Chapter Twenty-Five
Emilia stood where Nathaniel had left her. The fire still crackled warmly in the hearth, mocking the storm that was currently sweeping through the house. A muffled sound came from beyond the closed door, followed by another.
And then another.
She could not determine the words being said, but she could hear the anger that fueled them. Emilia clasped her hands tightly together and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to drown them out.
She had every intention of obeying Nathaniel’s order. What help would she be to him, anyway?
He faced Parliament—and managed Charlotte—surely one unreasonable gentleman could not present much of a challenge for him.
A particularly large thud drew her eyes open again. Her eyes remained fixed on the door, as if she could will her husband to walk back through it.
“EMILIA!”
The blood drained from her face. The voice was not Nathaniel’s, but she would have known it anywhere. The sound should have filled her with relief and joy, but instead, dread settled into her veins like ice.
How Alexander had found her was not important, but the fact that he was here left no question in her mind as to why he had come—he had heard of her marriage to the duke, and believed that she needed rescuing.
Nathaniel…
Emilia’s heart skipped a beat. She knew that her husband would never strike first, but when it came to her brother, reason had never been his preferred weapon. And if he laid a hand on the duke…
Heaven help them both….
Emilia flung the door open. There were no servants standing on the other side as she had expected. Everyone was gathered at the end of the corridor, peering anxiously into the entrance hall.
“EMILIA!” Alexander called again.
Emilia raced down the hall towards his voice.
Nathaniel had her brother pinned firmly against the wall. One hand gripped the front of his coat while the other held his shoulder. Alexander strained against him with all his strength, his boots scraping uselessly against the marble floor, while Nathaniel appeared unmoved.
“Unhand me!” Alexander demanded, struggling again.
“I will,” Nathaniel replied through clenched teeth. “Once you stop swinging your fists!”
“I will do considerably worse if you have hurt my sister!”
“Stop!” Emilia stepped forward.
Both men froze, their heads turning towards her.
“Emilia?” Alexander breathed. The fight left his body as he stared at her in disbelief.
Emilia’s vision blurred with tears—though she could not tell if they were from joy or anger. She had imagined this moment a thousand different ways, but none of them had looked like this.
“Xander…” Emilia’s voice broke with a sob.
Nathaniel looked between them both, his hands falling away from Alexander’s collar before he stepped back without a word.
Emilia put one shaking foot in front of the other, stepping towards her brother.
Alexander’s eyes swept over her face before inspecting every inch of her.
His shoulders remained rigid until he reached for her hands, turning them over again and again until he was satisfied that she was unharmed.
A trepidatious smile pulled on his lips as he met her eyes.
Emilia couldn’t hold back the sigh of relief that escaped her as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close. Alexander’s arms held her tightly, as if she would disappear if he ever let her go again.
Emilia buried her face deeper in her brother’s chest, tears freely flowing down her cheeks. She could sense Nathaniel’s eyes on them, but she didn’t dare look at him for fear of what she would see reflected in his gaze.
“What have you done?” She whispered into Alexander’s coat. Alexander tensed, but before he could answer, Nathaniel’s throat cleared from behind him.
“Perhaps this conversation would be better continued somewhere more private.” His voice was tense.
Emilia stepped back from her brother. Nathaniel stood several paces away from them, his hands clasped neatly behind his back. His gaze was fixed firmly on the floor.
Alexander placed himself between her and the duke, suspicion hardening every line of his face. “Lead the way, Your Grace.” Sarcasm dripped from every syllable.
Emilia shot him a warning glance before she hurried after Nathaniel, matching his pace as he marched down the hall.
“Nathaniel…” she whispered, lifting her head to ensure he could hear her. “I was going to tell you.”
“Tell me what?” Nathaniel’s pace sped up. “That you were expecting company?”
“No,” she replied to his retreating back. “I did not know he was coming here.”
“But you did know that he was alive.”
Emilia closed her eyes and took a steadying breath. “Yes,” she admitted.
