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F reddie pulled himself up onto the settee, his knees weak as relief washed over him.

Charlotte’s sobbing was the most painful thing he had ever experienced, far worse than his aunt denying him food when he couldn’t form his letters correctly.

Those days he’d spent locked in his room had always topped his list of worst recollections, but this morning had been worse.

He was a wreck, a shadow of the man he had been when he’d woken up earlier.

He never wanted to go through anything as emotionally heart-wrenching as today’s debacle again.

He had no idea why anyone voluntarily had more than one child, why anyone would open themselves up to love in any of its forms, because it hurt so badly when something went wrong.

And this had been nothing, not really. He was lucky he only loved one person.

His niece would forever be the only person to have a piece of his heart because he did not think he would survive torture like that on a regular basis.

He did not know how he would repay Emily for what she had done.

He would never tease her again; he might miss the way her eyes sparked when she was annoyed with him, but if it made her happy to be left alone, then he would do it.

If she wanted the duke’s garden, he would find a way to give it to her.

Perhaps he could persuade Tobias to let her into his extensive library, although that would be a harder sell than the garden; Tobias guarded his precious book collection in the same way a dragon protected its lair from intruders and didn’t allow anyone else to enter when he was within its hallowed walls.

Whatever Emily wanted, Freddie would give it to her.

Even if that thing was teaching her how to flirt with Baron Mothchild, the most boring man on Earth and a man who would certainly crush her spirit.

Something nasty settled in Freddie’s stomach; Baron Mothchild was a bad idea.

He’d think of someone else for her, someone of whom Freddie approved.

Although from his list of many acquaintances, he could not think of one man who was good enough for her.

He would though; he was sure there must be someone out there who would cherish her and allow her to blossom outside of her mother’s reach.

He would give it some more thought, but not now; now he could only concentrate on recovering from this morning’s ordeal.

‘Thank you,’ he whispered and then louder, ‘Thank you, Miss Hawkins.’

Charlotte lifted her tear-stained face and gazed up at Emily as if she were an angel sent from heaven, which she might well be. ‘Fank you,’ she said before stuffing her thumb into her mouth.

Freddie shot a quick glance towards Tobias to see if the duke had just heard Charlotte speak.

His brother looked faintly ridiculous with his arms stuffed full of little girls’ dresses, but he caught Freddie’s eyes and nodded slightly; he had heard their niece.

Then Tobias turned his attention back to Emily and Charlotte, gazing at Emily as if she were a goddess.

Freddie fought the inexplicable urge to throw himself in front of Emily so his brother could not see her any more; the desire grew stronger when the duke said, ‘We cannot thank you enough, Miss Hawkins.’ It was probably more words than Tobias had said to Freddie in a week.

‘It has been my pleasure to help,’ said Emily in a far pleasanter tone of voice than the one she would normally use when addressing Freddie. He did not feel good about that either .

‘Lotte, would you like to come and sit on my lap?’ asked Emily.

The little girl nodded. ‘Yeth.’

Emily pulled her up onto her lap, wrapping her arms tightly around her as Lotte snuggled deep into her embrace. She’d barely settled when her eyelids began to droop.

‘Poor love. You are exhausted.’ Emily ran her fingers soothingly through Charlotte’s hair.

‘We all are,’ muttered Freddie, foolishly wishing he could be taken into Emily’s arms right at this moment.

Emily’s gaze shot to his, her eyes full of suppressed laughter.

The look was like a punch to the gut; it left him winded and off balance.

She’d never looked at him like that; her eyes usually expressed extreme disappointment in his very existence, something close to loathing.

Right in this moment, he could almost think that she liked him.

She dropped her gaze back to the child and he thought she whispered, ‘Poor Freddie.’ Although he couldn’t be sure.

Regardless of whether she had spoken his given name or not, it appeared his body was falling even harder for the perfect Miss Hawkins, which was an unmitigated disaster.

He didn’t need this as well today, especially after the time they’d all just experienced.

Even as he told himself he was being a fool and an obvious one at that, he was unable to tear his eyes away from her slender fingers as they held on to his niece.

