Page 27 of Her Wily Duke

He went up the stairs quickly, silent and light on his feet as usual, and walked hurriedly down the corridor, until he reached the turn just before the Music Room door. At which point he stopped, sharply, and watched with some shock as Frederick nearly dragged Emme out of the room, and away towards his study. His brother almost threw Emme into the room, followed her in, and then the door was slammed.

The sound of that launched Adam into motion, and he hurried after them, then pressed his ear to the door. For a moment, there was silence, and then he heard Emme speak.

“Your Grace! I… Please… no….”

She sounded distraught, her voice high pitched and fearful. Then Frederick’s voice followed, soft, but very intense. Adam could only make out a few of the words, but what he heard chilled him to his core.

He tested the door, and was grateful to discover that it was not locked, then opened it, and dashed into the room. Frederick had Emme in his arms, gripped ferociously, with no gentleness at all, and Emme struggled, repeating, when she could escape his attempts to force a kiss upon her, the words ‘no’, and ‘please’, her voice desperate.

A wave of anger rushed through him, and he stepped forward with no thought but to save Emme from his dastardly brother’s unwanted advances.

“Frederick!” Adam’s hands went around Frederick’s neck, and he squeezed, pulling Frederick back towards him. Over Frederick’s shoulder, Emme’s startled eyes met his. “Frederick – release her at once. This is not the act of a gentleman!”

At that moment, Emme twisted, and, as she pulled herself out of Frederick’s hands, she stamped the heel of her half boot down onto Frederick’s instep.

As he wore light house shoes, the effect was quite as good as she’d hoped. He staggered back into Adam’s grasp, his hands coming up to claw at Adam’s fingers on his neck, even as he nearly fell because of the pain in his foot. Adam held him a moment longer, then half shook him, as a cat shakes a rat, before dropping him. Frederick crumpled to the floor, making a pitiful wailing noise.

Adam ignored it, and reached for Emme, even as she reached for him. He cradled her against him, and she shook, the shock of the last few minutes’ events overtaking her. From the floor, Frederick’s gaze never left them, and had they seen it, they might have felt a shiver of fear, it was so filled with hate.

Once Emme stopped shaking so, Adam released her, much though he did not really wish to let her out of his arms, and asked her to go down and wait for him in the curricle. Only once he heard the distant sound of her footsteps on the stairs did he turn back to Frederick, who had dragged himself to his feet. Frederick snarled at him, and went as if to speak, but Adam spoke first.

“Just what do you think you were doing? That was unforgiveable! Should you ever touch Emme again, I will plant you a facer so hard that you won’t wake up for days. Do you understand?”

“Why should I listen to you? You have no claim on her. And she’s just a commoner girl, ripe for the picking – as Duke, it is my traditional right to have my choice of the commoner women. She should be grateful. If you wanted her for yourself, you should have taken her to your bed long since.”

Adam clenched his jaw, his hands curling into fists as Frederick came towards him, his face a furious scowl of derision. It was too much to bear. Once Frederick was in suitable range, Adam took a deep breath and swung a strong punch at his jaw, which sent Frederick to the floor so solidly that the knock to his head as he landed rendered him unconscious. That punch carried every piece of anger and resentment that Adam had felt as a result of Frederick’s nastiness for his whole life. Leaving Frederick lying there, Adam turned away and left – Emme was waiting for him.

*****

Emme was still quivering inside as she walked down the stairs, but at least she wasn’t outwardly shaking any more.

Her mind kept replaying the last fifteen minutes as she stepped up into the curricle under the curious eyes of the groom, and settled to wait. The way that Adam had looked at her… as if she was precious, as if his heart had been torn apart by seeing her being so handled by the Duke – it had shocked her, and, at the same time, it had filled her heart with warmth, for it had shown her, very clearly, just how much he cared for her. As much as she cared for him, if she was honest with herself.

What was he doing now? What was he saying to his brother? And what would happen now? Would she still have a position, teaching Lady Caroline, or had this last short while stolen that from her forever? And the worst thought of all – would she ever see Adam again, after he drove her home now?

She fretted, castigating herself for having allowed the Duke to trap her so, berating herself internally for having never told Adam just how she felt about him, even though they had spent so much time together as he drove her back and forth, as they talked about anything and everything – everything, that is, except their actual feelings.

This incident with the Duke had cast her own feelings in sharp contrast, making them abundantly clear to her, more so than they ever had been before.

A sound brought her out of her gloomy reverie, and she looked up to see Adam striding towards the carriage. Without a word, he climbed up, lifted the reins, and nodded to the groom to step back. They drove away, and only once they were out of the gates and a long way down the road did either of them speak. And then, they both spoke at once.

“Adam, I didn’t want…”

“Emme, I am so sorry, I should have…”

They both stopped, and met each other’s eyes, then burst into the kind of nervous laughter which follows great distress. Adam began again.

“Emme, I know that you did not want that – it was abundantly clear to me, and should have been so to Frederick too. I am so sorry that I wasn’t there sooner, that I didn’t put a stop to him taking you to his study months ago. But he had been behaving politely, if a little strangely, or so it seemed from what I could see. But when I saw him almost throw you into the study and shut the door… my heart nearly stopped, and I ran to that door. I listened for a few moments, to discover if my assumptions based on what I had seen were correct, but when I heard what he said… I rushed in as fast as I could. I could not bear to have anyone treat you so!”

A rush of warmth filled her, for his care for her was clear in his every word. Was it… was it as strong as her care for him?

“I am so very glad that you saw, that you were there in time to save me from his actions. I had already stamped on his foot once, and kicked, and clawed at him, but he was so intent on forcing his attentions on me that he barely seemed to notice, until you grasped his neck. It was as if a madness had overtaken him. And his touch was… revolting. Not like… not like the few times that you have touched my hand – that left me feeling.. warm, and pleasant.”

She felt herself blush as she said it, but she was determined to tell him about how he made her feel, about how she felt about him, no matter how improper it might be for her to do so.

He turned his head and glanced at her then, a smile lighting his face, then he shifted the reins into one hand and reach across to twine his fingers with hers.

“Like this?”