Page 80 of Last Night with the Duke
Esmeralda lefthis sisteralone in the house with a man to go tohersister.
Griffin’s anger grew. It wasn’t that he was so angry about the kiss between Lambert and Sara. Hell, he’d kissed more than his share of innocent young ladies. It was that Esmeralda had left them alone. He’d trusted her to watch after his sisters. Esmeralda betrayed him. Betrayed his faith in her.
“The kiss just happened, Your Grace,” Lambert said, taking a nervous step toward Griffin. “We didn’t—I mean I didn’t plan to kiss her. I swear it. Don’t be angry with Lady Sara, Your Grace.”
Griffin advanced on the man. “Don’t tell me what to do, Lambert.”
“Yes, Your Grace—I mean no, Your Grace. I won’t tell you what to do. But I don’t want you angry with Lady Sara either. If you are going to be angry with anyone it should be me. It was my fault.”
“All right, I’ll be angry with you.” Griffin grabbed the man by the bow of his neckcloth. “You’re damned right it was your fault.”
“Griffin, no!” Sara exclaimed. “It was mine! Don’t hurt him. It was all my fault.”
The blame lay squarely at Esmeralda’s feet.
“I’d like to explain what happened,” Lambert said. “There was this—”
Griffin let go of him with a shove and said, “I don’t want to hear what you have to say. Get out of my house before I do something we’ll both regret. And don’t let me see you near either of my sisters again.”
Sara grabbed Griffin’s arm. “You can’t tell him that.”
He didn’t take his gaze of Lambert. “I just did. Now get out.”
“Your Grace, if you’d let me or Lady Sara explain.”
Griffin didn’t want to hear from anyone but Esmeralda. “Leave Lambert. Now,” he said quietly.
“Yes, Your Grace.” He looked at Sara and hurried from the room.
“You are a horrible brother, Griffin. If I can’t speak to Mr. Lambert ever again, then I will never speak to you again either.”
“You’ll change your mind about that once you realize all that he really wanted was to ruin you for marriage to any other man.”
“That’s not true,” she declared. “I don’t want any other man. I want to marry him.”
“Has he asked you to marry him, Sara?”
Her eyes blinked rapidly. She didn’t answer.
“Has he asked you to marry him?”
“No,” she said, her anger at him suddenly changing to sorrow. “But he will. I know he will.”
“But he hasn’t.”
Sara’s bottom lip trembled.
Griffin hated seeing her upset, hated treating her so coldly, but she needed to face a few facts about men. They don’t get as emotional about a few kisses and it doesn’t mean they want to marry whomever they were kissing.
That might happen only if Griffin decided to force Lambert into it.
Esmeralda came rushing into the drawing room. “Your Grace, Lady Sara, I saw Mr. Lambert leaving.”
“Griffin is an ogre,” Lady Sara cried. “He’s the worst brother a sister could ever have. I’m never going to speak to him again.”
Griffin was aware of Sara running from the room, but his gaze never left Esmeralda’s face. She was flushed and out of breath, as if she’d run a long distance. Tendrils of her hair had fallen from her chignon and framed her face. Even though she’d let him down, she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
“What is going on?” Esmeralda asked.
