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Sam closed his eyes, willing his body to stop shaking, to stop betraying him with phantom fears. “No.”
Her hand fell away. “Rebecca, can you wait with your brother whilst I fetch some wine? Perhaps that will revive him.”
“Yes, certainly,” Rebecca replied.
And then Lady Emeline started to leave him. He heard a low groaning and realized dimly that it was himself, but he couldn’t stop the sound, nor the urge to make her stay by his side. He turned, meaning to keep her there, but instead he was brought up short by what he saw.
Lord Vale stood in the doorway to the ballroom.
JASPER SHUT THE French doors behind him, smiled his careless, charming smile, and said, “Emmie! Godsblood, hadn’t expected to see you here.”
All Emeline could think was, How am I to get him out of the way? Hardly a kind sentiment for a man she’d known all her life, but there it was. It was imperative to get Samuel away before Jasper saw how bad his condition was. Somehow she knew that Samuel would hate to have another man see him like this.
It had happened so suddenly in the ballroom. She’d felt him stiffen as they’d entered the house but thought nothing of it. Many would be nervous at such a gathering of the ton. But he’d slowed as they’d advanced into the ballroom. Even allowing for the awkwardness of moving through the crowd, Samuel had walked oddly. Until she had at last looked up into his face and had seen he was in agony. What kind of agony—whether mental or physical—she did not know, but everything about him, from the closed eyes to the pale and sweating face to the way he suddenly clutched her hand bespoke great pain. The idea that this strong man was in pain made her almost paralyzed. It was as if she’d felt a corresponding pain deep within her own being. She’d led him out of the ballroom as quickly as possible, the whole time aware of his silent agony.
And now she must deal with Jasper.
Emeline squared her shoulders and assumed her most haughty expression—the one she’d learned in the nursery growing up the daughter of an earl. But as it turned out, there was no need. Jasper wasn’t even looking at her. His eyes were fixed behind her, presumably on Samuel.
“Hartley? I say, it is Corporal Hartley, isn’t it?” Jasper asked.
“Yes.” The single word was clipped out from behind her.
Emeline turned and saw that Samuel was upright now, no longer leaning against the railing, although his face was still pale and shone with sweat. He was unmoving, as though waiting for something. Beside him, Rebecca hovered hesitantly, looking from one man to the other, her expression clearly confused.
Jasper took a step closer. “I haven’t seen you since...” His voice trailed off as if he couldn’t bring himself to say the name.
“Since Spinner’s Falls.”
“Yes.” All the usual amusement was gone from Jasper’s face, and without it, Emeline saw the lines carved beside his long nose and too-wide mouth.
“Did you know we were betrayed?” Samuel asked softly.
That startled Jasper. He drew his hairy brows together. “What?”
“Someone betrayed the regiment. Do you know anything about that?”
“Why would I?”
Samuel shrugged. “You were in debt to Clemmons.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Deeply in debt. Every veteran of the regiment that I’ve talked to since my arrival in England remembers that fact clearly. You were in danger of being drummed out of the army, stripped of your rank, disgraced.”
Jasper’s head reared back as if he’d been hit. “That’s—”
“The massacre at Spinner’s Falls saved you from having to pay that debt.”
Jasper slowly flexed his fingers, and Emeline felt a prickle on the back of her neck at the aggression in the air. “What exactly are you implying, Hartley?”
“You had a reason to betray us,” Samuel stated softly.
“You think I sold my men to the French?” Jasper’s tone was almost casual, but his face was graven.
“Perhaps,” Samuel said in a voice so low it was nearly a whisper. He swayed slightly where he stood—he wasn’t as recovered as he’d like them to think. “Or to the Wyandot Indians. The same result in either case. They knew we would be there at Spinner’s Falls. They knew and they waited, and when we came, they killed us all—”
Jasper’s big fists balled, and he took a step toward Samuel.
