Page 22 of The Hero

He had been her protector when she was very young, before he went off to school and came home for each holiday colder and harder, with no patience at all for the sister who was four years younger than him.

Was it possible, with their father refusing to pay Edward’s debts again, that her brother could be guilty of accepting money to murder another man?

* * *

Gideon, having come to a halt in the hallway outside the breakfast room the moment he heard his name mentioned, now only just managed to step aside as Edward Church strode toward him.

The younger man gave him a scathing glance. “I give you leave to beat some sense into my sister if you truly desire her.”

Gideon’s nostrils flared as he looked down the length of his nose at the other man. “What if, as Harry suggested, my intensions toward her are dishonorable?”

“Beat some sense into her anyway,” Henlow invited. “I blame this independence of spirit on my father for having been too soft with her when she was younger. I shall not be so lenient with her once I am earl,” he added grimly.

Gideon’s eyes narrowed. “If you ever lay a single finger upon your sister, in anger or for any other reason, then you will answer to me for having done so.”

“She was not so quick to defend you a few minutes ago,” the younger man taunted.

Gideon knew that, having heard only too clearly when Harry proclaimed him as being a “most unpleasant gentleman.” “That is…regrettable, but it does not, and will not, change my good opinion of her.”

The other man’s eyes widened. “Dear God, you really do desire my hellion of a sister!”

Gideon resented having revealed as much to this selfish young rake. But neither did he intend to allow Henlow to hurt or belittle his sister. “I hope I would defend any woman being threatened with physical violence.”

“Of course you would,” Henlow derided. “You and the rest of your holier-than-thou group of arrogant dukes!”

“I believe we are known as the Ruthless Dukes,” Gideon bit out mildly. “I advise you to remember that in any future actions you might decide to take,” he added as a warning.

Henlow gave another disdainful sniff before striding off down the hallway.

Gideon released a slow and measured breath as he watched the other man leave.

Harry’s words from the previous evening, that she could imagine her brother as being guilty of committing murder, but not her father, were very much at the forefront of his mind.

He had heard the rumors about Viscount Henlow. Of his gambling. Drinking. His excessive womanizing. There were even stories of him having fought several duels since leaving the army a year ago, even though the Regent had declared them illegal.

There was no doubting Edward Church was a hothead and a rake of the first order. He was also a friend of Robert Granger’s.

But was he also a murderer?

CHAPTER EIGHT

Harry’s thoughts were distracted as she slowly sipped her cup of breakfast tea. In truth, she was more than a little stunned by the heated conversation she’d just had with her brother.

Until now, she had always believed their verbal sparring to be sibling in nature and not to be taken seriously. Edward had sounded very serious indeed just now.

“Might I join you? Or is my company really too unpleasant for you to tolerate this early in the morning?”

Harry winced, her cheeks burning with a sudden influx of color as she raised her head to look at Gideon. “Of course, you may join me. And you were not meant to hear my comment.”

“Obviously.”

She placed her cup carefully back on the saucer, relieved to see her hand wasn’t shaking. “I did not mean it. My brother was just being…”

“Unpleasant?” Gideon supplied as he sat in the chair beside her before nodding to the footman to pour him some tea.

“Insulting and rude,” she said instead. “If I had admitted to liking you, I would never have heard an end to his pushing me to encourage your interest. For his own benefit, not mine,” she added with a grimace.

Gideon dismissed both footmen from the room, waiting silently until they had left, and closed the door behind them before answering her. “You like me?”

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