His eyes narrowed, and he took one weaving step away from her and raised his cane, swinging it toward her head.
A woman shrieked and several male voices bellowed his name. But the cane stopped short of her face, blocked by a dark hand, which snagged the cane and jerked it from Wykeham’s grasp. That same hand raised it over Wykeham’s head, and Clara screamed, “No!”
The cane halted, and Clara shoved between Michael and Wykeham, facing Michael. “You cannot kill him!”
Michael’s eyes found hers, his breathing still heavy. “Yes. I could.”
Philip Ashton reached over them both and pulled the cane out of Michael’s grasp. “But you will not.”
Wykeham staggered backwards, stumbling over Honora Durham, who finally stirred. Two of his footmen grabbed to right him, and he found his footing and jerked away from them, barking orders. “Pack everything up! Prepare for departure! Now!” He stepped over Honora again, making her flinch.
He grabbed Clara by the arm and forced her away from Michael, his grip on her bicep like hot iron. She opened her mouth to speak, but he shouted at her. “You will be silent!”
Clara snarled but kept silent as Wykeham turned on Michael. “You, sir. I call you out. Here and now, in front of these witnesses.”
Clara blinked.Did he really mean...
Philip stiffened. “Wykeham, do not be ridic—”
“For cheating and cuckolding.”
Clara screeched. “What? No!”
Philip stepped forward. “Nonsense, Wykeham. No one duels anymore. The authorities will—and you are not—”
“Hyde Park. Monday. At ten. You will have my challenge this afternoon. Name your second. And all thetonwill know you for a coward if you do not show. I will destroy you in every way I can.”
Philip began to speak again, but Michael held up his hand. “I will be there.”
Clara could not believe what was happening. “Michael, do not do this! He can put me aside! I am not worth it!”
He looked at her, eyes solemn and sad, and she could almost hear his words.Youareworth it.
She shook her head.No, I am not.
Wykeham stepped back, almost losing his balance again. Philip held out the cane. Wykeham snatched it away, an action that forced him to use the cane for balance again.
One of the onlookers had helped Honora to her feet, but she remained so pale, Clara feared another swoon. She moved toward her mother, but Wykeham stopped her. “Both of you. In the carriage. This is not over.”
“What do you mean?” Honora asked.
“I will see the earl when we get back. I want the first of the banns to be read tomorrow.”
Clara could not breathe. “No. You said two months. But you should put me aside.”
“Apparently, we have all changed our minds about something.” He loomed over her. “You are mine, girl. No matter what.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Monday, 29 August 1825
Hyde Park
Dawn
“You do nothave to do this. No one will think ill of you. Everyone in thetonknows you won that race in a fair match. Dozens saw his lack of sportsmanship. You have seen the inquiries we have received. It will not be you who suffers. Do not do this.”
Michael glanced at his father but remained silent as Copper moved restlessly beneath him. Michael calmed the bay with strokes on the horse’s neck and a gentle pressure with his knees. When they had come to Hyde Park this early in the past, it had been to run, to dive into a wild gallop, not to stand between two other mounts at the edge of a remote meadow near a small copse of trees. A low, thick fog hung in the air, leaving the grass damp and the copse to appear an impenetrable miasma. A chill in the air reminded him that autumn lay not far away.
