Page 31 of It's In The Duke's Kiss
Lucian scoffed, but as the handkerchief was raised and dropped, they took off and he immediately realized that Nick had been correct. The race mattered little to him.
Emma was an excellent rider, yet she was no match for him or for Nick. Lucian pulled back on his horse’s reins so he could stay by Emma as they raced across the field. She glanced sharply at him, her brows furrowed. “I’ll be very disappointed,” she hollered, “if you let your cousin win on my account.”
He chuckled and nodded as he clicked his horse into a faster gallop and took off to win the race.
Emma reached them within seconds. “Well done!” she exclaimed. “I must admit you might possibly be a better horseman, though I’m sure I would’ve been faster on my own horse.”
“Don’t feel bad, Lady Emmaline,” Nick said in an amicable tone as Nathaniel drove up beside them in Lucian’s phaeton. “Blackbourne wins everything. As long as I can remember he’s never lost anything. Horseracing, fishing, fencing. The man’s unbeatable.”
Lucian knew Nick meant it as praise, but he’d wish his cousin would stop. Nathaniel had a distinctly nasty look on his face. “We all know how superior Lucian is to us all, especially me. I’ve spent my life living in his shadow. But there’s one thing I’m better at.” Nathaniel’s narrowed gaze fell to Emma, who was looking at Lucian, thank God.
He wanted to strangle Nathaniel in this moment. His brother was a fool. He’d chase after Emma to thwart him, though Emma wasn’t right for Nathaniel at all. The time had come to talk to Nathaniel and give him no choice but to stay away from Emma.
Emma had been absolutely correct that her mother would force Lucian to repay the favor of allowing her to race, and Lady Albersey wasted no time doing so. Instead of escorting Emma home, as Lucian had been imagining doing all day, he had been forced into escorting Emma’s sister home when Lady Albersey had asked him to do so. The ride was quick and conversation easy as Lady Mary plied him with questions about Nathaniel.
Lucian answered several of them before a growing unease came over him. Was Lady Mary taken with Nathaniel? Granted, she seemed steadier and probably a better fit for what his brother needed, yet Lucian felt obligated to warn her. “Lady Mary,” he said as he pulled his phaeton to a stop in front of Lord Albersey’s home. “I must warn you that my brother has a few demons he may need to work through before he would be a suitable husband.”
Her cheeks turned scarlet. “I’ve no interest in your brother, Your Grace. I was asking because of my sister. Please don’t say anything, she’d simply die, but since she was a young girl and he offered her kind words after Mother scolded her at your great-uncle’s home,” the woman eyed him peculiarly as if she were trying to discern something, “she’s had a particular liking for him.”
“I see.” He clenched and unclenched his teeth. “I was under the impression your sister might have very recently had a change of heart.”
“I spoke with her last night, and her heart is unchanged.”
Lucian felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. How preposterous, given that until yesterday, he’d hardly thought of Emma since the day she’d come to his home in Mayfair.
“I hope this doesn’t sound rude, but I fear your brother is not the right gentleman for my sister.”
“It doesn’t sound rude at all,” Lucian replied. “It sounds accurate.” Before any more could be said, their footman appeared and Lucian said his goodbye to Lady Mary as she made her way inside.
Lucian waited up in his study for Nathaniel to return home from the village pub. It was very late when Lucian heard the heavy thump of Nathaniel’s footsteps, and Lucian’s mood was sour. He could think of nothing all night but Emma…and the fact that she still desired his brother. He was big enough to admit that his pride was wounded, but it wasn’t his pride that was driving what he was about to do. It was Nathaniel himself, along with Lucian’s certainty that his brother wasn’t ready for a wife.
Lucian stood just as his study door swung open and Nathaniel staggered into the room.
“Waiting up for me, I see?”
“Yes,” Lucian replied, moving to stop Nathaniel from pouring another drink at the sidebar.
He took the glass that Nathaniel had just picked up out of his hand. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough to drink?” he asked as he reached for Nathaniel’s arm to steady him.
Nathaniel yanked his arm out of Lucian’s grasp and stumbled backward into the high-back chair. He teetered for a moment before he plunked down. “I’m tired of you always telling me what to do. I’m a grown man.”
“Then act like one,” Lucian snapped. “I’m tired of always having to tell you what to do. I don’t want to play your keeper anymore, and I know you don’t care for me doing so. It’s time for you to make your own decisions and grow up.”
“No,” Nathaniel snarled. “You want to force me to wed Lady Francine so she can be my keeper.”
“Not anymore. I realize now the idea was foolish.”
Nathaniel blinked at him. “Truly?”
Lucian nodded.
Nathaniel staggered to his feet, stumbled to Lucian, and hugged him. “You won’t regret this,” he slurred. “And I’m sorry about being such an ass today with Emma. I was jealous.”
Lucian knew the feeling. “Since we’re speaking of Lady Emmaline, I want you to stay away from her.”
Nathaniel pushed away from Lucian and narrowed his eyes. “What happened to me making my own decisions? Here you are telling me what to do again. You always think you know best. I’m done with it! I’ll pursue Emma if I want to.”
“I’m cutting you off, Nathaniel. I doubt Lady Emmaline’s mother will allow you to court her daughter once she learns of your lack of funds.”
“You dirty devil,” Nathaniel growled.
Lucian pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled a long, deep breath to fight back the anger rising inside him. “If you secure a job and cease imbibing, you’ll feel better. You can make it on your own, I’ve no doubt. And then any mother would be pleased to call you her son-in-law.”
Nathaniel strode past Lucian and toward the door. “I’m leaving,” he growled. “I’ll be in London, not that you give a damn, but please tell Mother she may find me there atmyhouse in Golden Square.”
“That’s my home, Nathaniel. You can go there tonight, and you may stay there until the start of the Season, but I expect you to be gone after that.”
“As you wish,Your Grace,” Nathaniel snarled and stomped out of the room.
Lucian stared at his brother’s departing figure until it disappeared. Nothing was as he wished, and he had a sudden suspicion that matters would soon get worse.
