Page 105 of The Forbidden Lord
Emily laughed aloud. He was still trying to maintain the masquerade? Now? Even with Papa here?
“Do not laugh at me, young lady,” Nesfield interjected. “You know what I will do to you.”
Her father stiffened and started to rise, but Emily caught his arm to stay him.
Jordan stepped forward. “Oh? What will you do to her?”
A pity that Nesfield wasn’t as familiar with Jordan’s moods as she was, or he would’ve realized he was treading dangerous ground.
“This is not your affair, Blackmore. Go away.”
“I can’t. I’ve come to speak to you about your ‘niece.’ I wish to marry her.”
Emily scowled. If that was Jordan’s idea of a solution, it wasn’t going to work. Her father was beginning to look apoplectic, but she tightened her grip on his arm, urging him to silence.
“Marry her?” Nesfield sputtered. “I will not allow it. Now leave. And take your friend with you.”
“Surely you’d prefer that I marry your niece rather than your daughter.”
That flat statement got everybody’s attention. Nesfield’s gaze grew positively furious. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,I’mthe one who tried to elope with your daughter Sophie. I know you’ve been searching for me. I’ve heard about the men you hired. Despite that, I had planned to try again, ofcourse.” He shifted his gaze to Emily. “But then I met your lovely niece, and I lost all interest in your daughter.”
Emily stared at him, astounded and delighted. Hehadcome up with the perfect solution! First, claim to be the blackguard who Nesfield wanted to destroy, then eliminate Nesfield’s reason for doing so by offering to relinquish his interest in Sophie. It was brilliant and perfect, and if they’d been alone, she would have kissed him for it.
“Lady Emma has completely stolen my heart,” he went on in a tone that sounded sincere. There was certainly no denying the heat in the glance he gave her. “So you see, you must consent to the marriage, since I know you have no desire to see me wed your daughter.”
Her father jumped up from his seat, unable to contain himself any longer. “Do not listen to this man, Lord Nesfield. He isnotthe one who ran off with your daughter, and I can prove it.”
Jordan whirled around, his face mottled with anger to have his plan so quickly scuttled. “Mr. Fairchild, you don’t understand the gravity of this situation!”
Emily decided she’d best step in. “It’s all right, Jordan.” She rose from her seat. “Hedoesunderstand. Let him speak.”
Jordan stared at her, then nodded tersely. But for the first time, she saw fear in his face. Fear forher. It warmed her to the center of her heart.
“What do you know of all this, Fairchild?” Nesfield demanded.
“You may remember my nephew, Lawrence Phelps?” When Nesfield merely glowered at him, Papa went on. “He’sthe one who ran off with Sophie. And I say ‘ran off’ because he’s probably in Scotland with her by now. I regret to tell you this, my lord, but I’m sure they’ll be married before you can reach them.”
This new development stunned everyone. Nesfield was thunderous, Ian looked perplexed, since he’d obviously never heard of her cousin, and Jordan was scowling.
Only Lady Dundee seemed calm as she turned to Emily. “Mr. Phelps? That barrister who came to the town house, supposedly looking for you?” When Emily nodded, she burst into laughter. “Now that’s a match made in heaven. He was all sobriety and protective concern, exactly what Sophie has grown used to from her father.”
Emily hadn’t thought of it like that before, but now that she did, she had to laugh, too. Of course, anything would make her laugh right now.
Unfortunately, her laughter only infuriated Lord Nesfield. “My Sophie shallnotmarry a barrister! I will obtain an annulment! I will kill him! I will?—”
“You’ll do nothing of the sort,” Lady Dundee retorted. “And until you can behave civilly, I’ll be happy to have my niece and her new husband stay with us in Scotland.”
Deprived of one source of satisfaction, Lord Nesfield rounded on Emily, his expression livid. “This is allyourdoing, you bitch! I shall see you hang for this!”
Emily recoiled from the malevolence in his voice, but Jordan thrust himself between her and Nesfield. “Stay away from her, or I’ll kill you, I swear it! And if you ever speak to her like that again?—”
“Do what you wish, Blackmore, but you cannot prevent me from ruining her and her father.” Lord Nesfield’s voice grew nasty. “And I do not think you shall want to prevent me when you hear the truth about the little chit. You see, she killed her mother.”
“I didnot!” Emily cried at the same time that Jordan shouted, “I don’t care!”
Then they both stared at each other.
