Page 8 of A Duke to Undo her
“As does yours,” the duke returned. “It’s almost as wild as it was at the Silverton ball.”
“You are the rudest, most aggravating man I have ever met!” Josephine burst out now, vaguely registering that Benedict had walked away towards Vera and Norman and was speaking earnestly with them. “I cannot fathom how you ever managed to teach your brother such good manners when you clearly have none yourself.”
“I’ve heard a great deal of your temper and impulsiveness, Lady Josephine, and now I’ve seen enough of them to last me a lifetime. Others might find your antics amusing but I do not. You can be certain that I will never allow Benedict to marry such a woman. You will stay away from my brother.”
“If you’ve heard so much about me, you will know that I take exception to being ordered about. You have no right to interfere in your brother’s affairs anyway. Mr. Emerton is a grown man now, even if you did raise him.”
“As head of my family, I have every right to interfere in any matter that affects Benedict’s future,” the Duke of Ashbourne insisted, his dark features now also growing flushed with the confrontation. “I want you to stay away from my brother, Lady Josephine.”
Josephine gave a dismissive laugh and made to walk onwards along the path but Cassius Emerton stepped in front of her, so close that she could see his pulse throb and smell his cologne, and perhaps even his actual skin. Yes, she did believe there was a faint, fresh sweat on his skin and the sight of his damp forehead made her feel distinctly odd.
The heroes of her favorite novels didn’t sweat, at least not unless they were wrestling lions or performing other physical feats. A sweating man was quite horrible to think about, only in reality it wasn’t…
“Don’t challenge me,” he warned her in a low voice that reverberated somewhere in Josephine’s belly like the rumble of an approaching storm.
“Or what?” she responded, tipping up her chin and refusing to be intimidated even though her heart was racing madly. “You believe you can run Benedict’s life and stop him from seeing me. I say you can’t. We will simply have to wait and see who wins, won’t we?”
At this defiance, Cassius Emerton’s startled expression was priceless. Did no one ever stand up to him? No wonder he was so arrogant. For long seconds Josephine continued to face the duke down, her pulse becoming deafening in her ears. Why did he not step back? In fact, had he come even closer? What did he want from her?
Just as Josephine was about to demand an answer to this question, Benedict returned, catching them up along with Vera and Norman.
“Lady Josephine, your sister has kindly invited me to take tea with you this afternoon at Elmridge House. So, that means I can continue my walk with my brother now and we can continue our conversation later.”
“How lovely!” Josephine responded with a triumphant smile to the Duke of Ashbourne. I shall look forward to seeing you at Elmridge House, Mr. Emerton.”
Chapter Four
“Can you believe the arrogance of that man!?” Josephine asked her friends furiously after describing the encounter in the park and her subsequent more civilized, and far less emotionally disturbing tea, with Benedict Emerton at Elmridge House.
Josephine, Rose and Madeline were lounging together in the gardens of Hollington Hall in Highgate, the main residence of Madeline’s father, the long-widowed Earl of Hollington.
“Tell me again what Benedict Emerton was wearing,” pleaded Lady Rose, far more interested in that gentleman’s outfitting than Josephine’s more impassioned railing against the angry duke.
“Oh, a light grey summer suit, perfectly pressed linen and a white gardenia at his buttonhole,” Josephine rattled off absently, to Rose’s contented sigh. “His boots were very well polished too. I swear I could almost see my reflection in them.”
Close by, Madeline’s younger sister Melinda was pushing herself happily on a swing, her feet almost touching the sky with each forward motion. It made Josephine a touch envious to watch the young girl. How wonderful to be only thirteen years of age, in short skirts and allowed to play freely without being constantly judged and reprimanded on posture, deportment and manners.
Still, Melinda too would have to learn the same lessons as Josephine soon enough, she supposed more compassionately. Let the girl swing freely while she could…
“Mr. Emerton was certainly far better dressed than that arrogant, interfering brother of his,” Josephine returned to her theme but was interrupted by Lady Madeline before she could add any further insults to Cassius Emerton.
“Heisthe Duke of Ashbourne,” Madeline pointed out to Josephine. “He has title, fortune and a most honorable and dutiful reputation. Some would say he had the right to a little arrogance.”
“But surely not the right to come between two fated lovers,” Rose protested. “If Josephine and Benedict love one another, it can’t be right to obstruct them.”
“That is exactly what I think,” Josephine agreed with an emphatic nod, not really quite as naive as Rose but enjoying the fun of adopting this attitude. “Anyway, Mr. Emerton is a grown man of two-and-twenty and the duke should not think to direct his life.”
“Fated lovers?” said Madeline with smiling incredulity. “You’ve met Mr. Emerton three times, Josephine. Isn’t that description a little too dramatic?”
Josephine shrugged off this unwanted reminder on the limited nature and short duration of this acquaintance.
“That doesn’t signify when one is in love,” she sniffed and Madeline laughed.
Despite her cynicism over romance and careful manners, a kindly humor often infused her relatively plain features when she took starry-eyed Rose or playful Josephine to task, and the latter could never really resent her.
“I think you would be better trying to understand the Duke of Ashbourne than opposing him,” Madeline advised Josephine now. “You see him as interfering in Mr. Emerton’s life but I suspect his actions are motivated by love for his brother rather than any dubious motive.”
“Yes, I already know that their father died when Mr. Emerton was very young so that their relationship is more paternal than fraternal,” Josephine said casually. “It’s not so very unusual, is it? I mean, I was raised by my older sisters. Melinda over there probably doesn’t even remember your mother taking care of her, Madeline, only you. Why excuse the duke on that account?”
