Chapter Three
Hugo breathed a sigh of relief when a sharp knock at the door interrupted his brother’s tirade.
Edward had been chastising him for no less than three quarters of an hour over his role in the current scandal involving Miss Girard and Edward and their non-existent engagement.
He couldn’t deny he deserved some censure for his ill-advised prank.
But at this point, Edward had more than conveyed his feelings on the matter.
“My lord,” Timothy, a brawny young footman said, addressing Edward upon entering. “Mr. Henry Girard is waiting for an audience. Shall I tell him you are not at home?”
Hugo swore under his breath and Arthur turned a shade paler.
Edward sighed and rubbed his finger against his temple. “No. Show him in. Might as well get this over with,” he muttered once Timothy left. “But we are not finished,” he said, pointing at Hugo and Arthur.
Henry Girard entered the study with his chin in the air and his chest puffed out. That did not bode well for civil conversation.
“My lord,” he said, addressing Edward and ignoring Hugo and Arthur entirely. “I demand retribution for the insult that has been dealt to my family.”
Edward’s eyes narrowed, his demeanor changing from one of placation to tightly reined anger as he leaned back against his desk, his arms folded across his chest.
“I beg your pardon,” he said.
Henry faltered slightly at the icy tone of Edward’s voice, but he pressed on. “My sister’s reputation is in ruins, and our family is now a laughingstock. You are at fault. I demand satisfaction.”
Hugo stood. “If you are to blame anyone, Mr. Girard, it is I who am at fault, not my brother. I am the one who—”
“The offer was for Lockhaven’s hand, Lord Hugo, not yours. Therefore, he is responsible,” Girard insisted.
Edward’s brows rose. “You hold me responsible for an offer that was made in jest whilst I was I not even in the room?”
Girard hesitated, shifting his weight from one foot to the other before he puffed out his chest and tried again.
“Regardless of who made the offer, it was made in your name. My sister is now humiliated. After all the effort I have put forth to find her a husband, her prospects, such as they were, have all disappeared. She will be left a spinster with no support. If ought happens to me, she will be alone in this world. That is on your head, my lord.”
“And just what do you propose I do to rectify the matter?” Edward asked, his voice dangerously low.
Girard, however, was too stupid or conceited to register the danger he was in.
Instead, his face turned smug. “In addition to a public apology, it is not unheard of in such situations for a small sum to be paid to the aggrieved woman. As compensation for her lost prospects and security for her future.”
“Did I hear you correctly?” Arthur asked, astonished. “Are you truly trying to extort money from my family in payment for a situation you, yourself, caused?”
“I?” Girard asked, mouth agape.
“Yes,” Edward responded. “You.”
“I will take responsibility for my part in this,” Hugo said.
“I made an ill-advised joke and assumed you were astute enough to recognize my sarcasm. I apparently was wrong. But it was you and your sister who spread the tale about town. If your sister has been humiliated, it is through no fault of ours.”
Girard bristled. “You…you brigand! Scoundrel! You dare besmirch our name so? I will have satisfaction, sir! Rapiers at dawn!”
“That is enough.” Edward pushed away from his desk.
“In case you have forgotten, Mr. Girard, duels are illegal. And one would only result in further humiliation on your part. My brother is a champion fencer, as you well know. And you, if I recall correctly, are not. Pistols would go even worse for you.”
“Now,” he continued, before a deflated Henry could speak again.
“My brother has apologized for his part in this mess. And our family does truly regret any embarrassment this has caused Miss Girard. However,” he said, his voice raising slightly as Girard looked ready to argue again.
“Had you kept the matter between our families until the offer you thought you had in hand was verified, the embarrassment would have gone no further. If your sister or your family has suffered any humiliation, it is your own doing. Worsened all the more by your coming here and demanding monetary retribution, of all things. You should be ashamed, sir.”
He marched to the door of the study and opened it.
“You may convey our apologies to your sister, and our assurances that the scandal will pass. Provided you allow it. Any further damage to her reputation going forward will be squarely on your shoulders. Neither I nor anyone in my family will entertain another word on the matter. It is at an end.”
Timothy stood in the doorway holding Henry’s hat and coat. “Good day, Mr. Girard,” Edward said.
