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She leaned into him. “How much are the other pieces worth?”
“You’re not just an heiress, you’re the heiress of heiresses,” Wingate rumbled as both Aubrey and Clara gasped. “Jewels, lands, properties. Your parents have made you rich beyond compare.”
Her gaze fluttered open but wide as she attempted to cast them, a greyness clouded the edges. Why was this news as alarming as when she’d thought she was poor? She felt herself falling a moment before Jacob’s arms tightened about her, pulling her to his chest. His hand came to cradle her head, his fingers wrapping about the base of her skull. “Shhh,” he murmured in her ear. “Nothing has changed. You’ll stay here with Nick and Aubrey until Ash can be found. You’ll be perfectly safe and then Ash will help you choose a good husband who will manage all the funds.”
His reassurances helped clear her head. Her spine, which had turned to jelly, stiffened again as she looked up at Jacob. What she’d always wanted was choice, and a bit of freedom, and perhaps, a real affection between herself and her husband.
She’d gotten scared for a moment but that didn’t change her wishes. “Ash may not come back. I think I have to face that fact.”
Jacob winced, the truth in his gaze.
“And technically, with as much money as you say I have, I needn’t marry at all.”
His eyes widened as Clara chuckled from her seat. He ignored his aunt. “But the thieves and Mister Barrow.”
She nodded. “You’re right. I do need protection just now, since I’ve left my home and my staff.”
She watched something dark flare in his eyes. What had she said to upset him so?
Jacob looked down at her, choking with his own incompetence. He’d listened to Mr. Barrow and dragged her needlessly from London. She’d be safe in her own home.
Christ, he’d caused her far more harm than good. Wingate would have gone to London and she’d never have been in danger at all.
Why could he never seem to get a thing right? “Emily,” his voice was craggy with the emotion he felt, his own uselessness, knowing that he’d let her down.
Her eyes crinkled at the corners as Clara rose from her chair. “If I may, I think everyone might need a bath and a repose. It’s been a long, arduous few days.”
“Of course.” Aubrey rose, crossing to pull the cord by the door. “We can all talk more when everyone has had some rest.”
Emily stepped from his arms, following Aubrey from the room.
He hated to watch her go but he had a feeling she’d just discovered what he’d known all along.
He wasn’t good enough for her. Never had been. Setting the appraisal aside, he moved to the crate. He might have done everything wrong thus far, but he still planned to help her. The least he could do was find out more about Barrow’s plan.
“I…” He raked a hand through his hair, looking at Nick, “I think I erred.”
Wingate made a tsking sound. “By taking her from London? You’re damn right you did.”
His stomach dropped. “I thought she was penniless.”
Wingate grimaced. “I heard that part. But the lie you told, you might have to correct that sooner rather than later.”
Was Nick saying what he thought the other man was saying? “Marriage?”
“That’s right.”
“But…” Had his friend not heard Emily? He had and while they might be able to force Emily now, she’d resent him for it later. She’d already noted that he’d failed her. Why would he even want to marry him?
Never mind that he’d been opposed to wedlock for this very reason. He was his mother’s son. “She doesn’t want me.”
“Woo her,” Nick glared at him.
Jacob’s brows lifted. What did a duke know of wooing? “I don’t think—”
“Don’t be a fool. You think Aubrey allowed me to marry her without me doing some serious convincing?”
He didn’t even know what to say to that. His friend was tall, dark, handsome, and rich as sin. “I’m supposed to believe she hesitated?”
