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“Oh, there you are, Emma!” came Olivia’s voice as she steadied both of them.

“Is everything well, Miss Lovell?” the Earl inquired, his brows furrowed with what looked like concern. Emma stared from brother to sister, her confusion increasing.

“Oh, just fine, My Lord” she replied, attempting to collect herself and regain her composure.

“Did you leave him in the salon?” Olivia asked with an innocent enough tone, but it pricked Emma’s already heightened senses.

“Who?” Emma blurted, momentarily taken aback by the question. “Oh yes! Yes, of course.” She recovered, her mind racing as she pondered whether the Earl was aware of his sister’s suitor and their earlier encounter.

“Mind if we return to the salon then, Miss Lovell?” the Earl suddenly asked, his inquiry pulling her from her thoughts.

Emma’s brow furrowed at his odd request. She glanced at Olivia, who gave her an encouraging smile, though it did little to dispel her perplexity. “Is everything all right?” Emma asked as they walked.

“Quite well, Miss Lovell. I merely have something to show you back there,” the Earl responded with a pleasant smile that seemed to mask an underlying purpose.

Reluctant yet curious about what the Earl intended to show her, Emma took a deep, steadying breath. Upon entering, she noticed that the infuriating gentleman was now helping himselfto some liquor from a cabinet. He turned at their entrance, his expression not betraying any surprise.

“To what do I owe the growing number of company?” he asked, his tone even yet unmistakably filled with his usual aggravating insouciance.

She tried not to dwell on the way he now stared at her like some amusing creature he had underneath his magnifying glass. He was incredibly handsome with dark hair and captivating blue eyes. The intensity of his gaze was disconcerting, yet she forced herself to maintain composure.

“Miss Lovell, allow me to introduce my childhood friend, George Mullens, the Duke of Seymore,” Firman announced, his voice pulling her from her uneasy thoughts.

Her stomach turned. And Emma found herself briefly robbed of words in her shock. So, this was the notorious Duke of Seymore. She ought to have known, what with how he tried to take advantage of Olivia earlier, or so she had thought.

“Olivia, Seymore, and I grew up together, Miss Lovell,” Firman elaborated.

“You see, my dear Emma, Goerge is more a brother to me than anything else,” Olivia said.

There was a look of triumph on Seymore’s face as he said, “The late Lord and Lady Firman were good friends of my parentsand were magnanimous enough to take me in upon my parents’ premature demise.”

“George is quite our brother, Miss Lovell,” the Earl said as though to reinforce what everyone else had said.

“Oh,” Emma let out, her voice a mere whisper as mortification threatened to strangle her. All of her ire and harsh words to him in an attempt to protect Olivia’s reputation had been uncalled for.

“I’d tried to tell you earlier and introduce you but you appeared to be very concerned for me,” Olivia said, and Emma realized just how quick she’d been in jumping to conclusions and overreacting.

“I…I apologize for my behavior earlier, Your Grace,” Emma curtsied to the Duke now. A part of her wanted to avoid his smug gaze so as to save herself more indignation, but that defiant part of her won over, and she met and held his eyes, unwavering. Challenging.

Where she was expecting another snide remark from him, or even a childish ‘I told you’, he surprised her instead by saying, “You had merely been protecting afriend.”

He was pleasant in his dismissal of her attitude, but she couldn’t help noticing his stress on the word ‘friend’ in reference to her relationship with Olivia. Was he taunting her now? After she’d made it clear to him earlier that she was just acquainted with Olivia.

“If you’ll excuse me.” Emma decided to bring an end to this display of her brashness and stupidity. She exited the room without giving them the opportunity to put in further conversation, her cheeks burning and her mind a whirl of embarrassed thoughts.

“Emma!” Olivia caught up to her in the hallway.

She stopped and turned, pinning a smile on her face despite the mortification gnawing at her insides. “Olivia,” she greeted, managing a semblance of warmth.

“I should thank you for what you did for my reputation earlier,” Olivia said sincerely. “Very few people would have been as thoughtful,” she added, her tone soft yet earnest.

Heavens save me! Did I truly do it for her sake?Emma wondered if she had already turned into the conniving woman her parents expected her to be.

“Oh, it was nothing,” Emma dismissed quickly, her cheeks coloring slightly. “Utterly unnecessary, too. If I had known,” she added sheepishly, feeling the weight of her earlier actions even more.

“I do appreciate it, despite the misunderstanding,” Olivia insisted, her expression telling Emma that her efforts, however misguided, had not gone unnoticed or unappreciated.

They parted soon after, and Emma was grateful to finally be on her way to sulk in her bedchamber before dinner. Whatever solitude she was anticipating came crashing down the moment she walked into her bedchamber. The unwelcoming sight of her mother rummaging through her clothes while a beleaguered Antoinetta stood to the side, instantly set her nerves on edge.