Splendid (32 page)

Emma marched right up the steps. “I certainly don't want to get caught up in some scandal which will trap me into marriage with that monster.”

Alex didn't say anything; he just marched up the steps right behind her. When they were both safely inside Dunford's front hall, Emma stole a glance at him. The muscle in his cheek was still twitching, and the tension in his jaw and neck was visible.
He was definitely angry. Maybe even as angry as she was. But she didn't understand why he even cared. He had made his disdainful feelings for her abundantly clear the previous afternoon, and his appearance in Woodside's study, presumably to save her from some perilous fate, was really quite puzzling.

“The carriage is ready,” Dunford said quietly as he walked back into the hall a few minutes later, his hands clasped behind his back.

Alex grabbed Emma again by her arm. Before he left, he turned back to Dunford and said, “I thank you for all your assistance.”

“You'll stop by tomorrow?”

“I may not be through with her by tomorrow.” Before Emma had time to question him about that ominous statement, he pulled her through the door and down the front steps. After unceremoniously dumping her in the carriage, Alex strode to the driver, gave him instructions, and then climbed in beside her.

Emma crossed her arms mutinously and then sank back into the corner of the cushioned seat. He'd not get another word out of her, she silently declared. She couldn't imagine why he thought he had the right to prance into her business, take over her life, and then treat her like an annoying piece of baggage. She let out a furious breath of air and then clamped her lips together, determinedly looking out the window. After a minute or two, however, she found she could not contain her rage any longer, and she burst out, “You high-handed louse! I cannot believe the way you have acted this evening.”

“A rodent, a monster,
and
a louse all in one evening,” Alex mocked. “This must be one of my good days.”

“I'll say.” Emma went back to glaring out the window. “What on earth!” she shrieked suddenly, whirling around to face Alex. “We just passed my home. Where are we going?”

“We are going to my home.”

“Just another example of your blasted arrogance!” Emma blazed. “What right do you have to steal me from my home!”

“If you recall, I didn't steal you from your home. I stole you from Woodside's home, and believe me, you're far better off in my clutches than you are in his.”

“I demand that you turn this carriage around this instant and take me home.”

“I really don't see how you have any say in the matter, Emma.”

She drew back. “Are you threatening me?”

Alex leaned forward so that his nose was very nearly touching hers. “Yes.”

As if on cue, the carriage ground to a halt. Alex quickly disembarked, and when Emma wouldn't budge off of the seat cushion, he leaned back in, hauled her out, and flipped her over his shoulder. “We won't be needing you any longer!” he called out to the coachman. With Emma kicking and grunting (she had just enough presence of mind to realize that screaming would result in scores of onlookers, a huge scandal, and then most probably a despicable marriage), Alex trudged up the steps and into the hall, kicking the door shut with a vicious slam.

“Will you put me down?” Emma finally demanded.

“Not just yet,” Alex ground out, ascending another flight of stairs.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked angrily, trying to twist her head around so that she could figure out where she was.

“Somewhere where we can talk.”

“Where we can talk or where you can lecture me?”

“You are trying my patience, my lady.”

“Really?” Emma asked scathingly. “I had hoped that I had already tried it.”

Alex strode through a doorway and kicked the door shut, finally dumping Emma down upon a large four-poster bed. She immediately made a mad dash for the door, but Alex ably blocked her, redeposited her on the bed, crossed the room, and locked the door with a resounding click.

“Why you—”

Alex tossed the key out the window.

“Are you crazy?” Emma ran to the window, judging the distance to the ground.

“You'll never make it without injury,” Alex said. “You, my dear, are my captive audience, and believe me, I have a few things to say to you.”

“Good!” Emma retorted. “I have a few things to say to you, too.”

“Emma,” he said with dangerous softness. “You ought to be scared right now.”

“Fine,” she declared, crossing her arms. “Talk away.”

Alex took careful stock of her features. She didn't look the least bit repentant, but he was so furious with her, he started his tirade anyway. “First of all—” he thundered.

