Page 57 of Mr. Eastwood’s Match

Roman swallowed the last of his drink, then stared at his empty glass as though he held it in contempt. “Yes. We are.”

A long, weighted silence followed before Jack spoke. “For now, I will give the ladies a gentler story. And tomorrow, we will discover what the people of York noticed. After determining what is being said, we will know how to act.”

Lyness watched as Roman nodded, his brother’s confidence to set matters right on full display. “I will craft the explanation carefully, and I will repair as much as I am able.”

When he spoke, Jack’s voice was hoarse. “Thank you.” He looked at last at Lyness. “Both of you. For being there. For protecting her when I had not the slightest idea of my sister’s vulnerability.”

The guilt in the man’s eyes sank deep into Lyness’s heart. Both men in the room with him were being driven by different motivations. Guilt and honor. Protectiveness and righteousness. Neither of them were acting without reason, and saving Emily from censure was a strong motivation.

But their solution did not sit well with Lyness.

Jack straightened. “Now, we must ensure we choose a path that preserves her.” He turned toward the door.

Roman’s voice stopped him. “Sterling…”

The man paused.

Quietly, staring at the former soldier’s back, Roman said, “This is not how I would have preferred to announce an engagement.”

Jack’s eyes closed a moment. “Nor I.” Shaking his head as though to clear the misery from it, he said, “We will take our leave as soon as Emily can manage the walk to the carriage.”

He left the room, closing the door behind him.

Lyness stared at Roman’s slumped posture across the desk. Standing there, the shape of a decision formed in Lyness’s mind—sharp, daring, and terribly clear.

Roman lifted his head. “This is not at all what I wanted to happen. I had no even asked for a proper courtship yet. Lyness, she may not even like me. But there is a chance we were not noticed. Not by anyone who matters.” He finally said, “Apollo. Komm.” The male dog rose and hastily disappeared behind the desk to drop his head into Roman’s lap, his unseen tail thumping loud against the floor.

And Lyness realized he could no longer simply stand by.

The other two men had formed the loosest plan around what to do if the rumors proved unkind. The hope that Roman and Emily had not been seen leaving the ball was a naïve one. If Lyness had spotted what was happening from several feet away, chances were very good that others had noticed a baron and an earl’s daughter leaving the ballroom and not returning. It was as likely that someone had seen the way Lady Emily had leaned against Lord Hartwell.

At the time, Lyness had been so focused on Emily’s distress that he had not paused to consider how best to mitigate what others saw, or what gossip would follow. If he had been thinking clearly, he might have insisted Roman return to the ballroom. But now it was too late. They could not take back what happened.

Hearing Jack’s concerns—that the gossip from London would be renewed or remembered in light of this latest incident—compounded the seriousness of it. Perhaps they could explain that Sterling and Lady Juniper had left because of Emily’s sudden disappearance, that they had been with her while she felt unwell. But more often than not, it was the dramatic and scandalous version of events people chose to believe, rather than the mundane and plausible.

In truth, they had a limited amount of time to give Emily’s absence a harmless explanation. A pleasantly dramatic one, if necessary—anything preferable to scandal.

Marriage to save her reputation stood at the forefront of Lyness’s mind. His chest tightened and his hands flexed at his side. The situation distressed him. It would certainly upset her. Perhaps that was why he came at the entire matter with a different sense of urgency. Could he truly allow his brother to announce an engagement to Lady Emily and do nothing?

Athena rose and nudged his hand with her nose, and he gave in at last to scratch her head behind her ears. Thinking.

Roman would always choose the honorable path; it was who he was and had always been. Lyness admired him for that. Indeed, he would never think poorly of his brother’s honor. But that did not mean he had to bow before it, either.

Moments after Sterling left and Roman said, resignedly, “It is a very good thing that I admire Lady Emily, and that we are not strangers to one another.”

Lyness was silent, taking in his brother’s expression, the set of his shoulders, and the slump of his posture. “Do you believe admiration enough to offer for her hand?” he asked quietly.

Roman looked up at him. “Does it matter? We are in this situation now, and I will do what must be done. She is an honorable woman from a good family. I will not allow her reputation to suffer—or her name to be sullied. It is my fault this happened.” He leaned back in his chair and stared upward at nothing. “I handed her the cup meant for me. I handed her the poison that will destroy her reputation. I escorted her from the room, when I ought to have helped her to a chair or called for some assistance—anything other than spiriting her away into the night.”

Bitterness rose in Lyness even as he smiled. It was difficult to picture his brother “spiriting” anyone anywhere. It was far too theatrical for someone as practical and respectable as Roman.

“I was there,” Lyness reminded him. “I was with you, and I am as responsible as you.”

“Yes, but,” Roman countered, “no one saw you with your arm around her, taking her from the room.”

“Perhaps,” Lyness said slowly. “But I disappeared at the same moment you did. And you know there are many people in York who confuse us at a glance—until the moment I try to speak.”

“I am aware,” Roman said with a smirk, rubbing his temples. “I think I could send you places to stand in for me, in situations where nothing is required of me except a body in attendance, and no one would realize which brother they had seen until you spoke.”