Page 51 of No Match for Love (Regency Love Stories)

“Unhand me at—” a female voice cried. A familiar female voice.

Lucas pushed from the desk so fast that his chair was knocked to the ground. He jumped over it without thought, Colin startling to a stand beside him.

Lucas’s long strides took him to the entrance hall in seconds, knocking aside Lord Colbert, who was blocking the path.

And he did not stop when his heart stuttered at the scene in front of him.

Miss Faraday was locked in an embrace with Mr. Frank Colbert.

But her hands were pushing at his chest, and combined with the yell he’d heard, he wasted no time.

His hand grabbed the back of the man’s cravat, yanking him from Miss Faraday with strength borne of years of boxing.

The man gave a strangled yell in protest but could do nothing to stop Lucas.

Anger boiled up from places Lucas had not even realized existed.

Emotions he’d buried for years. Frustrations, sadness, pain—it all rose in that moment to join his scathing loathing for the man’s treatment of Lydia.

He threw Mr. Frank Colbert to the side. Colbert scrambled to his feet, palms up, yelling, “What in the blazes do you think you’re doing, man?”

Lucas retreated to Miss Faraday, hands shaking with anger.

With effort, he turned from the man he wanted to pummel into nonexistence and looked her up and down.

Her arms were still raised partially in front of her, bent in a way that nearly looked like a boxing stance.

She met his gaze with wide eyes filled with her own blazing emotion.

He reached for her, unable to stop himself. His hands grasped her shoulders, pulling her to him. She came willingly, burying her head in his chest with shaky breaths that nearly had him spinning to punch Colbert.

“I have you. I have you,” he murmured, reassuring himself as well as her.

She pulled back to meet his eyes and nodded a little, saying without words that she was well enough for the moment. He nodded back, keeping her behind him as he turned to the room.

“What is going on here?” Lord Colbert bellowed at Lucas. He should have been yelling at his son.

Lucas strove to keep his voice even, but the dam was broken, and there was no fixing it while emotions rushed through in an unending tide. He reached back and grasped Miss Faraday’s hand. “You saw it yourself. Your son was...” He could not even say it. “Your son forced himself on Miss Faraday.”

Lord Colbert did not look nearly as upset as he ought to. He raised a brow to his son then spoke to Lucas. “I am certain there has been a misunderstanding.”

Lucas scoffed. “This is not the sort of thing that can be misunderstood.”

“Regardless, I cannot see how it is any of your concern.”

“Miss Faraday is entirely my concern,” Lucas ground out.

Lord Colbert’s raised brows now seemed to have interest carved into them. “Perhaps the lady welcomed his advances?”

Miss Faraday started to exclaim from behind him, but Mr. Frank Colbert spoke over her.

“Have no fear, Lord Berkeley. We do not wish to offend your family. I understand your confusion, but I have recently proposed to Miss Faraday—there will be no taint to her reputation. I will do the honorable thing, of course.”

“Then all is settled,” Lord Colbert agreed.

“You will do no deuced thing!” Lucas’s free hand lifted at his side, as if he could physically shield Miss Faraday from the man’s insinuations.

Miss Faraday’s hand squeezed around Lucas’s, as if to anchor herself.

She stepped beside him as she spoke to the father and son.

“I can assure you that I will not be accepting any proposal from Mr. Frank Colbert. Not now. Not ever.” She nearly spat the words, and seeing her so angry pushed Lucas even farther toward the breaking point.

He took a step toward the young man, just itching for an excuse to cave his face in.

“Your reputation will be ruined, Lydia,” Mr. Frank Colbert said, stepping closer.

Miss Faraday veritably exploded, pushing past Lucas’s hand and slapping Colbert across the face. The room froze in stunned silence.

“Do not use my Christian name! You have not received my permission, nor will you.”

Mr. Frank Colbert sputtered, but Lucas waited not another moment.

He met Colin’s eye. The man offered a small nod.

“Nor will we be remaining to finish our discussion. I trust we made our position clear, Colbert. I will remind you of the power I possess and would wish you a good evening, but I sincerely hope it is anything but.” Lucas turned to Miss Faraday, pulling her close to him. “Might we escort you home?”

“Please.” She moved for the door without another word, pulling Lucas with her. He came willingly, Colin at their heels.

They were followed by Mr. Frank Colbert’s shout. “You will be ruined, Miss Faraday!”