“Do you mind if I take off my coat?” Emma interrupted sarcastically. “It does seem that I'm to be your guest for some time.”

“By all means.”

Emma unbuttoned her coat, shrugged it off, and laid it on a nearby chair.

“What on earth are you wearing?” Alex yelled.

Emma looked down at her breeches. “For goodness sake, Alex. I can't very well go prowling around in an evening gown.”

Alex's eyes slid down her trim figure, every curve of which was indecently hugged by her breeches. His muscles tightened, and his anger was further inflamed by his body's mutinous response to her. “You have just given me another matter about which to yell at you,” he snapped. “I cannot believe your cousin let you out of the house dressed like that.”

“Oh, really,” Emma scoffed. “You didn't say anything in Woodside's study. I didn't have my coat on then,” she reminded him.

“I didn't notice,” Alex bit out. “It was dark.”

She shrugged. “Get on with your lecture, will you? I've had a long day.”

Alex took a deep breath. He was convinced she was deliberately trying to provoke him. He could grant her that. She had every right to be furious with him over his behavior the day before. But that didn't excuse her blatant disregard for her own welfare this evening. “Do you have any idea what kind of danger you placed yourself in tonight?” he finally asked, trying to keep his tone even.

“We had a very good plan,” Emma returned. “Which obviously worked.”

“Oh, really? Do tell me about this plan of yours. What were you planning to do if Woodside came home and surprised you while you were burgling his study?”

“Belle is keeping him busy at Lady Mottram's. She promised us that she wouldn't let him leave before midnight.”

“And what if she failed?” Alex demanded. “Your cousin is hardly strong enough to restrain a grown man.”

“Oh, use your head,” Emma snapped. “Woodside has been drooling over her for a year. He would never leave a party while she was flirting with him.”

“But you couldn't be sure of that. He might have taken ill and had to leave.”

“It's called a calculated risk, your grace. We take them every day of our lives.”

“Damn it, Emma!” Alex exploded, raking his hand through his hair. “Of all the harebrained, damned fool things to do! If Woodside had caught you he could have thrown you in prison! Or worse!” he added meaningfully.

“I had to take the chance. Ned was in trouble and he needed help. I don't abandon the people I love,” she said sharply.

Something in Alex snapped at that moment, and he took her by the shoulders, shaking her and clutching her as if he were holding on for dear life. “Do you have any idea how worried I was about you? Do you?”

Emma gulped, closing her eyes tightly as she tried to quell the tears that had been rolling nonstop down her cheeks for nearly a day. She had to compose herself. She couldn't let him see her cry.

Alex stopped shaking her, but he didn't release his hold, and Emma found his touch oddly comforting. The very heat of him seemed to pour through her shirt, and a small part of Emma longed to throw herself against him and wrap herself in his strong arms. But a larger part of her still stung from his brutal temper the day before. His lack of trust in her had wounded her to the core. “I wasn't aware that you cared, your grace,” she answered very quietly.

“Well, I do!” he said savagely, turning away from her and banging his hands down on his writing
table. “I care too damned much. I nearly went insane today, knowing that you were involved in some ridiculous scheme and not being able to stop you.”

“How did you know?” Emma asked, perching herself on the edge of the bed.

“Dunford overheard you and Belle talking earlier this afternoon,” Alex said flatly. “He heard you say something about how imperative it was that Belle meet Woodside tonight at Lady Mottram's. Considering Woodside's character, we were both frantic.”

“I would have thought you'd have been content to leave me to the wolves.”

“I made a mistake yesterday,” Alex said hoarsely, still facing away from her. “I'm sorry.”

Emma's eyes widened with shock over his admission. He was a proud man, and she couldn't imagine that apologies came easily to him. As he stood leaning against the table, every line of his body spoke of raw tension and pain. This wasn't easy for him, she knew that. And he was probably racked with guilt over his behavior. Her heart went out to him— she couldn't stop it if she tried, she loved him so much. But none of her tender feelings could erase her pain. “I accept your apology,” she said with quiet dignity.

