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I f Freddie had been able to speak, the only words out of his mouth would have been curse words.

Fortunately, the events leading up to this moment had robbed him of the ability to say anything at all, because swearing in his brother’s Blue Lounge, after being caught with his half-naked body wrapped around Emily, was not going to do him any favours.

From the moment he had found Emily sitting on the bench he had made for her but had not truly believed she would ever sit on, he had been able to say only one word: her name.

As soon as he had laid eyes on her, it hadn’t crossed his mind to step away; the thought that he might ruin her had not entered his head.

He had been completely in her thrall. All those years of wanting her, of denying it to himself, of teasing her just so that he could get a reaction, because anything was better than nothing at all, all of that had fallen away.

The only truth was everything that he could see in the moment.

For the first time, Emily had looked at him the way he had dreamed of her for years, her gaze sweeping over his torso, her eyes glazed and full of want, her lips softly parted and her fingers reaching out to him.

The thought of taking himself away from that, from denying himself the decadent pleasure of having her wanting him as much as he yearned for her, had not entered his head once .

She looked so different now. Her skin was so pale she was almost white, the horror of being caught with him turning her almost ghostly.

Perhaps if he could find the words, he would apologise.

Not for kissing her, he would never regret that, but for putting her into this awful situation where there was probably only one solution.

A resolution she would not want in a million years.

In five strides he could reach her side, in ten he could have her out of here, away from her mother’s condemnation and his brother’s cold judgement. His gaze flicked to Tobias whose stance was so rigid it looked like he might snap.

Damnation! He had barely thought about him and how he must be feeling in this moment.

They may not be close, but he knew Tobias to be a good man, a man who was considering Emily for his bride.

As far as Freddie was aware, Emily was the only woman his brother had ever thought of in this way and Freddie had ruined it.

So intent had he been on getting what he wanted, he had not thought of that once.

Freddie should be on his knees grovelling to everyone, but his body was as frozen as his mouth.

The tableau in front of him was a waking nightmare.

Tobias began to arrange himself by the fireplace, one arm resting on the mantle as if he were trying to play the character of a ‘relaxed man’.

The firm set of his jaw belied his stance.

For the first time in his life, the disappointment Freddie had caused was legitimate.

He’d tried to learn to read, had put a lot of effort into it and had failed.

He hadn’t wanted to fail at school and university, but he had, because his brain hadn’t worked.

Those things, objectively, weren’t his fault but this…

He deserved every ounce of disappointment thrown at him, but although he hated the idea that he had let his family down once again, he would never regret kissing Emily.

It had been the summit of all his dreams, better than he had ever imagined, and he’d always believed getting to hold her in his arms would be spectacular.

One day, he hoped he was able to tell her it had been a perfect moment for him, that it had been the very pinnacle of all his days, but he could not say that now.

Not when the silence building up in the duke’s Blue Lounge was slowly suffocating all those who stood in it.

In front of him, Emily’s mother bristled like an indignant cat, anger coming off her in waves.

Behind her, Emily stood, her hands clasped to her stomach, seemingly in physical pain, her head down as if studying the duke’s carpet was a competitive sport and she was desperate to beat the competition into dust.

Behind them, loitering at the door, was Edward, the only one not drowning in the loaded quiet.

There was no reason for him to be in the room, no reason to witness the fallout that was about to occur.

He was clearly only there for the entertainment value, but despite the smirk Edward was no longer bothering to hide, Freddie was glad to have one of his younger brothers there for the support.

At least Freddie was dressed now. He’d stripped off earlier, hot beyond belief while making the playhouse, and for a reason he couldn’t now remember, he’d wandered off to the part of the garden he’d thought of as Emily’s.

Tom had left him to build the playhouse alone after all and Freddie had been searching for some sort of connection to another person but he hadn’t thought she would actually be there.

His heart had crashed around in his ribs at the sight of her sitting on the bench he’d made for her and the next time he’d had any coherent thoughts he was pulling his shirt back on and hightailing it up to the house for the berating of a lifetime.

