“This weekend?” Emma said weakly.

Alex didn’t answer; he just started banging furiously on the door.

“For God’s sake, Alex! I have a key!” Emma grabbed at his arms, trying to stop the noise. She pulled the key from her pocket and let them in. “Now will you go?” she pleaded. “I can see myself up to my bedroom.”

Alex flashed her a wicked smile. “Henry!” he bellowed. “Caroline!”

“What are you doing?” Emma hissed. “Are you determined to ruin me?”

“I am determined to marry you.”

“What is going on here?”

Emma looked up. Henry and Caroline were scurrying down the curved staircase, looking at the couple in the hall with expressions of confusion and shock.

Alex planted his hands on his hips. “I have thoroughly compromised your niece,” he declared. “Will you please insist that she marry me?”

Caroline didn’t bat an eyelash. “This,” she announced, “is most peculiar.”

Chapter 20

Emma bit her lip and did her best to stand up straight. Her knees were knocking, her pulse was racing, and her mind was screaming out with self-recrimination. She closed her eyes in anguish. This time she had really done it.

Her uncle Henry looked as if he might explode. “Get up to your room this instant,” he snapped, poking his finger in Emma’s direction. Her eyes widened, and she fled up the stairs, not daring even one backward glance.

From her position next to Ned on the first-floor landing, Belle gasped as Emma flew by. She had never, ever seen her father this angry.

“And you,” Henry bit out, turning his wrath toward Alex and completely ignoring the younger man’s higher rank, “into my study. I’ll deal with you just as soon as I speak with my wife.”

Alex nodded curtly and exited the hall.

“And to my two obedient children,” Henry called out without turning. “I suggest you both go to your rooms as well and meditate on why you did not see fit to inform your mother and me of your cousin’s whereabouts last night.”

Belle and Ned left with alacrity.

When Henry was finally alone with his wife (even the servants had wisely quit the scene), he turned to her and sighed. “Well, my dear?”

Caroline smiled wearily, hugging her arms to herself. “I cannot deny that I was hoping this would happen. Only I was hoping it would happen after a wedding ceremony.”

Henry leaned over and kissed his wife, feeling some of his initial furor deflate. “Why don’t you go upstairs and tend to Emma? I’ll take care of Ashbourne.” With that, he sighed again and slowly walked to his study. When he arrived, Alex was standing by the window, arms crossed as he stared out at the wisps of orange and pink that were still streaked across the early morning sky.

“I don’t know whether to toss you through that window or shake your hand and say, ‘Well done! ’” Henry said in a tired voice.

Alex turned around but didn’t reply.

Henry crossed the room to a decanter that sat on a side table. “Would you care for a whiskey?” He glanced at a clock and winced when he saw that it was only twenty minutes past five. “I realize that it’s a bit early to be drinking, but this has been a rather uncommon morning, don’t you think?”

Alex nodded. “A drink would be most appreciated, thank you.”

Henry poured a glass and held it out “Please, have a seat.”

“I’d rather stand, thank you.”

Henry poured another glass for himself. “I’d rather you sat.”

Alex sat.

A light smile touched Henry’s face. “I imagine you outweigh me by at least a stone, so I’ll dispense with the window idea, I think.”

“I would have difficulty doing the same if I were in your position,” Alex said softly.

“Would you? That’s a good sign. But I’m afraid we mellow a bit as we get older. I’m not as rash as I used to be. However, it does appear that my niece was compromised last night.” He took a drink and then looked Alex straight in the eye. “And you do appear to be the one who did the compromising. I can hardly cheer you on for that.”

“I intend to marry her.” Alex’s tone was resolute.

“Does she intend to marry you?”

“Not yet.”

“Do you think she wants to marry you?”

“She says she doesn’t, but she does.”

Henry placed his glass down gently and crossed his arms as he leaned against the edge of his desk. “That’s a bit patronizing of you, don’t you think?”

Alex flushed. “Two days ago she came to my home—unescorted—and asked me to marry her,” he said somewhat defensively.

Henry quirked a brow. “Really?”

“I accepted.”

“I can see that the two of you are now on excellent terms,” Henry said dryly.

Alex shifted uncomfortably in his chair, telling himself over and over that as Emma’s uncle, Henry deserved some answers. Still, the entire scene was damned humiliating. “We had a misunderstanding. I, er, broke it off. But everything was resolved last night.”

“So much can happen in twenty-four hours.”

Alex wondered when it was that he’d lost any measure of control over the conversation. He took a deep breath and continued, feeling much like a scolded schoolboy. “This time, I proposed to her, but she refused because she’s so damned muleheaded.” He swore sullenly and slumped in his chair.

“She is a handful, I’ll grant you that, but her father entrusted her into my care. I take my responsibilities to my family very seriously. And more importantly, I love Emma like a daughter.” Henry picked up his whiskey and held it in the air. “May I propose a toast to your forthcoming nuptials, your grace?”