Damien’s expression was as cold as Vanessa had ever seen it. “I think you forget I control everything you own. Your gaming debts give me that power.”

“I haven’t forgotten.” His tone was quiet.

“Then don’t forget this,” Damien gritted out. “I’ll see you in hell before I permit you to wed my sister.”

Olivia struck the arm of her chair as tears filled her eyes. “I love him, Damien. I truly do.”

Her brother shook his head fiercely. “Livy, he has duped you all over again, rekindled your foolish infatuation-”

“No… he has not. I know my own heart, Damien. This is not infatuation. I’ve had ample time to consider it. I’ve done nothing else for months. It’s true that I once wanted to make him pay for what he did, but I’ve learned to forgive him. As you will, if you give him a chance.”

“I will do no such thing.” His jaw hardened as he glanced at Aubrey. “I suggest you leave before I’m persuaded to put a bullet through you.”

Alarmed, Vanessa gripped his arm more tightly. “I beg you, don’t hurt him…” Damien shook her off.

“I don’t want your sister’s wealth, Lord Sinclair,” Aubrey insisted. “And I know I must earn the right to love her. But I will, I swear it.”

“Meanwhile you hide behind her skirts as you hid behind your own sister’s, leaving her to deal with your gaming debts.”

Anger suffusing his expression, Aubrey took a step forward, his fist clenched. When Olivia gave a cry of fear, though, he stopped abruptly and glanced down at her. A look passed between them, one of tenderness, of resolve.

“For your sake, my love,” he murmured, “I will go… for now.”

He would not give up the battle, Vanessa knew. Aubrey might withdraw for the moment, but he would return to fight another day. She shuddered to think what would happen then.

Vanessa watched as he retrieved his hat from the bench and bowed to the company. With a lingering look at Olivia, he turned away.

When he was gone, Olivia gave a sob of outrage and turned on her brother. “You have no right to send him away!” she accused.

Ignoring her tears, Damien summoned a footman who was stationed discreetly a short distance along the garden path. “Convey your mistress to the house.”

Olivia glared at him. “If you drive Aubrey away, I will hate you forever.”

Damien’s mouth tightened, but he made no reply. In a moment Olivia was wheeled from the garden, leaving him alone with Vanessa.

The silence that remained was fraught with tension. Vanessa faced Damien defiantly, her emotions torn between anger at his heartlessness, guilt at betraying his trust, and the desperate wish to make him see reason. She had feared this confrontation would come from the moment her brother had shown his face at Rosewood.

“I presume you mean to tell me,” Damien began in a low, tight voice, “why you allowed Rutherford to prey on my sister again.”

Vanessa took a deep breath. At least he meant to give her the opportunity to explain. “Aubrey was never alone with her until this past week when we went to London,” she said firmly. “I made certain of that.”

“Yet you conspired with them behind my back, encouraged their secret meetings.”

“It was not a conspiracy. I simply afforded them the opportunity to discover how serious their feelings were for each other.”

“Damnation, as Olivia’s companion you were responsible for her welfare!” The controlled savagery of Damien’s tone told her how close his temper was to shattering.

“I understand quite well my responsibilities toward Olivia,” Vanessa returned evenly. “And I did what I thought was best for her.”

“For her? You expect me to believe you weren’t scheming to improve your brother’s fortunes?”

Vanessa stared into Damien’s blistering gray eyes. “I was not scheming, I assure you. Aubrey’s wishes scarcely entered into my thinking. Olivia’s happiness is what concerns me. She was clearly miserable without him. And she will be even more so if you refuse your consent for their marriage.”

When he didn’t reply, Vanessa added with quiet intensity, “Olivia is capable of making this decision for herself, Damien, and she should have that right, just as my own sisters should have the right to choose whom they wed.”

A muscle knotting in his jaw, Damien strode over to the linden tree. His hand rose, clenched, as if he might strike the trunk with his fist. “Your brother is nothing more than a fortune hunter, a wastrel. He ruined Olivia’s life. I refuse to entrust my sister to such a scoundrel.”