Henry gathered what dignity he had left and stomped out the door, his jaw working around words he didn’t dare release.
As soon as he left, Hugo rubbed a hand over his face with a groan. “I apologize, sincerely,” he said to Edward who simply snorted.
“You should. Though the situation is not entirely your fault,” he said with a glaring glance at Arthur.
“True. But I am the elder between Arthur and I. I should have known better.”
“I won’t argue that,” Edward said, his lips twitching.
“I suppose a duel was the least I could have expected. And as I am a lousy shot, and not nearly as handy with a rapier as you insinuated, I am indeed grateful for your…diplomacy.”
“Yes, well…let us not test my diplomatic skills again, shall we?”
“I…” Hugo hesitated, not really wanting to offer what he was about to offer, but ready to suffer the consequences of his actions all the same.
He stood and clasped his hands behind his back, ready to fall on the proverbial sword for his family’s honor.
“Perhaps the gentleman and his sister would be appeased if I were to marry her in your stead.”
Arthur snorted. “You?”
“Why not?” Hugo retorted, his brother’s derision stinging more than he expected.
“Because she wanted to be a duchess. Not cast off to a younger son,” Arthur said.
Edward waved them away. “The point is moot. Father and I already discussed it.”
Panic-tinged shock jolted Hugo, despite the fact that he’d offered only seconds ago.
It was one thing to offer oneself up on a platter.
It was an entirely different thing to know you’d already been offered up without your knowledge or consent.
Which only served to further illustrate Edward’s feelings on the matter.
A fact that Hugo did not appreciate in the slightest as it did nothing but amplify his guilt.
“However,” Edward continued, “Father seems to be much of the same mind as you, Arthur. He refused to consider it, for which I am now glad. Mr. Girard could not have been more insulting if he tried, and that is quite a feat. Demanding payment.” Edward scoffed.
“The utter gall of the man. Father would never willingly accept Miss Girard now, and I wholeheartedly agree. I am sorry for whatever embarrassment this has caused her, but if they were willing to try and extort money from us… Well, Arthur, perhaps you spoke the truth, and the entire situation was a scheme to force my hand.”
He let out a long sigh. “In any case, Mr. Girard is angry enough that I really can’t be certain the man wouldn’t do you harm, Hugo. Gain his sister the prestige of our name and then avenge the family honor and leave her a happy widow.”
Hugo dropped back into his chair, his forehead creasing in a deep frown. It was quite humbling to realize that he had mis-stepped so spectacularly this time that someone wished his death. He understood being angry, but…the Girards seemed to be taking it rather farther than was warranted.
“Well, then, what can I do—” he started, but again, Edward waved his words away.
“Do not dwell further upon the matter. It is handled. Though I would suggest steering clear of the Girards in the future.”
Hugo snorted softly. That, he could do.
Edward let out another long sigh, pinned both of his brothers with yet another disappointed look that fairly screamed exasperation, and turned to go.
Hugo jumped up from his seat and followed his brother to the door, Arthur on their heels.
“Once Selena and I are wed, we will be traveling for quite some time,” Edward said. “We will likely travel to Wales to visit her parents for a time after spending a few weeks in Brighton. She hasn’t seen them much over the last few years.”
He spun, bringing Hugo and Arthur to a crashing halt. “I trust Father and I will not have to step in again, and you will be able to handle my affairs while I’m gone with more care than you have shown so far.”
“Of course,” Hugo said. The chastisement smarted.
He understood the reasoning behind it, and appreciated his brother’s restraint, all things told.
But it stung, nonetheless. And forced a closer look at his shortcomings that he didn’t enjoy.
Acknowledging them meant doing something about them.
And he’d been avoiding that since he’d been old enough to recognize his own failings.
Still. This was the first time that his mischievousness had caused grievous harm to another.
It added a layer to his guilt that he would prefer not to experience again.
Perhaps it was time that he grew a bit more serious.
A bit. At the very least, he’d limit any more late-night drinking sessions with Arthur.
As an extra precaution. Because he had every intention of ensuring that his older brother needn’t have any worries whilst he and his new bride were traveling.
Then again, Hell, as they said, is paved with good intentions. He could but hope his own were not part of them.