“I said, get your hands off me!” She panted.
“You little bitch!” Andrew growled, looking up at her with blood trickling from one nostril.
As he advanced towards her and Diana prepared to run, a tall figure came briskly around the corner of the hedge.
“Leave the lady be, Lord Birks,” Edmund said, his green eyes glinting angrily and his voice stern.
“What? I was just—”
“I heard what you were just doing,” Edmund interrupted him. “I saw some of it. What kind of man are you to assault a helpless young woman who should be under your protection?”
“Assault, Sir? She’s as good as my wife already, and I’ll do with her as I please. How dare you interfere!” Andrew blustered, applying a handkerchief to his bleeding nose.
“I do dare,” Edmund said darkly. “Don't doubt that, Birks.”
Instinctively, Diana had gone to his side and now stood there, trembling slightly from the aftermath of the confrontation. Andrew looked nastily between the two of them.
“Oh, so that’s how it is, is it, Your Grace? Well, if I find no maidenhead between this lady’s thighs on my wedding night, I’ll know whom to blame, won’t I?”
“Have you no shame at all, Sir? How can you speak this way before any young lady, especially your betrothed? It is a matter of honour.”
“Honour?” Andrew laughed contemptuously. “You do sound ridiculous, Colborne. What are you going to do, call me out for a duel for wanting to kiss my own wife?”
“She’s not—” Edmund’s eyes narrowed as he decided not to complete that sentence and changed tact. “If I did challenge you, would you accept, Sir?” he said warningly.
Diana gasped in horror as she grasped the situation. If Edmund called Andrew out, either one or both of them could be killed. Andrew’s death would destroy Lady Birks and the rest of the Arnold family, while the very thought of Edmund’s death felt like it would rip out Diana’s whole heart.
Whether from alcohol, infirmity, or fear, she noticed that Andrew’s hands were shaking as he considered Edmund’s words. In contrast, every part of Edmund seemed steady and alert as he faced the other man down.
“Don’t be absurd, Colborne. I can only assume you’re joking,” Andrew said at last, looking away with tremulous laughter. “What reason could we possibly have to fight? I’m not going to blow this out of proportion, and I hope you’re not.”
The happy chatter of Kitty, Percy and Jacob burst in on them then as the trio rounded the hedge and came upon Diana and the two men.
“What made you go racing off like that, Edmund?” Jacob asked with good humor. “I blinked, and you were suddenly jumping over the bushes. Percy said it was too much lemonade at nuncheon, but I thought better of you.”
Kitty giggled, as Percy denied ever being so indelicate. Then, the joking died out as they observed Edmund, Diana, and Andrew all frozen in stony silence.
“Lord Birks has a nosebleed,” Edmund said to the group after another heartbeat. “I believe he needs to return to the house.”
“Yes, I think it’s time for me to return to Hayward House,” Andrew declared, evidently glad of any excuse to escape from Edmund’s presence. “I’ll see you at the wedding,” he called back as he marched away from them, and Diana sighed in relief.
“I’d better go with him.” Kitty sighed regretfully, taking her leave of the young men, shooting Edmund a particular smile before she hurried after her brother.
When she had gone, Jacob looked at Edmund, still largely silent and serious.
“What’s going on Edmund?” he asked. “Did something happen to Lord Birks?”
“Percy, your sister needs to talk to you in private,” Edmund said abruptly. “Jacob and I will take another walk on the grounds.” He looked back at Diana before he rounded the hedge.
“Tell Percy everything,” he advised, and then he was gone.
* * *
“Because he had a nosebleed? I don’t understand, Diana,” Percy said, confused. “He was rude to you, he tried to kiss you, and then he had a nosebleed. Then Edmund heard you calling out. Now you can’t marry Cousin Andrew?”
Diana had tried to explain to her brother what had happened in the gardens but found it impossible to even repeat the words that Andrew had used. She was still shocked by the experience, and it had come out all wrong, lacking the very real physical threat that had been so apparent to her and Edmund. Percy seemed to think that Andrew had just tried to peck her on the cheek when she wasn’t expecting it.
If only Edmund had stayed to explain what he had actually interrupted.