Chapter 29
CAPTAIN JOHN CALDER
Light had only just started creeping through my window when my eyes opened the next morning.
I was out of bed a moment later. I rang for my valet and took less care with my appearance than perhaps I should have.
Evelyn had seen me at my worst, and I was more concerned about reaching her quickly than having my cravat tied in the latest fashion.
Was it too much to hope that she and I would be the first in the breakfast room and we might have a few more moments alone together?
Whether or not it was too much to hope, I was doing just that.
I pulled open the breakfast room door to find I was the third person to arrive. General Blackwell and his wife were there, seated at the table with their plates full.
My feet stumbled to a stop. I’d greeted General Blackwell each morning with a respectful nod but on those other mornings my thoughts hadn’t been quite so full of his daughter. I swallowed hard and brought my heels together, stopping my hand just before it rose to a shaky salute.
Had I gone daft? I brought my hand down and gave them each a short bow instead.
I’d fully intended to speak to both of them soon, just not quite this soon.
Evelyn and I had left too many things unsaid last night, being preoccupied with .
. . other things. Did she want me to wait until the end of the week before approaching her parents, or had we nullified that possibility with our behavior last night?
“Captain,” General Blackwell said, his greeting crisp and short with undertones of disapproval. An undertone of disapproval was never a good thing when it came from the general. Mrs. Blackwell, who’d always greeted me with a broad smile, gave me only the shortest of nods.
I should have allowed my valet time to tie a better knot.
My hands were steady as I filled my plate at the sideboard, even if I was very aware of their eyes upon my back. I scooped up dishes without even noticing what I was choosing and then joined them at the table.
General Blackwell set his fork down to the side of his plate and looked me in the eye with his steely gaze. “I expect you to join me in my study after breakfast, Captain. We need to speak privately.”
I nodded precisely. “Of course.”
Had a servant seen us leaving the library long after everyone else was abed?
We should have been more careful. In fact, I should have sent her to bed without doing anything more than telling her my intent to court her.
I’d been foolish and rash, and I’d taken advantage of the general’s hospitality and trust.
Evelyn had been undeniably alluring last night and I’d fallen blissfully into that temptation.
I should have been more careful.
Was there a chance Evelyn regretted last night and spoke to General Blackwell about discouraging me? Had I been so caught up in my own emotions that I read everything wrong? It wouldn’t be the first time.
I clenched my jaw. Even I couldn’t be that mistaken. Evelyn asking me to kiss her was a far cry from Miss Pryor misplacing her glove.
Still, I had to know the reason behind my icy welcome. I couldn’t sit here eating breakfast with Evelyn’s parents without knowing why I’d fallen from grace. “Is this about your daughter?”
A muscle ticked in General Blackwell’s jaw and he glanced at the open door. “We will speak of it later.”
It was definitely because of Evelyn. Last night I not only spoke brazenly to this man’s daughter, I kissed her a fair amount as well.
The harsh morning sun shed an uncomfortable light on my actions.
We ate in silence for several moments until two more “good mornings" were murmured softly behind me.
I turned to find Evelyn and Miss Pryor, both in white day dresses. Both smiling. I jolted to my feet. “Good morning,” I responded, my eyes on Evelyn. She looked refreshed and beautiful with a light in her eyes I swear hadn’t been there yesterday.
I left the table without a second thought and went to the sideboard, took up a plate, and bowed to Evelyn. “May I assist you?”
But before she could answer, her eyes widened and lifted to a spot just above my shoulder. Her plate was torn from my hands.
“I’ll help her,” General Blackwell said from behind me, his voice dangerously low.
Evelyn furrowed her brows. “Papa?”
“I need to speak with Captain Calder, and until I do, you two will maintain distance from each other.”
For a general’s daughter, Evelyn wasn’t good at blindly following commands. “But why?”
General Blackwell started placing cold meats on her plate. “You will have to wait until after I speak to him to ask me about that as well.”
She folded her arms over her chest. “Why can’t you simply speak of it now?”
