Page 49 of What's a Duke Got to Do With It
Mr. Young stood there for a moment, no doubt confused by Sebastian’s strange pendulum of emotions. Finally he made to move off.
But Sebastian, glutton for pain as he was, spoke once more, stalling the farmer’s departure.
“You will make her happy, won’t you?”
The look Mr. Young sent his way could only be described as stunned. Ah, finally some emotion, Sebastian thought bitterly.
“Miss Denby?” the man queried.
Sebastian cleared his throat. “Yes, Miss Denby. You will make certain she is happy?”
Mr. Young blinked several times before, pressing his lips tight, he said in his strange monotone, “I will endeavor to see she wants for nothing.”
Which was not the same, not at all. Yet what could he do? Nodding, he turned away this time, praying the other man would leave. But he did not. The bastard.
And he was even more of a bastard for what he said next.
“As the beast likes you so much, mayhap you could take on its care after Miss Denby and I marry.”
This time it was Sebastian’s turn to peer in confusion at the other man. “The beast? You mean Mouse?”
“Yes.” He motioned to the dog, who had raised his massive head and was looking at Mr. Young with ears pinned back. “She will need to find a home for the creature, and it seems to like you. An ideal situation to me.”
Sebastian frowned. “Why would she need to find a home for Mouse?”
The laugh that broke free from Mr. Young was as dry and unemotional as his voice. “Well, she cannot bring it with her when she moves into my home. She will be much too busy to care for it.”
Gaping at the other man, Sebastian slowly rose to his feet. Mouse, no doubt sensing something ugly was happening, rose as well and pressed into his side, powerful body trembling.
“You cannot force her to give up her pet,” he said. “She loves Mouse more than just about anything.”
But Mr. Young waved a hand in dismissal. “It is a dog, a mere animal.”
“Not to Miss Denby,” Sebastian replied, tension threading through him at the man’s callousness. Dear God, was he truly going to force Katrina to give up her pet? “She has dealt with too much heartbreak and has lost too much already.”
“Her disappointment will pass, I assure you,” the man replied. Suddenly his eyes narrowed. “And as she shall be my wife, and therefore my responsibility, I shall be the one to decide what is best for her.”
It was a warning, plain and simple. He may as well have declared that Katrina would be his property. Which, by law, was unfortunately all too true. Sebastian’s vision went red, his body trembling as violently as Mouse at his side.
But as much as he would love to take Mr. Young by his cravat and plant him a facer, as much as he ached to team up with Mouse and frighten the man into decamping, he knew he could not. He had promised Katrina he would not interfere. And he would keep that promise—no matter how much it destroyed him to do so.
He stepped back, pulling an agitated Mouse with him, nodding his head in a sharp, jerky motion.
Mr. Young smiled, a cold thing. “Do consider taking on the animal,” he said, smoothing Katrina’s shawl over his arm as if he already owned her. “I would so hate to destroy it. Now if you will excuse me.”
Mr. Young turned to go, but did not move a step farther. Thinking the man must wish to prolong their conversation—if one could even call such an exchange that—Sebastian prayed for strength that he could continue to rein himself in. He was damn near close to breaking his promise to Katrina as it was; he did not know how much more of the man he could take before he snapped.
Katrina’s voice, however, told him it was not a wish to continue inserting his dominance over Sebastian that had made Mr. Young pause.
“Destroy what animal, Mr. Young?”
Her voice was tremulous, a kind of horrified disbelief coloring the quavering words.
The man, coward that he was, did not answer. Instead he held out her shawl.
“Forgive me for taking so long to return to you, Miss Denby,” he said. “I stopped to talk to the duke and completely lost track of time. Here is your garment.”
But Katrina did not take it. She clenched her hands tight before her and kept her eyes steady on her suitor.
