Ellen smiled warmly at him. She seemed to be inviting him to return to her on the sofa with her eyes, so Joseph stepped toward her.
“If that is what you think constitutes a proposal, then perhaps you should have the wedding in private so as not to shock the guests,” Francis said with a laugh.
Joseph stopped and pivoted to face his brother. “How dare you turn something so special to me and Ellen into a sordid joke?” he hissed. “You’ve teased and vexed me about matters of the heart and body for as long as I can remember, and now that I’ve removed that reason for teasing and done my best to behave in as respectable as a manner, following my heart and my soul, you make fun of me still?”
Francis lost his smile and lowered his head slightly, looking repentant…but perhaps not enough. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I know that you love Miss Garrett. My brother does love you,” he said to Ellen.
“I know,” Ellen said, sitting straighter and holding her chin up defiantly. When Joseph took a seat by her side, she grasped and held his hand. “And I love him. Everything you so rudely witnessed and commented upon here this morning was mutual and treasured. And he was in the middle of proposing to me when you barged in.” She narrowed her eyes at him.
Joseph adored her show of temper. She was magnificent in every way.
“I am very sorry,” Francis said, even more somber than before. “I hope that you can forgive me. This should be an occasion of great joy. My youngest brother has found himself a bride.”
“He has,” Joseph said, threading his fingers through Ellen’s and smiling at her.
She smiled back, looking more beautiful than ever in her state of sated dishabille. In a way, her mussed hair and overly rosy lips suited her to a much greater degree than the modest clothing and stiff manners she’d been practicing to fit in with society.
He was deeply tempted to kiss her, but as he leaned toward her, Francis cleared his throat.
“Mistakes and interruptions aside,” Francis said, “we should move with relative haste to formalize the union. It will not come as a shock to society, considering the way the two of you have carried on through the summer, but whether you know it or not, there are certain potential consequences to this morning’s actions, and steps should be taken to minimize the scandal, should they come to pass.”
Joseph gaped at his brother, furious. “Do you think I am an idiot?” he said in a deceptively quiet voice. If he’d raised his voice even a little, it would have turned into a shout of indignation. “I know the ways of the world. I do not have to be a rake and a cad to know about these things.”
Francis sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, as though the whole thing were giving him a headache. “Of course I know that you are aware of things.”
“Then kindly stop treating me like a whelp fresh out of the schoolyard,” Joseph said, standing and glaring at Francis.
Ellen stood with him, still grasping his hand. Strangely, her support gave him the confidence he needed to feel a different sort of offence at his brother’s suppositions than he might have felt otherwise. He didn’t feel like a boy pouting because he hadn’t been treated like a man, he felt like a man pulsing with indignation for being addressed without the respect he was due.
“I think that Ellen should be allowed to go now,” he said, squaring his shoulders and staring at Francis with disdain. “I think you have imposed on her honor enough for one day. She does not need to remain here as a butt of your joking for a moment longer.”
“I am sorr—”
Joseph ignored his brother, turning to Ellen and taking her hands. “I am so sorry that you had to endure this. You deserve much kinder treatment than you have been shown today, by my brother and by me.”
Ellen sent a sharp look Francis’s way, as if she agreed in that respect, then leaned closer to Joseph and whispered in his ear, “Actually, that was terribly exciting and I adored every moment of it. I cannot wait until next time.”
When she leaned back, she was grinning like a temptress. That was enough to loosen some of the anger that had its grip on Joseph and to make him smile. Not only smile, he winked at her in silent answer to her statement about next time.
Ellen’s smile widened. “And I was sent an invitation to the ball,” she said with a small squeal, reminding him of why they’d felt the need to celebrate to begin with.
“You will be glorious,” he told her with a fond sigh. “Every woman in England will be jealous of your beauty.”
“And of my charming and handsome fiancé,” she added. “We could announce our engagement at the ball.”
Joseph smiled, then lowered his head slightly and shook it. “That will be up to the duchess, not us. I would rather tell the world about us sooner than then.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” Ellen said.
She looked like she wanted to kiss him again, and honestly, Joseph wanted to kiss her as well. But Francis was still looming. The bastard obviously had more to say to him.
“Go,” Joseph said, kissing Ellen’s cheek lightly. “Hurry home and tell your sister. Start planning your trousseau as well. The one point upon which my brother and I agree is that we should be married as soon as possible.”
“Yes, darling,” Ellen said.
She bobbed in and kissed his cheek as he’d kissed hers, then, with a final squeeze of his hands, she skipped past him and headed for the door. She glanced at him one last time before turning to leave.
Joseph drew in a breath, basking in the love he had finally allowed to blossom within him. Then he turned to Francis.