The Wedding Runaway by Katy Madison

wanted to comfort him , he despised himself for these rampant odd insane feelings that raged through him. And everything was happening with half the gentlemen of the ton surrounding them.
    Leonard jutted his chin out. " If you would quit yanking me around. "
    Leonard had to go. There was no other answer for it. " Bloody hell , if you would act like a man. If you want to run away from home and pretend to be fully grown , then you shouldn ' t behave like a scared little boy. "
    Leonard ' s face drained of color. " What are you going to do? "
    " I ' m tempted to throttle you. " Victor could feel his hands clenching in rage. " Throw you in the Thames. "
    " Toss me into a fire and kill me that way too? " Leonard taunted with a false bravado.
    Victor saw red.
     
     
     
     

Chapter Six
    Lydia stared. What had just happened? All the men stared at them. Even the horses in the yard at Tattersall's seemed to have turned inquiring brown eyes in their direction. Victor had slapped her with his glove. As a slap went it hadn ' t hurt , but deep down inside she was bleeding.
    " Tell him what to do ," Victor growled.
    " He couldn ' t have known ," objected Keene, who warily looked back and forth between them.
    " I told him just the other day. So tell him what to do ," repeated Victor.
    " You need to demand satisfaction ," said Keene to her.
    " I say , he ' s too young for that ," said the giant of a man they called Ponsby. " Just let the lad apologize and be done with it. He won ' t refuse , will you , boy? "
    Lydia looked at him and wanted to run over to him. His height and breadth reminded her of her older brothers. But she had no brothers here. She ' d shunned their protection. She had to muddle out of this situation alone. " I ' m sorry. "
    Victor shook his head. " He ' s not too young , he claims to be twenty-one. Are you a man or a boy , Leonard? "
    Lydia straightened her shoulders. How could he turn so on her? He was angry , his scar bright red against his white-faced fury. She looked helplessly between Keene and Ponsby. She couldn ' t look at Victor. His anger would make her dissolve into tears , and she knew that would disgust him. Somehow in this moment when her world was crashing in , his respect mattered to her.
    " Demand satisfaction , Mr. Hall. It will be all right. " Keene put a hand on his sleeve and his voice was soothing.
    " He apologized , Lord Wedmont , surely you can too? " said Ponsby. " And we can avoid this nonsense. "
    " I will not. His implication offends my honor , not to mention my wife ' s memory. "
    " You said your marriage was hell ," she spit the words at Victor.
    Ponsby ducked his head down , no longer her ally.
    She had the sense that she had crossed a line that was very visible to the three men surrounding her , but invisible to women. But they all thought that she could see it too. " I don ' t understand. "
    " By the code of honor , one cannot accept an apology for being slapped ," Victor explained. " You have to demand satisfaction , and then we ' ll name seconds and they shall enter negotiations to avert the conflict. "
    She was puzzled by his patient explanation. He sounded weary , resigned. Her heart was splitting in two.
    " Are you a man or a child? "
    Neither , she wanted to call out. " I demand satisfaction ," she whispered. She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. I cannot cry. I will not cry.
    " Very good , sir. Keene will stand your second. I will call upon Sheridan and name my conditions. " Victor wheeled about and said , " Ponsby , if you will sell me that horse now , I shall write out a bank draft for five thousand pounds. "
    " Ho , wait ," said Keene.
    But Ponsby had already roared out , " Done , my lord. "
    Lydia couldn ' t take any more. She turned and walked rapidly toward the gate. She couldn ' t let the tears blurring her vision spill.
    Only as she reached the sidewalk outside did she make the connection between what she ' d said and his anger. She turned to go back and