Free Twice Fallen by Emma Wildes Page A

“I suppose then I can forgive her. I was afraid she was getting discouraged enough she was starting to think the best I could do was a man two decades my senior who would be willing to overlook my less-than-pristine reputation to obtain a young wife.”
    “I’m certain she thinks no such thing. It isn’t your lack of prospects that bothers her, but rather the array of possibilities.” James grimaced. “She gets a certain gleam in her eye when she accompanies you to social events, which I admit as a bachelor fills me with terror. Luckily, since I am your cousin, I am not the focus of her attention. I imagine her like a general, with chart and diagrams, and lists of bloodlines and bank accounts. You’ll make a brilliant match. I’ve no doubt of it. She won’t have it otherwise.”
    “I’m glad you find it all so amusing. I could delicately hint that you could use some help in selecting a wife,” she said tartly.
    “Lillian Bourne, don’t you dare.”
    “Can you tell me what you know about Damien Northfield?”
    That stopped him, the glass of port suspended in his fingers, his blue eyes registering surprise. She was a bit surprised too, for she hadn’t meant to blurt it out that way. However, this was James. If she could ask anyone and be assured it would stay just between the two of them, he was the one.
    The grandiose dining room was quiet, the footmen having departed with the dishes and salvers. James finally said slowly, “Northfield? Rolthven’s younger brother? He’s a few years older than I am. He left for Spain and he has only recently returned to England even though the war has been over for some time. He was severely wounded at Waterloo as I understand it.”
    Lord Damien’s pronounced limp certainly indicated that was true. “I see,” she murmured, remembering the faltering moment on those steep, dust-covered stairs.
    “Why do you ask?” James asked simply, his long fingers toying with the stem of his glass, watching her intently.
    “He and I have met,” she said wryly, “and under the most unusual circumstances possible. Last evening, to be precise. It was why I was absent from the ball for so long.”
    “Oh?”
    The port was warming as she sipped it and recounted the series of events, but omitting the part where she’d removed her gown, for she was sure James would take exception to that in a protective male fashion. He listened with a faint hint of amusement in his eyes, especially at the beginning when she explained how Damien Northfield had been cornered by Lady Piedmont. But all humor vanished when she went on about the broken key, the intractable window, and their final decision to go through the cellars.
    “At least he was resourceful,” he muttered, his glass empty now. “But, I cannot believe you agreed to the passageway. Nothing terrifies you more.”
    “I had to.” She felt a bit better for being able to tell someone what had happened. “I am uninterested in being the one who constantly brings scandal to our family.”
    He made an impatient gesture with his hand. “That’s hardly true. One error in judgment is hardly constant disgrace. You made a single mistake and I still blame Sebring for it anyway. The only reason I was worried last night was for
your
sake, not the Bourne family. I think I can say fairly that we all feel that way.”
    James hardly knew the whole truth about her elopement, and she wasn’t interested in enlightening him either,though the loyalty was touching. She asked quietly, “Surely you will cross paths with Lord Damien. Can you please discreetly thank him for me for his assistance? I must admit in my rush to return to the ball without being noticed, I just hurried away. He was gallant and I was too flustered to be gracious about it.”
    There, that should do it. Surely the reason she couldn’t stop thinking about Damien Northfield was that she’d dashed off without acknowledging his assistance.
    Wasn’t it?
    “I’ll tell him,” James said