Free Cardiff Siblings 01 - Seven Minutes in Devon by Catherine Gayle Page A

stinging tears to form behind her eyes.
    It was all so unfair. No one deserved
such treatment. Certainly not Morgan. And for that matter, Emma
didn’t deserve the treatment Mr. Cardiff so readily handed to
her.
    Lord Jacob brushed the back of his
hand against Emma’s knuckles with a touch so soft she almost
thought she’d imagined it, but it was enough to make her realize
she had clenched both hands into fists. She forcefully loosened
them, and then met Lord Jacob’s gaze.
    He was staring at her
almost kindly, however ridiculous that notion might be. Lord Jacob
Deering was a great many things, but her initial impression of him
did not lend itself easily to kind . He dropped his voice again to
where no one but Emma could hear him. “Don’t grant them the
satisfaction of seeing what they do to you. Lady Morgan does
not.”
    Before she had wrapped her mind around
what he’d said, Lord Jacob cut off a bite of quail and filled his
mouth with it, turning to his other side to take up a conversation
with the lady seated there.
    He was right, of course. She’d not do
herself any favors by delivering the gossips at the other end a
set-down with a full dining room looking on. Emma was here to
become a perfectly biddable, perfectly agreeable miss—one whom a
gentleman might wish to pursue. Not a single gentleman of her
acquaintance wished to pursue shrewish harridans who acted
inappropriately in social situations. Mother had done her best to
instill in both Emma and Vanessa a sense of proper decorum, and
Papa had shown them time and again that keeping silent while
amongst one’s betters was often the proper course of action. She
needed to simply keep her thoughts to herself until such time as
she could reveal them to someone she trusted, or she’d let both
Vanessa and David down.
    Yet when she tried to return her focus
to her meal, another voice floated down the table, a masculine
timbre this time, assaulting her ears with more vitriolic comments
about her friend.
    “ Pity she was unsuccessful
in her attempts. One would think, after three tries, she could have
gotten one of them right.”
    “ And it’s a pity your
nursemaid was unsuccessful at teaching you simple manners and basic
human decency.” The words were out of Emma’s mouth before she could
stop herself. Indeed, she’d overturned her chair in her fury to
gain her feet. She must have knocked over a glass of wine as well,
as Sir Henry and two footmen desperately tried to mop it up with
napkins before it spilled over the table’s edge.
    Every eye in the room had turned to
her—in shock, in awe, in admiration. None seemed inclined to look
away.
    Heavens, what had she done? Her entire
body shook from head to toe, but she couldn’t bear to see the
censure she was sure she’d find in Vanessa’s eyes, couldn’t
possibly handle witnessing the dismay David’s expression was sure
to bear. Worst yet, with one simple action she had certainly
destroyed any possibility of making a match at this house party.
She might as well pack her trunk and return to Knightsbridge,
tucking her tail between her legs as she left.
    But if she’d already destroyed any
chance she had at securing a husband, she might as well finish the
job at hand.
    Taking a calming breath, Emma turned
to Lord Roxburghe, the man who’d so callously wished Morgan had
successfully taken her own life, and stared him through. He had the
gall to stare back at her, without even the slightest hint of shame
coloring his expression. Lady Portia, at least, had the sense to
look down at her lap. She appeared contrite. But Roxburghe’s
supercilious gaze never wavered.
    This was hardly the time to back down
from her stance now that she’d taken one. Emma ignored the trembles
that coursed through her body. She straightened her spine and
forced herself not to waver, not to cower in fear of what she was
in the midst of doing.
    “ Lady Morgan is a guest of
Lord and Lady Burington, just as we all are.” With more