Page 37 of An Earl to Remember
The damn bounder had kissed her. Gritting his teeth, he continued on, to grant them privacy, hoping that Elizabeth would have enough good sense to know when to stop Mr. Hayle’s amorous advances.
Yet no voice of protest reached Daniel’s ear, only soft ruffles…as if clothes were being removed.
“For fuck’s sake,” he hissed beneath his breath and started to venture deeper into the grove.
Elizabeth would be mortified if he interrupted their expression of whatever desperate emotions they were feeling, but he could not allow this to go any further when Mr. Hayle was clearly promised to another. He faltered when he heard a loud gasp.
“Lizzie!”
Daniel frowned. Where had his wife come from?
“Georgie…I…I…” Lizzie stammered, and then soft sobs sounded.
“Mr. Hayle,” his wife said frostily. “Only a few minutes ago, I defended your honor when it was questioned, yet now I’ve come upon you with your hands…hands…under my sister’s dress and your mouth on…on…”
Embarrassment choked her voice, and Daniel sighed. Should he venture farther he would only add to their mortification, but he would listen to the resolution.
“Forgive me,” Mr. Hayle said stiffly. “I was overcome by feelings and forgot myself.”
“Forgot yourself?” his wife demanded faintly. “Had I been only a minute later, you would have…have irrevocably compromised my sister in the orchard as if she were a doxy!”
“Georgie!” Lizzie wailed, as if she would die from the humiliation of it all. “Please give us a moment.”
“Hurry and cover yourself, Lizzie,” his wife said. “And Mr. Hayle, I expect an engagement announcement will be made right away, sir.”
A tense silence followed, and Daniel arched a brow as he waited for the man’s reply.
“Regrettably, I am to be affianced to Miss Ava Tompkins. I… Forgive me, Miss Heyford. Forgive me, Lizzie. I should have never allowed this to go so far. All the blames lie on me, and I ask that you not berate your sister harshly over this matter, Miss Heyford.”
Footsteps sounded, and Daniel gathered the man was walking away from the scene. A cold sensation knifed through him, and he prowled forward, no longer willing to hide his presence.
“Jonathan?” Lizzie said, sounding so deeply hurt, Daniel wanted to roar. “Are you leaving?”
She had only been his sister for a few days, yet her kindness, charm, and good-humored affability had endeared her to him.
“You will not just walk away,” his wife cried, rushing after Mr. Hayle. “Have you no honor, sir!”
The man had the gall to keep walking without the courtesy of a reply. He stumbled when he saw Daniel strolling toward the tasteless scene. His wife stood with her hands fisted at her side, helpless fury and hurt glittering in her golden gaze. Elizabeth’s eyes were deeply saddened, tears tracked down her cheeks, and Mr. Hayle himself appeared to be a man broken by the choices he presumably had to make.
The damned fool was clearly deeply attached to Elizabeth Heyford, but he would act the cad and walk away. A smile tipped Daniel’s mouth, and it was perhaps a bit too merciless, for his wife stepped back, her eyes widening in alarm.
He advanced forward. “You will present yourself in a few hours to me with a respectable offer, Mr. Hayle, or we will meet at dawn.”
A strangled sound emitted from the man’s throat, and his wife swayed.
“Daniel,” she cried, hurrying over to stand by his side. In a whispered undertone, she said, “Dueling is illegal. It has been outlawed for many years.”
“Is that so?” he murmured, never taking his eyes from Mr. Hayle. “Then murder it is.”
The man blanched and tugged nervously at his neckcloth as if it choked him. “I…I beg your pardon?”
“I am not a man who likes repeating himself,” Daniel said, his tone implacable. “I will make an exception for you, because it is important you understand what is at stake should you act dishonorably with my sister. It is your life, Mr. Hayle, the freedom to live it healthily, or merely live it at all, that you gamble with. An honorable offer will be forthcoming, or I will put a bullet through your heart.”
The man whitened even further, and Daniel held his stare, letting him see the ruthless nature he’d not been aware lived within him. Yet at this moment, he knew it to be a real, tangible part of his character. Mr. Hayle saw it, for he swallowed and bobbed his head twice.
“It was only a misunderstanding, Mr. Stannis.”
“Of course it was,” he smoothly said.
