Defiant: 5 (Noble Passions) Read Online Free Page B

breath. “Honestly, Ewan. If you knew
anything at all about women—”
    “I do!”
    “Hah!” Ned glanced at Aunt Hortense, who seemed to have
recovered from her bath, at least enough for this ejaculation.
    The conversation swirled around him, Violet and Kaitlin
badgering Ewan that he had gone too far in pressing Dittenham’s suit, and Ewan
blustering that he had not.
    He finally slammed his hand on the table—again—and roared, “Enough.
I am her brother. I shall decide. And I choose Dittenham.”
    Silence settled over the room. Ned’s gut churned.
    Well. That was that.
    He lifted a finger for the footman, but when he brought more
wine, Ned asked for a whisky. He’d need it to get through this without
screaming aloud.
    “So, Ned…” Aunt Hortense leaped into the chasm of silence. “Tell
us all about your coming journey.”
    Damn and blast. He didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t
want to think about it. But the footman brought him his drink, which he quickly
downed. It provided the bravado he desperately needed. “Oh,” he gushed, wiping
at his mouth with his sleeve. “It will be positively famous.”
    “Famous!” his brother Sean cried.
    “Yes.” Tay’s head bobbed. “Positively famous.”
    How lucky he was that someone was excited.
    In his mind, his world was coming to an end.
    * * * * *
    The packet left at dawn on a stormy day, which was fitting.
Ned bade his family farewell in the pouring rain. Still, everyone was there.
Everyone but Sophia, who had closeted herself in her room after last night’s
debacle and had refused to come out. For anything, according to Violet.
    He tried to ignore his desolation that she hadn’t even
emerged to wish him well. It was probably better this way. Otherwise, when she
hugged him, as she would have done, he might have clung. Or, God help him,
wept.
    He thrust the thought away. He was hardly a weeper. Even
when his sister had been kidnapped by the notorious McCloud, he had maintained
his manly decorum. He shot a glare at Ewan as he recalled that fiasco.
    “Now, now, boy,” Ewan said gruffly. “It’s not as bad as all
that. You will have a fine time in Italy. A fine time.” His sister’s husband
wrapped him in a crushing hug, revealing for the first time he might actually
miss Ned’s presence.
    Edward hugged him too, long and hard. “This will be good for
you, Ned,” he said. “Just wait and see.” Then he clapped him on the back with
far too much vigor.
    Violet and Kaitlin were next. They, at least, had the
decency to cry. His brothers all socked him on the shoulder, though he thought
he saw a glimmer in Sean’s eye.
    “Don’t worry,” Malcolm said. “I’ll watch over them all.”
    “I know you will.”
    Aunt Hortense was last. She engulfed him in a cloud of
perfume and clutched him to her bosom as though the end of the world was nigh.
But then, it was.
    He’d always loved the old bat. Though she was crotchety and
crusty and often cranky as hell, she’d given up her life to look after them
when their father died and left them penniless. Without her—
    Blast.
    Sorrow welled up and he suspected he might unman himself. He
cleared his throat and wiped his cheeks and eased back.
    “Tell Sophia…” He ignored Ewan’s frown. “Tell Sophia I will
miss her.”
    “I will, my boy.” Hortense patted his cheek.
    “Tell her I wish her well in her marriage. In all things.”
    “I will.”
    A cry came from the ship—a clipper named the Defiant ,
which was fitting—signaling it was time to board. Ned sucked in a deep breath
and looked around the circle at all the faces he loved—all but one.
    “Goodbye,” he said.
    “Goodbye,” they chorused. “Farewell.”
    He picked up his bag and headed up the gangplank, glancing
over his shoulder—surely not one last desperate search for her ? His gaze
tangled with Edward’s. That an unmistakable regret tinged his features was no
solace.
    He was being banished for his bad behavior. A part of