Lucas turned back long enough to punch the man in the nose. It did not even pain his hand a bit. He stood over the man, glowering as Colbert held a hand to his face, stemming the flow of blood. All Lucas could see was Colbert’s crazed eyes.

“She could never be ruined , ” Lucas snarled.

Once they’d left the house, Lucas was about to demand she tell him if the man had done worse than he’d seen, but she cut him off, picking up her skirts and running for their carriage, yelling over her shoulder, “Please hurry! Your brother and Sir Henry need our help!”

Under normal circumstances, Lucas would have stumbled over the sudden change in plans, but with the way his blood was currently coursing through his veins, he easily jumped into action.

Frankly, he’d have done anything she asked in that moment, especially if it could clear his mind of the image of Colbert kissing her—or distract him from the desire to return to the house and leave the man bloody. Or, bloodier.

“To your club,” Miss Faraday said as she ducked into his carriage.

“You heard her,” he told the coachman then followed her within.

***

By the time they arrived in front of the club, Miss Faraday had filled him and Colin in on the situation, and Lucas had curbed his emotions somewhat.

Somewhat.

Miss Faraday did not remain in the carriage when he and Colin got out. No one was outside the club, so Colin quickly ducked inside to look there.

“I am so sorry that I left Charlie and Sir Henry here,” Miss Faraday said, her features shrouded by the moonlit night, her tone full of remorse.

“I can think of a great many people who ought to apologize just now, and you are not one of them.”

Colin came out, shaking his head. “More thugs arrived and overpowered my men. They’re all right but say that the newcomers ran inta some men outside the club, and fled after after some neighbors joined the fight.”

Lucas let out a breath. “See?” he told Miss Faraday. “Charlie and Henry are well. No apologies necessary.”

Miss Faraday gave a weak laugh.

“I am going ta stay here. I need ta see to the club and ensure those men dinnae come back.”

“Do you need help?” Lucas asked.

Colin shook his head. “You get home. See to your family.”

Lucas crossed to Colin, grabbing his hand in a firm shake. “Thank you for everything. I will return tomorrow to discuss what we can do moving forward.”

“Why don’t I come to you instead? First thing.”

Lucas hesitated, nodded, then watched as his friend disappeared back into the club.

Silently, Lucas helped Miss Faraday back into the carriage.

“I have been in a great deal of carriages tonight,” Miss Faraday said, her tone offhand, almost light, but an undercurrent of fatigue colored it. “I am more than ready to trade them for my bed.”

He sat across from her. “Are you well? Truly?”

She opened her mouth but said nothing.

“I will murder him,” Lucas ground out.

“No, it— That is...” She sighed. “Frankly, I rather agree with you, but I know I should not.”

“I disagree. You should.”

“You are rather disagreeable tonight.” Again, she strove for lightness, but he sensed that beneath it, she was barely holding on to sanity, just as he was.

“I think I have reason.”

She sighed. “You do.” She suddenly sank back into the bench. “I cannot apologize enough.”

“No,” he said firmly. “None of this is your fault.”

“Charlie would not have gotten into another fight, your friend would not have been led here, Mr. Frank Colbert would never have followed us and grabbed me.”

“Stop,” he said, ignoring his better judgment and coming to her side of the carriage.

He reached for her but stopped himself. If he touched her now, he was not sure he could keep in control of his emotions.

Shadows played across her face as she tilted to meet his eyes. Hers were nearly black in the darkness.

“You know I am right,” she said, her voice small.

“What I know is that you have endured a horrific ordeal tonight, but every individual acted with his or her own agency. You are not responsible for anyone else’s choices.

” With a bolstering breath, he laid his hand over her forearm, bracing himself for the awareness that would shoot its way through him.

“ I am sorry. I am at fault for putting everyone in danger. My ridiculous need to keep this part of my life secret has created this mess. I can only beg your forgiveness for bringing you into it.”

She shook her head. “If I cannot blame myself, then neither can you. I used my own agency to join this ‘mess’ as you say.”

“You are difficult to apologize to.”

“I could say the same for you.” Her lips lifted into a smile, and he suddenly became overly fixated on them.

The air between them seemed to move more slowly as her gaze dropped down to his lips then locked on his eyes. His jaw tightened. Her chin lifted.

And the carriage stopped, arriving back at the Cheltenham home.