General Blackwell dropped Evelyn’s plate down on the sideboard between the dried fruit and cold meats. “Because anyone could walk in this room, and it is a private matter.”
I stepped to Evelyn’s side. If the general was going to be upset with anyone, it should be me.
I was the one who should have kept a cool head.
It really would be best if I met with him later, alone.
I placed a hand on Evelyn’s arm but she pulled it away and glared at her father.
“Does this private matter between you and Captain Calder concern me?”
General Blackwell’s eyes were like a steel trap when he looked at me. I’d seen anger like that in him before. It never boded well. “I sincerely hope not.”
Evelyn furrowed her brows. “Papa, what have you heard?” Her brows relaxed and she stepped forward. “Is it because of that woman in white nonsense?”
Oh.
It could be that. I could explain away that night. That night everything had been accidental. Brookhouse’s woman in white was a beacon of hope on this strange morning.
“Miss Blackwell,” I started, because her father was right. Everything could be spoken of later, when privacy was guaranteed, not while the four of us stood around the breakfast sideboard. “I think . . . ”
But she took her plate from where her father had dropped it and forcefully added several more slices of meat. “I’m the woman Brookhouse was speaking of. Captain Calder was in the throes of the ague and I cared for him. Would you have preferred I let him die, wet and alone?”
He took the plate back. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Evelyn snagged it back and a roll toppled off of it and onto the ground. “Captain Calder was trying to protect my reputation.”
General Blackwell reached over her, grabbed another roll and dropped it onto her plate. “Nothing could damage your reputation with me.”
Tempers lowered and the soft morning light came out from behind a cloud and brightened the room.
“I know that, Papa, and I said as much to Captain Calder that morning.” She gave him a smile and a shrug.
“And I was planning to tell you and Mama, but then he arrived here hoping to court Hattie and I thought it would be awkward for everyone if I made the story known.”
“He what?” General Blackwell stiffened in a way that those who didn’t know him might not find imposing, but I’d seen that stance and it was a dangerous one.
Miss Pryor's eyes flashed to mine and she stepped away from me. “You did?”
I pursed my lips together and gave Evelyn a very pointed look. No secrets from her family, she’d said.
“I did.” I glanced back and forth between Miss Pryor and General Blackwell.
Mrs. Blackwell must have realized something quite interesting was occurring at the sideboard, for she stood from the table and walked toward us.
It seemed my private conversation with the general was not going to be private at all.
Thankfully, I knew Evelyn would rather not keep secrets from her family anyway.
“Because of the glove,” Evelyn said with a sigh.
I nodded.
“The glove I lost?” Miss Pryor asked with confusion. “Why is there suddenly so much concern over a glove I misplaced six years ago?”
I grimaced. I really had been a poor, lonely fool. “I thought you left it for me on purpose.”
Miss Pryor’s hand went to her throat. “But we barely knew each other.”
I nodded. “I see that now. But at the time—”
“I don’t care about a blasted glove.” General Blackwell rubbed a hand down his face. “I want to know if you treated my daughter with respect that night. I want to know if I need to run you through.”
“Papa,” Evelyn said with a laugh, “don’t be dramatic. And if you are going to make a threat, at least make it sound plausible. You are much more likely to use pistols than swords.”
It was my turn to take a step back from the sideboard.
“I’m certain your father is willing to carry out such a threat,” I said pointedly.
She trusted in the love her father had for her, but I wasn’t so fortunate, and the truth was I had acted improperly that night, and even more so last night.
General Blackwell’s jaw was clenched and his cheeks uncommonly ruddy.
He was posed and ready to spring into action.
If Evelyn had ever learned to be biddable, now would be an excellent time for her to polish up that rusty skill. “If it were warranted.”
“Do you think so?” She smiled at me and then at her father.
I’d seen hundreds of men cower before General Blackwell, and I’d commanded respect as well, but apparently Evelyn Blackwell outranked us both, for despite my caution and her father’s barely contained outrage, there wasn’t an ounce of fear in her eyes.