Now he was here, no one was saying anything and that was somehow worse than the high-pitched hysterics of Mrs Hawkins. Unfortunately, he did not have to wait long for her to begin.

‘This,’ said Emily’s mother, ‘is an outrage. ’

Freddie waited for Tobias to say something, anything, to smooth over the situation, but he didn’t. Of course he didn’t. He never did.

‘Mr Hawkins ought to call him out.’ Mrs Hawkins had gone back to the pointing, her trembling finger directed at Freddie’s chest. That didn’t worry Freddie.

Mr Hawkins was unlikely to want the level of scandal a duel would cause and besides, Freddie was a crack shot.

He was highly unlikely to lose to Emily’s portly, inherently lazy father.

But he didn’t want to add killing Mr Hawkins to his list of problems.

Still no one in the Dashworth family said anything, the deafening silence painful.

Emily glanced at him, her eyes tight. He half took a step towards her, but Mrs Hawkins pulled herself up to her full height, reminding him that they were being watched.

Right now, he did not want to do anything that would get Emily more tongue-lashing from her mother.

She did not deserve that; it had been Freddie who had taken off his shirt, admittedly because it was hot and not because he was trying to seduce anyone, but still.

He had been half-naked and he had kissed an innocent young woman.

If anyone had to pay a price for this morning, it should be him.

It was just he was not entirely sure what price Mrs Hawkins wanted.

‘Emily’s good name is ruined,’ declared Mrs Hawkins.

Freddie tucked his hands behind his back to hide his clenched fists.

He understood why Mrs Hawkins was upset.

He wasn’t so hen-brained as to think that seeing your daughter kissing a shirtless man was a good thing, but it did not have to be a disaster.

There was no need for anyone to find out what had happened in the garden.

Neither he nor his brothers would ever mention it again and Emily and her mother would surely keep their mouths shut.

There was no need for anything to happen to Emily’s name.

It was on the tip of his tongue to say so when Mrs Hawkins continued .

‘Your family needs to make this right.’ Mrs Hawkins turned so that she was fully facing the duke. ‘He had his hands all over my innocent girl. You must see that you need to make amends.’

Freddie’s world stopped. Everything inside him froze, his breathing becoming shallow, as it finally dawned on him the price Mrs Hawkins was demanding.

All along she had wanted a duchess for a daughter and, even now when she had discovered her daughter in the arms of another man, she was still going to make a play for it.

He’d be in awe if he wasn’t so disgusted.

Mrs Hawkins was not as upset as she appeared; this was like a poker game where she believed she held a royal flush.

If she played this moment correctly, she could land the biggest prize currently on the marriage mart.

The Dashworth family had caused this situation and so her daughter would have to marry.

But not Freddie, the man who had been kissing her as if his very life had depended on it.

Oh no, he was not good enough. Mrs Hawkins was out for the top prize.

She wanted Tobias to step forward and solve the situation, for her daughter to become the Duchess of Glanmore.

And maybe Freddie should let that happen.

Tobias was better for Emily in almost every way; he’d already come to that conclusion.

Only moments ago, Freddie had been almost suffocating in his own guilt at having the woman Tobias had been considering courting in his arms, but deep down, Freddie was a selfish, desperate man.

There was no way in hell he was going to let Tobias hear Emily’s breathy moans as he kissed down the length of her neck.

Even though he knew it was unfair to Emily, that it was a solution that benefitted nobody but himself, he stepped forward. ‘Miss Hawkins and I will marry.’

‘Oh no,’ said Emily, the words hitting Freddie harder than a punch to the gut, her look of distress like her other fist hitting again, harder and deeper. ‘That will not be necessary. Will it, Mama? ’

‘You must marry, Emily. That man has ruined you.’ Mrs Hawkins didn’t acknowledge that Freddie had spoken, didn’t dignify his statement with a response.

Freddie didn’t blame her. She was obviously still holding out for the duke and not his half-witted younger brother who never applied himself properly to anything.