Page 17 of Rescued from Betrayal
Melior pulled the masculine smelling coat tighter around her to ward off the cold. A hint of sandalwood and cinnamon reached her nose. It calmed her and gave a small amount of comfort. At least Sir Nathaniel smelled good.
Nathaniel had not slept well. He’d not have believed he slept at all if the slam of his bedroom door had not startled him awake the next morning.
“I should call you out, you lout!”
It took a few moments for the words and voice to register. “Eddie? What are you—”
“How dare you take advantage of my sister and our friendship!”
“What are you talking about?”
“You, compromising my sister.”
“I did nothing of the sort.”
“Oh, so you just happened to accidentally tear her dress in the most indecent way, then hid away in a closet with her.” Eddie growled much like a ravenous dog. “Actually Iamcalling you out. Name your second.”
The door banged open again and Al panted in the opening. His gaze shot to Eddie's menacing position over the bed. “Eddie, think first, man.”
“Why should I?”
John slid to a stop behind Al. He said nothing, but it was apparent that both men must have been in pursuit of their friend. What exactly had Eddie planned to do?
Al crept forward as if approaching a skittish colt. “Because if you kill him, your sister’s position will be worse than before. Plus, it’s a deucedly gruesome thing from which I doubt your friendship would ever recover.”
Nathaniel stared at Al seriously questioning his sanity. “I would say so. Hard to carry on a friendship when one of us is dead.”
Eddie’s scowl shifted swiftly into a grin. “That would put a damper on our relationship.” He stepped back. “All right, how about I just knock him around a bit and we call it good?”
“That sounds much preferable to being shot at dawn.” Nathaniel threw back the cover and shoved his feet into the slippers beside the bed. “But perhaps before you beat my brains out, you would like to get your facts straight?”
“You're saying you were not found alone in a closet with my sister in such a scandalous position that you are now forced to marry her?”
“That is not what I am saying. There are simply other circumstances that led up to us being in said closet, which was actually a cloakroom.”
John crossed the room and sat in a chair beside the fire. Al eyed Eddie, then did the same.
“Would you also like to take a seat?” Nathaniel asked.
Eddie crossed his arms. “I will stand, thank you.”
“Suit yourself.” Nathaniel grabbed a thick wool blanket off his bed and wrapped it about his shoulders. “First, you must all swear to me that what I tell you will go no further than this room.”
Eddie looked at him skeptically.
John laced his fingers together in his lap. “You know that I will always keep your confidence, especially when the lady’s reputation is at stake.”
Nathaniel nodded in understanding. John had always been the most trustworthy with all his secrets. His loyalty and honor ran deep. And while Eddie and Al had been good friends, they were not as circumspect with their words, sometimes inadvertently sharing confidences they ought not.
“You know I will not share anything that could possibly do damage to my sister, but right now I do not believe there isanything you might say that can damage her reputation more than you have.”
“Perhaps not her reputation, but it could affect her wellbeing.”
Eddie opened his mouth, his expression one of a man ready to argue the logic, but Al shifted in his seat, pinning him with a glare. “I think you need to elaborate before Eddie returns to his aforementioned mindless anger. I do not want to chase him down again in order to keep him from disconnecting your soul from your body.”
“You did not have to follow me in the first place. I am a grown man and have no need of a nursemaid such as yourself.”
“I beg to differ.” Al leaned back into the leather seat. “A rooster who crows at midnight has more sense than you did when you entered this room.”