She had both of us wrapped around her finger.
“John kissed me that night in the croft, and I’m afraid it was quite disrespectful. I barely knew him.”
I groaned and stepped back again. It seemed biddability was off the table. Of course it was. What had I gotten myself into?
Evelyn lifted her shoulder and grinned as if I should have known what I signed myself up for when I linked my life with hers. I shook my head softly in her direction and then turned to her father.
“I have since apologized,” I said, clear enough for my words to be heard, but without the force of a man who was trying to defend himself. I had no defense, and just as I had suspected, my words meant nothing.
With a growl, General Blackwell took two broad steps to my side and then grabbed the back of my collar, dragging me away from Evelyn. I fell backward, held up only by General Blackwell’s substantial hand and by the heels of my boots which slid along the floor.
I grabbed my collar at the base of my throat and pulled it forward to protect my airway. I didn’t blame the general. I would do the same if someone insulted my daughter. And even though his hands were rough and my feet knocked about the furniture, I couldn’t help the grin that rose to my face.
Evelyn was going to marry me. She would never have told this story—not in that salacious manner—if she didn’t also plan on softening the blow by informing her parents we wanted to marry.
Not unless she actually wanted General Blackwell to shoot me.
Based on the way her eyes shimmered with endearing pleasure at the sight of both me and her father, I had to assume she did not.
This was a rather inauspicious welcome to the Blackwell family, but it was a welcome nonetheless.
My besotted musings were interrupted when my knee rammed into a dining chair and toppled it to the ground. Mrs. Blackwell gasped and called out her husband’s name.
“This is how you repay my generosity?” General Blackwell grunted, pulling me by force toward the doorway. I barely registered the pain. Heaven help me, some day I probably would be dragging men out of rooms. Our daughters would likely be just as headstrong and unpredictable as their mother.
“Papa, stop. You are upsetting Mama and the furniture.” Evelyn chided her father as if he’d taken the last biscuit from the tray and not like he was physically dragging me from the breakfast room.
Her faith in her father’s goodwill was mightier than my own.
But my trust in Evelyn was unshakable. My life was not in danger.
“I would have shot him if it had actually been necessary.”
Ah. Apparently my life was not in danger—yet.
General Blackwell stopped but he didn’t release me. We were just inside the open doorway.
I raised an eyebrow at Evelyn, a feat quite impressive considering how little air was making it into my lungs.
I pulled down my collar with all my might so I could get another solid breath of air.
Then I craned my head back so I could look the general in the eye.
“I have no memory of the night we spent together,” I croaked as loudly as I could manage.
Even still, I wasn’t certain my words would make it through to him.
His face was still exceedingly red and it couldn’t have only been from the exertion of dragging me out of the breakfast room.
“That hardly makes it better,” Miss Pryor’s voice was only just above a whisper behind me. What a muddled mess. I took another gulping breath.
“General,” I raised my voice loud enough he wouldn’t be able to miss it. “I was completely delirious when I kissed Evelyn in the shepherd’s croft.”
The pressure on my collar immediately released and I dropped to the floor.
The whole room had gone silent—too silent after all the commotion of chairs toppling as I was being dragged away against Evelyn’s wishes. Everyone was looking behind me at the entrance to the room.
With dread knotting my stomach, I rolled over.
Mrs. Wickerton stood in the doorway, the diminutive features of her face frozen in shock.
She blinked rapidly, glancing first at Evelyn, then at me on the ground, and finally up at General Blackwell looming over me.
A slow, steady smile grew upon her narrow lips. With shaking hands she opened her reticule and pulled out her little book.
Mrs. Wickerton licked one of her fingers and then flicked through the pages of her book until she came to a blank one. “Am I to understand felicitations are in order?”
“No,” General Blackwell growled.
But Evelyn crossed the room, calmly stepping over my legs, and took Mrs. Wickerton’s free hand into her own. “They most certainly are. Thank you. We are delighted you are the first to know.”