Alex whirled around, hope and doubt colliding in his eyes.

“But that doesn't mean I'll be able to forget,” Emma added sadly. “We're not going to be able to go back to the way we were.”

“Emma, if you needed money for Ned, you could have asked me for it.”

“What was I supposed to do, Alex? Walk up to you and ask you for a loan of ten thousand pounds?”

“I would have given it to you.”

“I'm sure you would have, but I wouldn't have felt comfortable with it, and I don't think Ned would have, either. Besides, it seemed silly when I have more than enough money of my own. I've got an inheritance right here in London. It's in trust until I reach my twenty-first birthday.” She swallowed nervously, glancing away and studying a medieval tapestry that hung on the wall. “Or until I marry.”

“I see.”

“I didn't ask you to marry me just for money,” Emma burst out passionately, still unable to turn around and face his emerald gaze. “I think it's what gave me the idea to ask you, but it's not why I did it. It was an excuse, I suppose. I wanted you so badly, and I felt trapped. A man can pick and choose who he wants to marry and when, but women have to sit at home and wait for an offer. I was afraid you'd never get around to asking.”

Alex sighed. If she'd only waited three more days, this entire mess would have been averted.

“The money was just an excuse,” Emma continued forlornly. “I guess I thought that if I had an urgent enough reason, then I could defy tradition and ask you instead of waiting. I don't think I would have had the courage to propose if I hadn't needed to get the money for Ned.”

Alex moved to the bed and sat beside her, taking one of her hands and holding it between his own. “Can you understand why I reacted as I did?” he asked, stroking her palm with his thumb. “All my adult life I've been chased by greedy women eager for a title. When you said you needed money—I don't know what happened. I just snapped.”

“I just don't understand how you could have thought that of me.” Emma raised her stricken eyes to his. “
Don't you know me?
”

Alex looked away, unable to think of any words that might express the remorse he was feeling.

The silence grew interminable, until finally Emma said. “You should have trusted me.”

“I know. I'm sorry.”

“I can understand your jumping to the wrong conclusion,” she said, her voice breaking slightly. “But you didn't even stop to think. You just treated me like a common harlot and threw me out of your house. You didn't even ask for an explanation.”

Alex couldn't meet her eyes.

Emma wiped away a tear that threatened to spill down her face. “I would have thought that you knew me well enough to realize that I'm not a ‘greedy little bitch. '”

He flinched as she tossed back the cruel words he had blurted out in anger. “I know I was wrong, Emma. Believe me, it didn't take me very long to realize that I had misunderstood you.”

“I don't know. I feel very uncomfortable knowing that you don't trust me.”

“But I do. I do now.”

Emma smiled sadly. “You say you do. I'm sure you believe you do. But I'm not certain that you wouldn't jump to the very same conclusion all over again. You spent ten years hating women. It isn't easy to undo a decade of such strong emotion.”

“I don't hate women, Emma.”

“Hate, mistrust. It amounts to the same thing.”

“I admit that I did not hold most women in the highest regard,” Alex said, tightening his hold on her hand. “I didn't know any outside of my family whom I could respect. But you changed that. You shattered every preconception I held about women.”

Emma wet her lips as she relived the ugly scene in Alex's parlor. “Obviously I didn't.”

“For God's sake, Emma, give me a chance!” he suddenly burst out, jumping to his feet. “You're right! I made an ass of myself yesterday because I didn't trust my instincts. I knew you were everything I wanted in a woman, but I was afraid to admit it. Are you satisfied?” He strode across the room, taking deep breaths of air. Hands on hips, he stared at the very same tapestry that had captured Emma's gaze a few minutes earlier. He didn't turn to look at her when he finally said, “But now you're doing the exact same thing to me. You don't trust me enough to believe that I learned something from yesterday's debacle.”