Page 60 of The Devilish Pleasures of a Duke

“Why not, ma’am? Wolf ain’t done no wrong. It’s me lousy family.”

“Please go with Hamm to the kitchen and have Cook put salve on your elbow.”

“I’ll take her,” Julia offered from the door. “Heath wants to make sure none of his treasures were taken from his study. Hamm is going to fetch a glazier to repair the window. I suppose it would be a good idea to assign one of the under-footmen to go outside and retrieve whatever valuables Luke lost during his cowardly escape.”

Adrian glanced around. “May I do something to help?”

Emma sighed. “I think you’ve been more than helpful.”

He bent to pick up her manual. “I suppose that’s one way to drum manners into a fellow’s head.”

She laughed a little unsteadily. “I do not recommend it.”

Suddenly they were standing alone in the library. Adrian stared at her, knowing he looked unkempt and sinister. “I could have killed those two when I saw you standing there, and all that broken glass—”

“But you showed admirable restraint. Still”—she could not quite hide a dark sense of humor—“I’ve a feeling Harriet’s brothers will not return soon, if ever, after your appearance.”

“I only showed restraint because you were not harmed.” He lowered his voice. He could hear Heath talking to one of the servants in the hall. “I shall go mad if we cannot meet in private. I’m behaving like a man—”

“I shall be at the park tomorrow,” she said with a guarded smile.

“By yourself?” he asked, studying her face.

“Of course she won’t be by herself,” Heath said as he reentered the room. “Look at what happened to her today. A brother cannot be too careful when it comes to his sister’s welfare.” He looked directly at Adrian. “I’m certain you’ll agree.”

“How could one argue otherwise?” Adrian replied gracefully.

Heath shrugged. He’d changed into a clean shirt and buff trousers. “Are you staying for dinner? It is the least our hero of the day deserves.”

“No.” He shook his head. He could not trust himself to sit across the table from Emma and not reveal his feelings. It was, in fact, killing him to leave her now with nothing resolved. “I have intruded upon you enough. As well as bringing scandal to your house.” He grimaced. “Not to mention looking like a pirate at the moment.”

Heath laughed, his good nature apparently restored. “Scandal is nothing new to the Boscastles. Indeed, I do not believe we would know what to do with ourselves if a week passed without some disgrace.”

Emma had laid her manual on the library table to examine it for damage. She could sense her brother, in turn, examining her in his subtle yet unnerving way. She wondered exactly what he saw.

“I do like Wolf,” he said as he turned to the window. “He is a natural defender. However…”

She continued to turn the pages of her beloved book. One had to be on guard against Heath’s “howevers” and his inscrutable stares. He did not pry. And yet he always seemed to know what a person was most desperate to hide. He understood human nature. He must have been an excellent spy.

She glanced up. “You were saying?”

“I said that I liked Wolf,” he answered after a deep silence. “He is a brave man. However…”

Emma continued to examine the pages of her manual for creases. “However?”

“Well, he has lived a hard life, fought battles that some would deem brutal.”

“He has, hasn’t he?” she murmured.

He arched his brow. “What I meant to say is that ofttimes, when a man is forced to defend his life, the lives of others, he sacrifices a part of his soul.”

She closed the book and looked at him. “Did you, Heath?”

He looked so taken aback she almost giggled.

“I thought so once.”

“And now?” she asked gently, feeling guilty for provoking him when she knew he had intervened only out of his deep concern for her.