Nathaniel hesitated for a moment, but still did not turn to look at her. She could see the disappointment etched into every line of his drooping shoulders. “You did not just keep this from me, Emilia. You lied to me.”
There was no emotion in his voice. Every word was spoken like the simple, unavoidable truth.
“I know. I was about to tell you…”
Nathaniel stopped walking. His head turned towards her slightly, but he still did not meet her eyes. “Tonight?”
“Yes.”
Nathaniel huffed as he continued on down the hall. “That is convenient.”
“Nathaniel!” Emilia called after him in shock. The duke froze and Emilia stepped towards him. “I know you are angry with me, and you have every right to be. I never wished to lie to you.”
Nathaniel turned to face her when she reached for his hand. “That does not make it hurt any less.”
From the moment Emilia had chased after him, she had wished for him to look at her. But now, seeing the pain in his eyes was almost more than she could bear. She was quite certain she would have preferred him to be angry.
“I promise, I will tell you everything.” She searched his face for any flicker of hope that what had just shattered between them was not broken beyond repair. “I only need to speak with my brother first. He believes that I am in need of rescue, and I need to assure him that I am safe.”
Nathaniel’s eyes held hers, and Emilia could feel the breaking of his heart as deeply as she could her own.
He nodded his head. “Very well.” His voice nearly broke under the weight of his emotions. “I need a moment as well. I will be in my study.” He turned away from her quickly.
Emilia stood still as she watched him disappear down the hall, taking the pieces of her heart with him.
“He seems delightful,” Alexander murmured from behind her.
Emilia spun around and shoved against his chest. “What have you done?” She asked again.
Alexander stumbled. “I came to ensure that you were safe.”
Emilia crossed her arms and huffed. “You could have written a letter!”
“A letter?” His brows shot upwards.
“Yes, Alexander. Ink written on parchment.” Emilia’s patience was wearing dangerously thin. “You managed to send me one or two over the past two years.”
Alexander shook his head, “It was too risky.”
“Risky?” Emilia shouted. She threw both hands into the air before gesturing wildly toward the shattered window in the entrance hall. “You arrived at my home in the middle of the night, broke a window, assaulted my husband, and somehow you concluded that was less dangerous than writing a letter?”
“I could not risk Lord Moorfield discovering where I was.”
“Yet you had no objection to attracting the attention of half the English countryside!”
Alexander rubbed a hand over his jaw in frustration. “If you were in danger, I could not trust you to tell me the truth. I had to see you with my own eyes.” His gaze followed the path Nathaniel had just taken. “I had to know that you were not forced into a marriage. Not after…”
“I was not forced to marry Nathaniel,” Emilia interjected.
“That is not what I heard.”
“What you heard were lies!” Emilia snapped.
“It was simply a misunderstanding. The duke offered to marry me and save my reputation, not because he did anything to tarnish it, but because he is genuinely a good man.” The tears burned in Emilia’s eyes.
Nathaniel was not simply a good man, he was the best man she had ever known.
He was kind, and caring with a sense of duty and responsibility where most men only saw burdens. The way he lived his life changed the way one looked at the world. His smile warmed every inch of her, even the dark and barren parts of her heart she thought would never see the light again.
Her brother had cared for her her entire life and made sure she was safe and provided for, no matter the cost. But with Nathaniel, for the first time in her life she felt not only safe, but cherished. And now she was the reason he was hurting.
Alexander stayed silent, but Emilia could see the doubt in his eyes.
“He saved me before, Alexander.”
A crease formed between his brows. “What do you mean?”
“That morning, on the Thames. The man in the boat, who jumped into the river…”
Alexander’s eyes went wide and he took a step back. “The duke was there that morning?”
“Yes.”
Alexander’s fists clenched and he cursed under his breath. “He knows, Emilia.”
A chill ran down Emilia’s spine, but it faded quickly against the hot flash of anger at her brother’s accusation. “No, he does not…”
“He does!” Alexander stepped closer, his voice lowering to a dangerous level.