A throat-clearing from close by was what finally broke his stupor.

He’d completely forgotten the duke and Emily’s mother were still in the room with them.

He looked up. The two of them had moved closer while he’d been gawking at Emily.

Tobias was still clutching the dresses, and Emily’s mother was fluttering just slightly behind him, opening and closing her mouth like a fish as she searched for something to say .

‘We will find a way to repay you, Miss Hawkins,’ Tobias intoned, still with none of his usual brusqueness apparent.

Freddie felt his jaw swing open. He quickly clamped it shut. It wouldn’t do to show such obvious signs of shock in front of company; he understood the rules of being a duke’s brother even if he didn’t always follow them. But really… he hadn’t heard Tobias speak that fluently in years, if ever.

‘I understand you like to read,’ his normally taciturn brother continued.

From his position on the settee, Freddie saw Emily’s mother’s lips thin at the realisation the most eligible bachelor on the market was aware of Emily’s more academic pursuits.

God, how he despised this woman; the way she spoke to her daughter was appalling.

Although, now that Freddie thought on it, how did his brother know Emily enjoyed books?

Was he paying attention to her in the same way that Freddie was?

Not that Freddie was paying her specific attention; it was only that he was aware of her most of the time.

Because she was his nemesis. But she wasn’t the duke’s enemy, which could mean that he was paying attention to her for different reasons.

Gah, he was making himself sick with all this thinking.

‘I have an extensive library here,’ continued Tobias. ‘You are welcome to visit at any time.’

Freddie nearly fell off the chair.

Mrs Hawkins’ mouth fell open before her whole demeanour changed.

She looked rather like a cat who had spotted a bird strutting around the garden without a care in the world.

Her spine straightened and her eyes gleamed as a small, sly smile touched her mouth and something tight gripped Freddie’s sternum.

Emily’s lips rounded in a silent ‘oh’. Her gaze swung to her mother and she straightened slightly.

‘I would be honoured, Your Grace.’ Her tongue darted out and she licked her top lip and Freddie thought he might be sick.

Of course, a duke would be a good match for Emily Hawkins, far better than Baron Mothchild, and Emily was perfect in every way and would make an ideal duchess.

That being married to his dour brother would destroy her feisty spirit would be neither here nor there for her mother, who would undoubtedly push for the match.

The woman was clearly as desperate as all women in the Ton to be acquainted with his oldest brother and this connection would be exploited unless Emily married someone else.

Freddie suspected Emily would now be in the duke’s library daily, whether she wanted to be there or not.

The room had descended into silence in the wake of Emily’s acceptance of Tobias’ invitation, broken only by Charlotte’s gentle sucking of her thumb.

‘I fear trying on dresses is probably beyond Miss Dashworth this morning,’ said Emily eventually.

Tobias nodded briskly, appearing to have used up his speaking ability for the day.

‘Perhaps you could come round this afternoon,’ Freddie suggested.

Rationally, he knew he was being ridiculous, but Tobias was meeting with…

actually, he wasn’t sure with whom Tobias was meeting.

Either he hadn’t listened or he hadn’t been told.

The important point was that if the duke wasn’t going to be here, Freddie wouldn’t have to witness Emily flirting with him.

Not that Freddie cared, obviously. Emily and Tobias could get married and have a whole bushel of children as far as Freddie was concerned.

He just didn’t want to be around to witness it because… because…

‘I’m afraid we have…’

‘Emily would be delighted.’

Emily and her mother spoke at the same time, painfully contradicting one another.

A faint, pink flush stole across Emily’s cheeks, and she dropped her gaze to focus on Charlotte, but it did little to hide her embarrassment, because, from this angle, Freddie could see the very tip of her red nose. Mrs Hawkins didn’t suffer from the same fate.

‘Unfortunately, I am engaged to visit with my daughter and her in-laws, but Emily will be pleased to come.’ Emily’s fingers twitched, the only sign that she had heard her mother speak. ‘Of course, she will bring a chaperone.’ Mrs Hawkins’ laugh was as false as the feathers on her dress.