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Livie’s stomach clenched as tightly as his eyebrows; a “but” was clearly following. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears as she waited for him to speak.

“But you went too far.”

She blinked. “How so?”

Joshua’s eyes softened. “I do understand, Livie. I truly do. I would ferociously protect Frederick or my father. But this isn’t … this isn’t right. This country was built on justice.”

She straightened. “No, that’s not—”

“I do believe that your father is not a traitor.”

“He is not.”

“But as a man of honor, he would never wish to be exonerated in this way.”

The sentence hit Livie like a kick in the gut. That, and the look in Joshua’s eyes: the chiding look. The “you haven’t been good” look. The look she knew down to her bones, because it was exactly the way her father always looked at her, no matter how docile and obedient she tried to be.

“Exactly what do you mean?” she asked, keeping her voice even.

He hesitated. “Obviously, you felt I could help by influencing my father’s opinion. So.”

Livie gaped at him before rage cracked open the armor she had grown to weather to her father’s disdain. “You are suggesting I deliberately targeted you? May I remind you that you found me at the masquerade rather than the other way around!”

His eyes kindled. “You hunted me down at this ball, you drew your bow, and today you certainly hit the mark.”

The images of their recent debauchery flooded Livie’s mind, as the implications of his reproach became clear. “You think that I let you do that to me to persuade you to help my father?” Her voice cracked. “Some sort of payment in which I humiliate myself in order to entangle you?”

Joshua frowned at her. “No! You were not humiliated.”

Just like a man: he thought he could tell her exactly how she felt. Livie stared at his strong jaw, the arch of his brow, his hair ruffled by her hands, that perfect nose. She was fairly certain he was furious, but not a bit of emotion showed on his face.

Her chest felt so tight that she found herself rubbing her breastbone. His eyes flickered to her fingers.

“You don’t need to do that,” he bit out, showing anger for the first time.

“Do what?” she gasped.

“Draw my attention to your charms. I will marry you, Livie, but you cannot expect me to help you with your father’s case. I will not dishonor myself, or your father, for that matter.”

“Oh, my God.” Livie shoved open the closed wardrobe door and scrambled out. She shook out her skirts, grabbed her crumpled domino, and pulled it tightly around her. “I didn’t—how could you think that of me?”

He followed, uncurling his tall body. “I think you are a deeply loyal woman who loves her father, and is desperately worried for him.”

It wasn’t untrue. She had recently begun to feel more loyal to Joshua than to her father, but she pushed away that thought.

“Think of your father,” Joshua continued, the lines around his mouth seeming deeper than they had been an hour ago. “How would he feel if he knew that you’d met me here, for this reason?”

“He’d think I was a trollop,” Livie said flatly. “But he already believes that, as must you, since I gather you imagine I attended the Rothingale masquerade planning to seduce the first lord I saw. Or was it that I knew of Lord Paget’s role and deliberately searched for you? That would, of course, have been the most advantageous, but also implies the mysterious ability to recognize you at sight, not to mention predict that you could be found there.”

“I have no idea why you attended that particular event,” Joshua stated. His smoky brown eyes had darkened.

Clearly, he thought she’d gone there trolling for assistance from any man with a seat in the House of Lords.

Livie’s cheeks burned with anger. “You know nothing of me, nothing of my father,” she spat. “You call yourself a gentleman, but your imagination is—disgusting.” She held up her hand when he opened his mouth. “Obviously, I knew nothing of you either, but I know more now.”

“Then know this. I am not a man who would ever interfere with a fair and honest trial. My father raised me to be an honorable man.”

“I would prefer that my father not believe that his daughter is a seductress,” Livie said with scathing emphasis. “So I would be grateful if you did not inform your father of our brief acquaintance.”