“He was there that morning. He pulled you from the river. Do you truly believe it was by chance that you are married to him now? That he risked his reputation to marry a complete stranger simply because he is a gentleman?”
“Yes!” Emilia answered without hesitation. The thought had crossed her mind more than once in the beginning. But she knew him now. She saw his heart, and she trusted him with her own.
Alexander rolled his eyes in frustration. “You are the least trusting person I know, and yet you choose to trust him?”
“Yes,” she said again, firmly. “I love you, Alexander, but it was foolish for you to come here. What if someone recognized you? If uncle knows you are alive, he could have you hanged.”
“My only thought was of you.”
“If you were truly thinking of me, you would not have come back!”
Alexander flinched, as though she had struck him.
Emilia softened. “You would not have come back like this,” she corrected. “You would have written me a letter and warned me. But you took matters into your own hands, again. You made another choice that affects us both, and you have risked everything.”
“Everything I have ever done was to protect you!”
Emilia stared at him in disbelief. The most painful part was that he truly believed it, and for so long she had too.
This was her big brother; the one who had joined the navy as a child to earn enough money to provide her with the care he believed she deserved, and not just what their uncle felt was sufficient.
The one who had supplied her with tutors, gowns for her first Season, and a dowry.
The only person willing to risk his life, and his reputation to protect her.
But it came at a price—a painful secret to carry.
“You ran, Alexander. There was nowhere for me to go but back to the very nightmare I was trying to escape from. Except it was worse, because I no longer had you.” Emilia’s heart ached with guilt at her words, but she could not stop the truth from breaking free.
“I have had to live with what we have done for nearly three years, and I have carried it alone.”
Alexander tried to reach for her hands. “Emilia, you did nothing…“
“I have lied to everyone!” She pulled back, wiping a tear from her face. “I have hurt the man that I love, and I did it to protect you.”
Emilia had not known what true love was until she met Nathaniel. He had offered her everything she never dreamed she would have, and did not ask for anything in return.
She wanted to give him everything—she wanted to tell him the truth, unload every burden she carried—she wanted to give him her heart. She only hoped he would still be willing to accept it.
“I will not lose him, Alexander.” Emilia’s voice broke. “I can not.”
Alexander’s shoulders fell in reluctant acceptance. “You truly trust him?”
“Completely.”
Alexander shook his head in disbelief.
Emilia cleared her throat, attempting to regain her composure. “I will have the staff prepare you a room and a bath.”
Alexander watched her closely as she stepped into the drawing room and made her way to the bell pull to summon a maid. Sophie entered the room, her eyes wide at the sight of Alexander standing in the corner.
“Sophie,” Emilia called, capturing her maid’s attention. “I need you to prepare a room and a bath for our guest.” She took a step towards the girl, her voice lowering. “It is imperative that no one outside of our household knows he is here. I trust you to be discreet.”
“Of course, Your Grace.” Sophie nodded eagerly. “I shan't breathe a word.”
Emilia gave her a small smile, “Thank you. I would appreciate it if you could also arrange for a breakfast tray to be taken to his room in the morning.” She looked at her brother out of the corner of her eye. “He is to remain in his chambers until he is summoned.”
Alexander huffed, and Sophie’s attention was pulled back to him for a moment before she turned back to Emilia with a quick curtsy.
“As you wish, Your Grace.” The maid hurried from the room.
Emilia crossed the room, pausing in front of Alexander. “You will stay here until Sophie or Briggs returns to escort you to your room.”
Emilia could feel Alexander’s assessing glance on her as she spoke. When he met her eyes, Emilia could see a flicker of sadness in his eyes.
“You really are a duchess now,” he whispered, more to himself than to her.
Pride filled Emilia’s heart at his words, and she fought a smile. “I am,” she replied. “And if you defy me, I shall have you locked in the dungeon.”
Alexander laughed. “Does Rosemore Hall have a dungeon?”
Emilia shrugged, “We will build one.”
Emilia stepped back out into the hall, closing the door behind her, muffling the sound of Alexander’s laughter.