“By all means.”

Emma unbuttoned her coat, shrugged it off, and laid it on a nearby chair.

“What on earth are you wearing?” Alex yelled.

Emma looked down at her breeches. “For goodness sake, Alex. I can’t very well go prowling around in an evening gown.”

Alex’s eyes slid down her trim figure, every curve of which was indecently hugged by her breeches. His muscles tightened, and his anger was further inflamed by his body’s mutinous response to her. “You have just given me another matter about which to yell at you,” he snapped. “I cannot believe your cousin let you out of the house dressed like that.”

“Oh, really,” Emma scoffed. “You didn’t say anything in Woodside’s study. I didn’t have my coat on then,” she reminded him.

“I didn’t notice,” Alex bit out. “It was dark.”

She shrugged. “Get on with your lecture, will you? I’ve had a long day.”

Alex took a deep breath. He was convinced she was deliberately trying to provoke him. He could grant her that. She had every right to be furious with him over his behavior the day before. But that didn’t excuse her blatant disregard for her own welfare this evening. “Do you have any idea what kind of danger you placed yourself in tonight?” he finally asked, trying to keep his tone even.

“We had a very good plan,” Emma returned. “Which obviously worked.”

“Oh, really? Do tell me about this plan of yours. What were you planning to do if Woodside came home and surprised you while you were burgling his study?”

“Belle is keeping him busy at Lady Mottram’s. She promised us that she wouldn’t let him leave before midnight.”

“And what if she failed?” Alex demanded. “Your cousin is hardly strong enough to restrain a grown man.”

“Oh, use your head,” Emma snapped. “Woodside has been drooling over her for a year. He would never leave a party while she was flirting with him.”

“But you couldn’t be sure of that. He might have taken ill and had to leave.”

“It’s called a calculated risk, your grace. We take them every day of our lives.”

“Damn it, Emma!” Alex exploded, raking his hand through his hair. “Of all the harebrained, damned fool things to do! If Woodside had caught you he could have thrown you in prison! Or worse!” he added meaningfully.

“I had to take the chance. Ned was in trouble and he needed help. I don’t abandon the people I love,” she said sharply.

Something in Alex snapped at that moment, and he took her by the shoulders, shaking her and clutching her as if he were holding on for dear life. “Do you have any idea how worried I was about you? Do you?”

Emma gulped, closing her eyes tightly as she tried to quell the tears that had been rolling nonstop down her cheeks for nearly a day. She had to compose herself. She couldn’t let him see her cry.

Alex stopped shaking her, but he didn’t release his hold, and Emma found his touch oddly comforting. The very heat of him seemed to pour through her shirt, and a small part of Emma longed to throw herself against him and wrap herself in his strong arms. But a larger part of her still stung from his brutal temper the day before. His lack of trust in her had wounded her to the core. “I wasn’t aware that you cared, your grace,” she answered very quietly.

“Well, I do!” he said savagely, turning away from her and banging his hands down on his writing table. “I care too damned much. I nearly went insane today, knowing that you were involved in some ridiculous scheme and not being able to stop you.”

“How did you know?” Emma asked, perching herself on the edge of the bed.

“Dunford overheard you and Belle talking earlier this afternoon,” Alex said flatly. “He heard you say something about how imperative it was that Belle meet Woodside tonight at Lady Mottram’s. Considering Woodside’s character, we were both frantic.”

“I would have thought you’d have been content to leave me to the wolves.”

“I made a mistake yesterday,” Alex said hoarsely, still facing away from her. “I’m sorry.”

Emma’s eyes widened with shock over his admission. He was a proud man, and she couldn’t imagine that apologies came easily to him. As he stood leaning against the table, every line of his body spoke of raw tension and pain. This wasn’t easy for him, she knew that. And he was probably racked with guilt over his behavior. Her heart went out to him— she couldn’t stop it if she tried, she loved him so much. But none of her tender feelings could erase her pain. “I accept your apology,” she said with quiet dignity.

Alex whirled around, hope and doubt colliding in his eyes.

“But that doesn’t mean I’ll be able to forget,” Emma added sadly. “We’re not going to be able to go back to the way we were.”

“Emma, if you needed money for Ned, you could have asked me for it.”

“What was I supposed to do, Alex? Walk up to you and ask you for a loan of ten thousand pounds?”

“I would have given it to you.”

“I’m sure you would have, but I wouldn’t have felt comfortable with it, and I don’t think Ned would have, either. Besides, it seemed silly when I have more than enough money of my own. I’ve got an inheritance right here in London. It’s in trust until I reach my twenty-first birthday.” She swallowed nervously, glancing away and studying a medieval tapestry that hung on the wall. “Or until I marry.”