Chapter Nineteen
The nasty suspicion that filled his gut brought Adam to knock on Charlene’s door, consequences be damned. If there was the slightest chance she had run into his brother, glimpsed his brother, he had to know.
This is what you get for holding off on telling her your suspicions.
The butler had informed him to wait, but his feet were as restless as his heart. He followed and almost wished he hadn’t.
He heard voices, Charlene’s and another man’s. Her brother?
Then the butler announced, “The Duke of Rotheworth is here to see you, my lady.”
A short silence before, “Tell him I’m not available for callers at the moment—”
Adam stepped up behind the servant before he could think better of it. He needed to see her, and the fact that she didn’t want to see him, confirmed his suspicions.
She knew.
She knew about David.
His eyes fell on her before moving to her companion.
He had expected many things when he decided to call on Charlene, but this was the very last. Her alone in a room with Mr. Grafton.
Not a stranger to the Ton. Not a stranger to him.
The man’s reputation preceded himself. In a good way.
Despite his lack of title, Mr. Grafton wasn’t a bad man.
In fact, he was one of the more respectable ones of the Ton.
And he was here.
Alone.
With Charlene.
He didn’t miss how her gaze swung between him and Mr. Grafton.
The nasty suspicion that filled his gut brought Adam to knock on Charlene’s door, consequences be damned. If there was the slightest chance she had run into his brother, glimpsed his brother, he had to know.
This is what you get for holding off on telling her your suspicions.
The butler had informed him to wait, but his feet were as restless as his heart. He followed and almost wished he hadn’t.
Adam cleared his throat. “Lady Charlene. I’ll only take a moment of your time if you can spare it.”
Mr. Grafton crossed his arms over his chest. “She cannot spare it.”
Adam bit down on his jaw. “And who are you to speak for her?” He cocked his head. “Who are you, anyway?”
“I am family.” He cleared his throat. “A family friend.”
Did being Lord Waylon’s friend make him a family friend? Adam thought not. “That’s quite the coincidence; I am a family friend as well.” The true family friend. Minus some obstacles along the way.
“I’ve never heard of you before,” Mr. Grafton said, and Adam wanted to swat the man trying to provoke him with that statement.
“I haven’t heard about your family relations yet. They must not have been terribly noteworthy.”
“I’m Henry—”
“Names and titles all blend together for me. No need for formal introductions.” I hate any men who come close to Charlene. He didn’t want to lose her to another man again.
Charlene sighed, and Adam’s pulse leaped at that small sound.
He wanted to look at her, stare at her, search for any sign that she was furious or resentful, but he couldn’t with this pompous dandy in the room.
He didn’t want to do anything that would make life even the tiniest bit harder, although he couldn’t seem to stop that from happening either.
“Gentlemen,” she said. “Please, if you cannot be civil, leave.”
“Civil is my first name,” Mr. Grafton said.
“Of course it is,” Adam muttered, but inclined his head. “Civil is the marrow in my bones.”
Charlene pressed her fingers to her temple, as if staving off a headache. “Enough. Both of you.”
Adam clenched his jaw before inhaling a deep breath. “Lady Charlene, please. I came only to speak with you, and a few minutes is all I ask.”
Mr. Grafton, the stubborn fool, did not budge. “I’m afraid that would be improper.”
Improper? “Then by that token, I walked into something improper, didn’t I?”
“Mr. Grafton is waiting for my brother,” Charlene spoke up before she met his gaze. “What could be so pressing that you needed to call on me this very moment?”
He flinched at the note of accusation in her gaze. He couldn’t very well tell her about his brother and that she didn’t show up for their appointment. Not with the barnacle in the room. “There is a matter that came up. It’s imperative—”
“If it was so imperative,” she interrupted, “why only bring it to my attention now?”
“I only confirmed it today.”
“So you had suspicions you couldn’t inform me of? Or didn’t want to inform me of?”
What could he say to that? He could have informed her several times, but he hadn’t wanted to ruin the moment. Ruin her happiness.
And that had left her vulnerable for unwelcome surprises.
“I didn’t mean to keep this from you.”
“But you did.”
He did, yes. And that was perhaps the cruelest part—he always did. Always holding too much back and never finding the perfect timing. What would it cost him this time?
*
Charlene’s heart leaped at the same time her breath seemed to be swallowed into her lungs. She still couldn’t believe Adam had come to her house. He should know how her brother felt about him, and still he came.
But the reason he came…
He was a man caught!
She couldn’t deal with this right now. Her mind was in a shambles. She needed to regroup. To settle this unsettlement inside her as well as gather her wits before she spoke to Adam.
The last thing she wanted to do was to fall apart.
In front of him.
Again.
Once in her lifetime was enough.
It was enough that she was ready to march straight out the door, manners be damned.
Yet her feet remained rooted on the spot.
Fortunately, the tears had dried, but she found herself battling to keep her eyes from attaching themselves to Adam’s face.
Searching. For any sign that he had betrayed her.
Lied to her. Kept the horrible truth that his brother had returned from her.
But with Mr. Grafton here, she couldn’t. Lest their conversation make its way back to her brother. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, but men would always be men. If they thought it was for a woman’s good, her wishes rarely counted.
She’d rather not take the chance.
But she didn’t want to send him away either. He was her shield. At least, for this moment. But Adam’s cryptic, her cryptic conversation…
Mr. Grafton, bless his soul, cleared his throat. “Perhaps this is a conversation for another time?”
Adam dragged a hand through his hair, and all Charlene wanted to do was ease the lines forming between his brows. But she refrained from softening. If she softened now… No, she had to be strong. She had to clear her head.
“I agree. I’m rather tired and think I should get some rest.”
Adam nodded, but he didn’t move an inch. His eyes, dark and broody, stayed locked on hers, and something passed between them. Something that burned hotter than her confusion, than her fear.
Something her addled brain simply couldn’t explain at the moment, but she had to grip her skirts, bunching the fabric in her fists to keep herself from reaching for him. To keep from scattering caution to the wind.
His words from earlier sprang to mind. The comment about properness, and Charlene knew, she just knew, he wouldn’t leave her alone with Mr. Grafton.
She honestly didn’t know what to feel or what to make of this short interaction, but the throbbing that started in her temples didn’t seem like it would go away if she stayed.
So, she said, “Then if you will excuse me, gentlemen, I believe I shall retire to my room.”
Silence stretched.
Then Adam asked in a low, hoarse, tone, “Can I call on you tomorrow?”
She didn’t know how to respond to that. Didn’t know if she could.
All she wanted was to fall back on the bed and forget this day ever happened.
If she could, she would like to return to the moment before she’d spotted David Cross in the crowd.
Any moment before. No, the moment she was in the garden, and she kissed Adam.
But then, that moment was tainted now, wasn’t it?
Because he should have already had his suspicions then, shouldn’t he?
“I just—” he went on, but she shook her head, and he fell silent at once.
“Later,” was all she managed. They could speak later.
When her heart wasn’t so dangerously close to betraying her all over again.