Page 5 of It's In The Duke's Kiss
Lucian followed Nick out of the tent through the crowd. They walked onto the slick ice, heading toward Lillian.
“So this new attitude of yours regarding your brother has yet to be tested,” Nick teased.
Lucian laughed. “I hear the disbelief in your voice, but I’m determined to stay this course. Unless Nathaniel is in danger of killing someone, I’m going to let him be accountable for his next mistake. I just pray it’s not a rather large one and that the lesson will sink into his thick skull.”
“Well,” Nick started, but whatever else he said was drowned out by a sudden piercing scream.
Lucian whipped his head in the direction of the dire sound, and his mouth fell open. Over where Nathaniel had been skating, his brother stood stock-still, looking down at the ice where hands appeared just above the surface, then a head. Another loud scream rent through the air, and then the hands and head disappeared. For one brief moment, things seemed to move in slow motion as another scream resounded. This one was to Lucian’s left, and he turned his head to see a woman in a purple cape running, then sliding, across the ice. She went down in a heap, yet her screams didn’t stop.
“Jesus,” Nick murmured, snapping Lucian out of his daze and into action.
With Nick on his heels, Lucian tore off across the ice toward Nathaniel and the drowning Lady Emmaline, who’d been twirling in carefree circles not so long ago. It seemed like forever, yet it was mere seconds before he reached Nathaniel. One glance at his brother’s bulging eyes and white face told Lucian that Nathaniel was frozen in fear. Lucian shoved him out of the way, as much to get to Lady Emmaline as to ensure his brother’s safety. He dropped to his knees and plunged his hands into the icy water of the Serpentine.
Fear hammered through him as he reached desperately for her. His fingers touched nothing but water. Cold, deadly water. Then Nick was beside him, along with a score of nameless, faceless people, except for the lady’s sister. Tears streaked Lady Mary’s face, and fear filled her eyes.
“My sister!” she cried out through her sobs. “My sister, my sister!” And then her face went as white as snow as she fainted. Nick lunged for her and caught her just before she hit the ice.
Lucian’s heart clenched as he kicked off his boots among the shouting and confusion. He stood as Nick shoved his hands in the water, and as he was yanking off his overcoat, Nathaniel seemed to break free of his daze.
He blinked at Lucian. “What are you doing?” His voice throbbed with concern.
It was about damn time.
There wasn’t a second to answer, and all the words Lucian wanted to say to Nathaniel would only serve to lengthen the distance between them. Without another thought, Lucian jumped into the water. His lungs seized in his chest for one moment as the freezing temperature enveloped him. His mind and body immediately rebelled against the shock of icy cold, but he forced himself to focus and his hands to search, as seeing was nearly impossible. He immediately grazed something distinctly soft and human. Fingers, small and delicate and near to frozen as far as he could tell, gripped him in a death clutch. Good, she was not unconscious.
His lungs burned and his heart pounded vicious, needy beats that thumped in his ears. The ice under the surface burned and hurt, and he was positive he’d die if he stayed under too long, yet he could not surface without Lady Emmaline. He somehow tugged her to him, slid his arm around her waist, and together they moved toward the slice of light he could see above them. Then he hoisted her up as high as he could, and suddenly, she was gone.
He broke the surface immediately after, and Nick’s face, pinched with worry, was the first one Lucian saw. He gripped his arm and tugged him out of the freezing water and onto the ice, where they both landed on their backs. Chaos reigned above Lucian. People seemed to be scrambling this way and that, and then a red cloak was thrown over him and Nick’s wife kneeled beside the two of them.
Lillian gave him a concerned look and then focused her attention on her husband. “Whatever happened, darling?”
Nick frowned as Lucian sat up and glanced around for his brother. He spotted Nathaniel walking away and carrying Lady Emmaline, whose white cape was thrown over his shoulder like a sodden mess. Lady Mary Radcliffe walked with the help of another gentleman, and even from here, Lucian could hear the lady’s voice raised in sharp reprimand.
Disgusted with Nathaniel, Lucian turned and met Lillian’s gaze. “My brother happened.” He had attempted to answer politely but was certain by the way her eyes widened, that he must have growled it.
Lucian stood and Nick followed, as did Lillian. Questions from onlookers came from every direction. For one brief moment, Lucian pondered his new resolve to let Nathaniel sort out his own messes, but then he thought of Lady Emmaline and how this could ruin her. He could not allow such a fate to befall her. “Thank goodness,” he said in a voice loud enough to be heard over the hum of excited conversation, “Nathaniel skated by when he did and called out for help. Poor Lady Emmaline is subject to terrible megrims, and she fell onto thin ice when one struck her. If it had not been for my brother, the lady could have drowned.” The whispers continued, and he rushed on. “He saw earlier that she was unsteady skating and helped her then, and has been determined to keep a watchful eye on her since.” Lucian met the gaze of each person who appeared as if they might question his explanation.
A few bold people gave him disbelieving looks, but no one challenged his proclamation. He turned away from the prying eyes and in the direction his brother had gone. Lucian started toward the tent where Nathaniel sat, but as he walked, he swore that his brother would feel the sting of his actions and learn from it. One way or another, Nathaniel had to grow up, but Lucian simply didn’t have the heart to ruin Lady Emmaline’s life to make his brother’s maturation happen today.
