The Heart of a Duke(100)

His throat tightened and he grasped her elbow. “Stand back. Burning embers can spit free and catch on anything.”

She nodded, curling her arms around her waist. The firelight danced over her bleak expression.

Unable to resist, he cradled the back of her head with one hand, and planted a kiss on her lips. He did not care that they had an audience. He needed to touch her. In the midst of this destruction, he needed to feel life. Her lips on his were a reassuring balm to his soul.

“We will rebuild.” He straightened and skimmed a finger down her cheek.

“We will. But that is the last of the oaks,” Julia said, her eyes sad.

“Next time we will hire guards.”

Daniel turned to see Taunton and Brett approach.

“Bedford is sending a warning,” Taunton said, his eyes hard.

Daniel clamped his jaw. His eyes strayed to Julia, and he cursed himself for ever having involved her.

“It is a warning to Daniel and vengeance,” Julia said.

Taunton and Brett exchanged looks with him, and after a brief hesitation, Daniel gestured them ahead. When they had left to assist the men, he rested his hands on Julia’s shoulders. They were warm from the heat emanating from the fire, and he tipped his temple to her forehead. “This is just wood. The only thing that matters is that you are no longer his. You are mine, and I thank God for it every day.” He cupped her cheek. “And I am yours.”

He released her shoulders to catch her hands and give them a reassuring squeeze. He needed to keep her safe. Feared his ability to do so.

She nodded, her eyes moist. “Go. I will be all right.” Her voice broke, and she covered her mouth, blinking back tears.

He kissed her temple, not wanting to leave her alone.

“Go. You will feel better if you do something,” she insisted, swiping at her eyes, and retreating farther from the heat of the fire.

With grave reluctance, he joined the line next to his foreman. He struggled to keep his mind on the task at hand, to tamp down his fear. He drew steady breaths, and ignored the burning heat that irritated his scarred shoulder. They worked in tandem, methodically passing buckets hand to hand.

Eventually, Brett caught his attention, and he stepped away to join him and Robbie. Their faces were streaked with dirt and sweat, their hair plastered to their brows, and both reeked of soot and smoke. Brett would need a new sling, his dirt-stained and damp. He surmised he looked no better.

“I agree with Taunton. Edmund is warning you to return to America. The bastard.” Brett’s tone was punched with anger. He took a handkerchief and swiped his brow, his gaze fastened on the fire.

“I suggest you build with brick next time,” Robbie said, a fit of coughing seizing him.

“I think we need to revise our strategy,” Daniel said.

“We’re finally going to shoot the bastard and bury him in the back paddock?”

Daniel shook his head at Robbie’s eager look. “No, but we are going to reverse roles. Edmund has been watching us, as attested to the attack at the docks and on your curricle. It is time we lined up some men and monitor his movements more closely. I had asked Mabry to inform me of Edmund’s return, but my brother must have slipped home quietly. We are better protected if we know where Edmund is or with whom he is meeting. And I need to protect the Chandler family. This was too close to home. I need to make sure Edmund doesn’t get any closer.”

“Clever, but you always were,” Brett said.

Daniel feared it was not enough. Was desperate to do more. He was not good at standing still.

The line of men had broken up, the perimeter soaked with water. They all stood back to watch the last of the feeble structure tumble to its ignominious demise.

The foreman caught Daniel’s eye. “My lord, the earl asked me to tell you he is taking Lady Julia home.”

Daniel thanked the man, locating Taunton, who was assisting Julia to mount Constance. She turned to him, and their eyes met across the distance. Curling strands of hair tumbled free from her chignon, and she lifted a hand to tuck an errant strand behind her ear. Something shifted in Daniel’s chest, as if an empty hole had been filled. She raised her hand to him, a ghost of a bittersweet smile tipping her lips before she nudged Constance with her heel.

His home was another smoldering pile of rubble, but Daniel did not feel the same sense of loss that he had felt the first time it had been reduced to ashes. Admittedly, that first blaze had stolen all he had owned or cared for in the world, and almost taken his life. He rolled his shoulder, loosening the scarred skin.

Sometimes you had to lose something to realize its value.

He was a far richer man than when he had left ten years ago, and he’d be damned if Edmund took anything away from him again.