Page 85 of His Forbidden Duchess
Jeremy wasn’t listening. He was driven by a rage the likes of which Eloise had never seen in her brother. It was worse than she had feared.
He lunged forward, taking a swing at Felix. Eloise let out a cry as Felix effortlessly sidestepped him, and Jeremy stumbled. In a smooth, practiced movement, Felix grasped Jeremy’s arm and twisted it, pinning it behind him.
“Brother, please, stop this! Let us talk instead.”
“That is enough,” Felix said, his voice low and firm as he held Jeremy in place. He spoke into her brother’s ear. “You do not know what you are talking about.”
Eloise’s eyes darted one way and then the next, not knowing where to turn or whom to protect: her brother or her husband.
“Felix,” Eloise gasped finally, rushing forward to try to calm them both. She placed a hand on Felix’s arm, her voice steady but urgent. “Let him go. Please.”
“Only if he promises to behave,” Felix said, shoving Jeremy lightly. “You know I am the better fighter, Jeremy. You do not want to test me and certainly not in my own home.”
Jeremy struggled as his expression turned into one of reluctant acquiescence.
“Fine,” he snapped.
Felix released him, but his stance remained alert and ready. Eloise joined him, standing together against her brother to whom she looked with pity and sadness.
Jeremy shook out his arm, glaring at Eloise now. “And you,dearsister! Do not think I have forgotten about you! What were you thinking, Eloise?” His voice was laced with disbelief and betrayal. “I leave for a few months, and I come back to find my sister married to the biggest rake in London? How could you let this happen? I always thought you were the more intelligent sibling, but now, I see how foolish I had been.”
“Jeremy, listen to me,” Eloise snapped, her own anger rising as she looked between her brother and Felix. “You do not understand what has happened during your absence. Felix stepped in because we were in profoundly serious trouble. He married me to save us all from ruin.”
“Save you?” Jeremy scoffed, crossing his arms. “It is hardly salvation to marry a man who cannot even keep his own reputation clean. Mother told me everything the moment I arrived: how you were caught up in Father’s debt, the collectors, the rumors… and then I find out about this marriage. Eloise, how could you let him?—”
“Enough!” Eloise’s voice cut through his tirade, and Jeremy paused, taken aback by her fierceness. She felt her heart pounding, anger overtaking her initial shock. “Can you not put aside your pride for one moment and be grateful? Do you have any idea how difficult it was for us while you were gone? Felix did not have to help us, but he did, without question and without condition.”
Jeremy’s eyes softened, but his expression remained guarded. “Eloise, I left to handle our family’s business. I thought you knew that. I was going to help you… to help us.”
“And while you were off handling business, Mother and I were barely holding things together,” she replied, her voice steady but her hands trembling. “Carlisle and his men visited us on more than one occasion, the last of which Felix happened upon. It was truly awful, Jeremy. Those men are nothing short of brutes.”
“And so, my so-called friend thought he would take advantage.” His eyes bored once more into Felix.
“No,” Eloise said firmly, furious at her brother’s blind obstinacy. “Felix was the only one who stood by us. He did not owe us anything, and yet he took on our family’s debt to protect us.Marriage was the only way; if it hadn’t been Felix, I would have had to find some other man.”
“Any other man would have been better,” Jeremy muttered.
Eloise sighed. “You do not mean that, brother. If you want to be angry, be angry with me. But do not dare to insult him. He has done nothing but help us.”
Jeremy looked down, shame filling his eyes, and she felt a sharp pang of sympathy for him.
He hadn’t known; he couldn’t have known. Had he been here, she knew he would have done everything in his power to protect them.
He took a slow breath, his anger receding as her words settled over him.
“I was trying my best,” he muttered.
“We know,” Eloise said, her voice softer. “And there was nothing more you could have done. It is not your fault, Jeremy. But Felix has been absolutely wonderful in helping us. There is no reason for you to be angry with him.”
He turned back to Felix, who stood silently watching the exchange.
“Very well,” Jeremy muttered. “Thank you for helping my family. But that does not change the fact that this marriage is one of convenience and not at all what I had hoped for my sister.”
Felix said nothing.
Eloise looked at him sadly. Was that how he still thought of their marriage?
Surely not. After everything we have been through together, he must surely have feelings for me.
