Page 46 of To Dare a Duke

There was a shriek and the sound of ripping fabric as she fell. Robert cried out and began to climb, but she’d stopped falling, holding out one hand to keep him where he was.

“Oh, dear,” she murmured.

She was a great deal lower in the tree now, her feet on the bottommost branch. Robert reached out, grasping hold of her ankles as she swayed and tried to look at her, squinting into the sun.

“Don’t look up!” she squealed, panic threading the command.

Robert immediately snapped his gaze to his boots but didn’t let go.

“Why not? What’s wrong?” he demanded.

There was a taut silence. “I… I appear to have ripped my gown.”

With a great deal of effort, Robert schooled his expression into something solemn, even though she couldn’t see his face. He was less successful with his voice, which trembled slightly.

“Oh, dear,” he said, fighting not to laugh. “Where? And… how badly?”

“At the back,” she said crisply, sounding irritated. “And quite ruinously, I assure you.”

Robert sobered at once, realising she was speaking quite literally. If anyone saw her in such a state of undress, it would ruin her.

“Ah,” he said, trying to figure out the best course of action. “We need to get you out of here without anyone seeing you.”

“You don’t say?” she replied on a huff.

He let out an impatient breath. “If you hadn’t been so damn pig-headed, I could have gotten you down without incident.” In hindsight it might have been more gentlemanly not to have pointed that out, but he had been cast as the villain, after all. He might as well play the part.

“I didn’t want your help,” she retorted. “If you hadn’t insisted on staying, I would have been fine.”

Robert let her go as she seemed steady on her perch now and folded his arms. He gave a snort to illustrate his incredulity. “Yes, you’d be in the exact same predicament, alone.”

“See?” she said triumphantly. “A huge improvement on my current situation.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, Prue, you impossible creature.”

There was far too much warmth in the words, but he couldn’t help it. She said nothing, but he could feel her glowering at him.

Robert looked around them, trying to get his bearings. “The hothouses are over there,” he said, pointing to the glass gables. “I’m sure I saw the rooftops as we came up the driveway. If we can find a way out to the front of the house, I’ll be able to smuggle you into my carriage with no one any the wiser.”

“Into your…. Oh, no… I don’t think—”

“If you have a better plan, I’m listening,” he said, trying to be reasonable. “Do you want to see your aunt in this state?”

He could almost hear her teeth grinding as she realised there was no option.

“Very well.”

Robert forgot himself for a moment, he was so relieved by her agreement, and glanced up.

“Don’t look!” she snapped, clutching at her bodice which seemed to be rather loose, one shoulder of the dress sagging down her arm.

Turning away at once, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “Scandalous as it is, I believe it still covers everything, er… crucial.”

“Only if I hold on to it,” she admitted, as a surge of heat rushed through him.

Don’t think on it, he instructed himself. You’re not that much the villain.

“Won’t you let me help…?”