyingsound better?”
“I was...” Christopher’s voice trailed off.
“What? What were you doing?”
“I love her. She ismine.” He thumped his chest on the last word and Bran had to keep himself from laughing. Apparently Christopher was as dramatic as his mother.
“Yours? You don’t own her. She makes her own choices.”
“I tell you, Ilove her.” He sounded ridiculously noble.
Bran made an impatient sound. “You can love her... but she decides who she loves in return.”
“Which would be me if you hadn’t interfered.”
“There, see? You know she doesn’t return your affections.”
The duke did not like that comment. “I knownothingof the sort.”
“You must, Christopher, or you wouldn’t be so bloody angry with me. I knew Kate years ago, back when I was as young as you. We have a history between us.” He didn’t speak unkindly. He understood heartache.
“You are such—” The duke broke off his sneer as if he couldn’t think of a suitable epithet to call Bran.
“Yes, I am,” was Bran’s agreeable answer. “And I actually understand quite well the pain you are in right now. You will recover and how we continue forward will depend a great deal on your maturity. After all, I am your uncle, and for a few months more, still your guardian.”
“I will have nothing to do with you.”
“That is not in your control, Your Grace. We are family.”
“Family doesn’t do what you’ve done to me.”
That barb hit its mark. “You are right,” Bran said soberly. “And yet, Kate is free to choose her lovers.”
For a second, it appeared as if Winderton would charge him again, and then his manner changed. “All this time, you and she were laughing at me.”
“No, not that, Christopher. We were going to tell you.” Eventually, possibly.
Winderton drew himself up. He appeared almost ducal. “I meant what I said. I want you gone from Smythson. You will leave the Dower House immediately.”
Bran sighed. This was the moment when things would grow truly uncomfortable. He would not keep the secret any longer. The time had arrived.“I will not leave, Your Grace.”
“You don’t have a choice. I ordered you.”