“Perhaps Aubrey was all you say, but he’s changed greatly, for the better. He is truly ashamed of what he did, both for crippling Olivia and for tarnishing her reputation. He’s determined to reform… to make amends. He’s honestly offered her the protection of his name in marriage, and I think you would be gravely mistaken not to consider his suit.”

When Damien refused to respond, Vanessa continued her argument. “It would actually be a good match for them both. If not for his terrible transgression against her, Aubrey would make her an eligible enough connection. His rank exceeds your own. He is educated and intelligent. And while he may have lost the remainder of his inheritance to you, he’s not without the hope of gainful employment. He has actually found work in the district as a social secretary to one of your neighbors. That is what finally convinced me of his sincerity. I’ve never seen him as single-minded and determined as he is now. I believe he’s truly fallen in love.” Vanessa paused. “What really matters, though, is that Olivia loves him.”

Damien made a scoffing sound deep in his throat. “What does a green girl her age know about love?”

“Undoubtedly more than you do.”

His head swinging around, he fixed her with a dark glare.

“Olivia claims to know her heart, Damien. If he is her choice, what right do you have to stand in her way?”

Anger flashed in his eyes like silver fire. “As her brother, I not only have the right, I have a duty to protect her from unscrupulous rogues like your brother.”

“You would be protecting her by allowing this match. Consider it. She will be a viscountess if she marries Aubrey. Unwed, she will always have the stigma of her recent scandal to live down.”

“So you would have her wed her debaucher?”

“What, pray, is the alternative? Perhaps she could find a more eligible suitor than my brother, but would her heart be engaged? There is nothing worse than being trapped in a loveless marriage-believe me, I know. She could choose not to wed at all, to remain a spinster, but that is a lonely life for a woman, without husband or children. Olivia has been alone more than enough, in my opinion.” Vanessa eyed him coolly. “Of course, she could seek companionship outside of marriage. But I doubt you would wish your sister to take the course I’ve elected, to become some wealthy gentleman’s mistress.”

His glance collided with hers, and Vanessa could see she had struck a nerve.

“The circumstances are quite different,” he said tightly.

“Indeed they are. As an heiress, Olivia has choices I never had. If you will allow her to make them.”

“You seem intent on making me out to be the villain in this piece.”

“No, I’m merely intent on persuading you to keep an open mind.”

His lip curled. “Two months ago Rutherford was a gamester and a reprobate. How can you be certain this miraculous transformation of his will last?”

“I cannot. I only know that Aubrey is a good man at heart. And I believe he would do his utmost never to hurt Olivia again.”

Damien set his jaw. “That is a risk I am not willing to take.”

Vanessa stamped her foot in frustration and despair, while her voice rose in anger. “Doesn’t your condemnation of him strike you as the least bit hypocritical? How can you possibly be an adequate judge of anyone’s character, a man of your lurid past and wicked reputation?”

When she received no reply, a hard smile touched her own lips. “Tell me, Lord Sin, how is my brother any more depraved or dissolute than you are? You might not wish or deserve the chance to prove you can love and be loved, but there are men who truly want redemption.”

She waited, but he remained silent. Finally her shoulders slumped. “If you will please excuse me, I intend to go comfort Olivia. I expect she could use a sympathetic shoulder just now.”

With that she turned on her heels and walked away.

Eyes fiercely narrowed at her back, Damien leaned against the tree trunk. He still wanted to hit something. Yet Vanessa’s earnestness had given him pause.

It wasn’t surprising to hear her plead her brother’s case so passionately. He’d expected nothing less, although, strangely enough, he believed her claim that she hadn’t conspired with Rutherford to prey again on Olivia.

The parting shot Vanessa had made about his own character, however, had cut too close to the bone. How can you possibly be an adequate judge of anyone’s character, a man of your lurid past and wicked reputation?

Damien gazed out over the vast gardens, scarcely aware of the fragrant scent of roses surrounding him. What had she said about him that wasn’t true?

If he looked at himself through her eyes, what would he see? A jaded nobleman driven by an unquenchable restlessness, engaged in the reckless pursuit of pleasure and indulgence. He’d always done his damnedest to live up to his name of Lord Sin, filling his world with sophisticated games and sensual depravity. To Vanessa, her brother would seem a veritable innocent in comparison.