Cooper and Stone found Lord Wilton in the stables, fresh off a ride. Typical of the entitled, he handed his sweating and heaving mount off to a groom and didn’t think twice about the poor beast’s condition. His obvious rough handling of such prime horseflesh only added to Cooper’s desire to kill the man. But his little hellion was right. If he wasn’t careful, he would land himself in more trouble than Wilton was worth.

“A word, Lord Wilton.” Cooper stopped the man by blocking his exit.

Even when engaging in outdoor sports, the man was overly adorned. He wore tan riding breeches, tasseled Hessians, and a red velvet riding jacket that sported gold braid trim in a military style that was all affectation. “Perhaps later, Lord Brougham. I am due to clean up, and then I am scheduled to meet with a certain pretty lady in the greenhouse.”

“I think not, my lord.” Cooper all but snarled. “There is the little matter of your morning interlude with my wife to discuss.”

Wilton’s eyebrows rose. “My lord, I assure you anything that occurred was of mutual design.”

Cooper clenched his fists at his sides and resisted the desire to punch the man. “In a different time and place, I would call you out for such an aspersion to my wife’s honor. Be that as it may, I am given to understand your advances were unwelcome. My wife, I was told, made her disinterest quite clear. I warned you earlier that if I discovered you had done anything to upset my wife, I would not hesitate to find you. She is most decidedly upset.”

Wilton placed a hand to his chest. “Why, that sounds remarkably like a threat, my lord.”

Stone took a step closer to Cooper, who merely grunted before returning his focus to his prey. “Not a threat, my lord. A reminder of an earlier promise.”

He shifted out of Lord Wilton’s path as the man tried to barrel past him. Respect for Lord Heathington made him hesitate.

Wilton muttered as he started past, but then he stopped and turned to look at Cooper. “You know, women are fickle creatures. It’s really not your fault if they choose to share their charms with others. And I must say, your wife is rather charming.”

Cooper lunged forward with no warning and punched the taunting fop square in the face. The satisfying crunch of bone and cartilage filled the stable as the nearby horses grew restless. “You bloody bastard!”

Lord Wilton landed on his arse and rolled to his side, clutching his face. “Hell and damnation, you hit me,” he said, somehow surprised that Cooper had followed through on his promise. The words came out muffled and nasally as blood dribbled from between his fingers and onto the hay-strewn floor.

“You’re bloody lucky that is all I’ve done.” With Stone’s urging, Cooper stalked past the bleeding cad and back toward the main house.

Inside, he and Stone went in search of Lord Heathington. It was time to take their leave.

* * *

Emily snuggled closer to Cooper as the carriage rumbled along the lane. The heat of his solid body seeped into her clothes and down to her bones. She’d noticed his right hand was swollen and the knuckles mottled as though he’d hit something—or, more aptly, someone. “Thank you for taking me away from there. I did not wish to run into that man again.”

“He will not bother you again, I am quite certain,” Cooper said, and pressed her closer to him with his left arm.

Her stomach dipped a little, but she wanted to tell him what had happened. Wanted to share her story with him. “Lord Wilton paid particular attention to me my first season.”

Cooper stilled next to her, his body strung as tight as the reins of a runaway team of horses.

“For a brief period, I felt like the belle of the ball. It was all so new, and Arthur and I were just out of mourning for our parents.” She took a breath and continued. “I was ignorant of Society’s ways and had no notion that something might not be on the level.”

“Society can be petty and mean to those who do not know its ways,” he agreed.

“Yes, I discovered that.” She sighed but pressed on with her tale. “It had been weeks of him dancing with me and fetching me punch, and then he convinced me to go for a garden stroll during the Stantons’ annual ball. I was nervous, but felt sure he was seeking a private word with me to ask for my hand. I fancied myself in love with him. But then all that happened, as you might expect, is that he pawed at me and tried to steal a kiss. I was so naïve. I rebuffed him but did not believe that would deter his suit.”

Her husband turned his head and pressed a sweet kiss to her temple. “I wonder what the sweet, tenderhearted Emily was like?”

She swatted his chest. “Do be serious. And I am still sweet and tenderhearted, I’ll have you know.”

He tipped her face up to meet his. “I know you are, my sweet hellion,” he said, and then he gently kissed her.

After a few precious moments, he pulled back. With a thoughtful look on his face, he reached up with his injured hand and caressed her cheek.

Her heart fluttered in her chest, and she let the love she had been fighting to suppress to bubble up. “At the next ball, another girl pulled me aside and tried to warn me. She told me of her mistreatment at his hands, but I was too arrogant to listen.”

He leaned in again and kissed her once on each cheek. “Too stubborn and starry-eyed, perhaps, but never arrogant.”

Mayhap her husband was right. Was she being too hard on herself? But she continued her tale. “Shortly after, on a night I expected once more for him to declare himself—if not in words, then perhaps with multiple dances—I was utterly crushed. He walked right past me without even a tip of his head in acknowledgment, and approached an American heiress who was visiting. It might as well have been the cut direct. Very few men danced with me after that.”

“A ballroom full of fools.” He tut-tutted.

“Emotionally distraught, I retreated to the ladies’ retiring room and hid behind one of the changing screens. I happened to overhear a group of other debutantes gossiping about Lord Wilton and the apparent bet in White’s betting book concerning his ability to relieve me of my virtue. They also made a point to make some disparaging remarks on my clothing and general appearance. It was the night I learned that I could trust no one in Society.”

“And then I come along and ruin you at the Landstones’ ball.” He grunted and muttered a curse. “How you were able to forgive me, I’ll never understand.”

She bit her lip and admitted both to him and herself the truth she’d always known. “That night was not your fault, and had you not ruined me, I most certainly would have been hauled off and questioned, which would have ruined me anyway. You merely gave me the protection of your name and a safe place to land in the midst of the chaos I had created. While I likely would have survived a questioning and ruination, undoubtedly I would not be as content sitting alone in a house with my brother as I am with you.”

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her fiercely as the carriage continued to roll along. They kissed and reveled in their freshly renewed closeness, neither making a move to escalate the intimacy, nor to part.

Emily would have happily ridden in the carriage forever, cuddled with her husband, but it seemed he had other plans.