Chapter Four #2
He continued walking until he came upon a park.
He knew it was near Grosvenor. Finding a bench, he sat down.
The skies were still gray, but it hadn’t stopped people from coming out for a walk.
There were more than he figured would have been outside.
They would go scurrying home the moment the rain began.
He didn’t want to go home because that would be the first place Arthur would look for him.
His conscience wouldn’t allow him to worry that his brother, newfound or otherwise, was out looking for him.
Sitting for a time, caught up in people watching, Charles finally rose and began walking toward the house, estimating it was at least eight blocks from the park.
He needed Frazier to help him put this right.
He didn’t need his brother being ashamed of him, but Arthur needed to understand him better.
He felt peace within himself as he saw the house come into view. He hoped it was quiet and not a lot going on. He’d rather not run into anyone. All he wanted was to go to his rooms without having to answer a lot of questions from well-meaning people.
A footman opened the front door and Charles walked past, leaving his hat and coat on a chair. He was walking toward the steps that led to the family’s quarters when Daphne came toward him out of nowhere.
“Arthur stopped by and mentioned what happened,” she said.
“I didn’t mean to worry him.”
“He understood why you left and said if he had been in a position to, he would have fled too,” she replied with a smile. She grabbed hold of his hand and began pulling him toward the drawing room. “Come have a cup of tea with me. I’m sure you must be chilled.”
Charles understood he was caught and shouldn’t be rude and decline. “That sounds nice.”
He entered the drawing room and a blonde-headed young woman caught his eye as she sat on a settee near the fire. She was a slip of a thing, wearing a lavender and gray day dress. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Never had he encountered such a beauty. She smiled demurely at him.
“Cathryn, may I introduce my brother-in-law, Lord Charles.” She turned to Charles. “Charles, this is a very old friend of mine, Lady Cathryn Beckman.”
Charles nodded as she extended her hand. “Lady Beckman, a pleasure, I’m sure.”
“Very nice to meet you as well. I wasn’t aware until today that Lord Arthur had a brother. Daphne explained it all. Amazing likeness.”
“We’re identical twins,” he replied.
“Would you care for a cup of tea, Charles?” Daphne asked him with a bemused smile on her face.
“I don’t wish to interrupt. I need to find my valet and go over some matters with him. Another time.”
“Frazier isn’t here. He went to pick up some shirts I believe you’d ordered,” Daphne said.
“He could have had them sent to the house.” He sighed and sat down on a gold damask high back chair.
“Will you take a cup of tea now?” Lady Cathryn asked. She was smiling, and looking at her made his insides act strange.
“Yes, thank you. No milk or sugar, please.”
He noted Daphne had a smile on her face.
Women tended to do that a lot. Why, he wasn’t sure.
His knowledge of women was limited. Mostly older women.
People thought him an oddity and kept their daughters away from him.
He rarely went to social events. His life was changing, and intermingling with the fairer sex was something he’d have to get used to.
Accepting the tea from Lady Cathryn, Charles stared down at it for a moment. “Is your father an MP?”
“No,” she replied, sitting back down. “He had some business here and my mother wanted to shop so he brought us both along.”
“That seems to be a favorite thing among the ladies.”
“It is,” Daphne replied. “Lady Cathryn is an accomplished musician. I’ve never heard anyone play as well as she does.”
He arched a brow. “I play as well.”
“When did you start? I believe I was about seven when I began,” Lady Cathryn inquired.
“I really don’t remember a time when I didn’t play.”
“Lady Cathryn’s playing at a musicale we’ve been invited to. Perhaps you’d like to join us, Charles,” Daphne asked with a twinkle in her eye.
Recalling today’s events, he wasn’t sure if that wouldn’t be a disaster as well. He took a sip of tea before answering his sister-in-law.
“Let’s see what Arthur has to say since I wasn’t included in the invitation.”
Lady Cathryn placed her teacup on a table beside her. “I’m sure they wouldn’t mind, and I’d love for you to come hear me play.”
There was something about Lady Cathryn that had his body reacting in ways that it normally wouldn’t.
She intrigued him. Not only was she beautiful but she had the most amazing lavender eyes he’d ever seen, and her voice was soft and soothing.
She wasn’t pushy, vying for his complete attention, but rather let him speak when he wanted and took an interest in what he had to say.
On top of all that, his cock was hard and caused him to try and sit without anyone noticing.
“If you want to come along with us, I can inquire with our hostess and see if she would mind one more guest. I don’t think she will since you’re Arthur’s brother,” Daphne said.
“Daphne’s right. I’m sure they’ll be delighted to have you.”
He scrubbed his beard with a hand and looked at each of the two women. “If you don’t think it’s rude to ask to bring an extra person, go ahead and ask.”
“Wonderful!” Lady Cathryn said.
Daphne looked at him for a moment. “I’ll double check with Arthur first, but I’m sure he’ll agree.”
“Thank you.” He looked about the room. “Where is Sam?” He’d learned quickly that the parrot was always nearby.
“I had him removed because he was saying too many naughty words,” Daphne replied with a grin.
Charles grinned as well. “They must have been really bad if you banished him.”
“Trust me, he was.”
Picking up a plate, Lady Cathryn addressed him. “Would you like some cake or sandwiches, Lord Charles?”
He needed to get out of here and go to his rooms. She was a distraction he didn’t know how to deal with. Looking at Daphne out of the corner of his eye, he knew he had better accept her offer.
“Yes, a piece of seed cake would be nice,” he replied.
As Daphne poured him another cup of tea, Lady Cathryn added a slice of seed cake to his plate, along with two sandwiches.
“Here you go, Lord Charles. Your sister-in-law has an excellent baker. The seed cake is delicious.”
He took a bite. She was right; it was delicious.
There was so much out there calling his name.
His entire life had been one of being alone, eating whatever he cooked or made.
He’d never been exposed to delectable treats like this seed cake.
The cake was just the tip of the iceberg, and he wanted to try it all.
He then picked up a cucumber sandwich which was quite dainty and only took him one bite.
The second one was made with eggs, and after eating it, he couldn’t decide which was better. The egg or the cucumber.
Hearing the clock on the mantel chime, he knew he’d overstayed his intended time.
He needed to go to his rooms and look for his notebook.
He had a lot to write about today. Maybe writing his encounter and feelings about Lady Cathryn would help him understand better, though he doubted it.
No one had taught him about the fairer sex. This was uncharted territory to him.
Finishing his tea quickly, he stood to his full height. “Ladies, this has been enjoyable. It was a pleasure to meet you, Lady Cathryn,” he said, adding, “If you’ll excuse me, I need to find my valet to see if a package has arrived.”
“It was nice meeting you as well,” Lady Cathryn replied with a smile.
He walked across the room as quickly as he thought acceptable. The moment he was out of range of the closed doors, he quickly went up the stairs and to his suite of rooms. Shutting the doors behind him, he went to look for Frazier who was putting away freshly cleaned clothes.
“Did my package come?” he asked anxiously, referring to a supply of notebooks, pens, and pencils.
“Yes, it’s on the desk,” Frazier replied with a nod.
“Excellent.”
Frazier turned toward him with a smirk on his face. “Rumor through downstairs has Lady Daphne inviting you to tea with her and her friend, Lady Cathryn.”
“Yes, I thought it would be rude to decline,” Charles replied. He turned to walk to the desk.
“You would have been correct.”
“I need to make sure this order is correct so I can get back to work on my book.”
Frazier grunted as Charles walked out of the dressing room.
Charles quickly cut the string holding the paper around his order.
Gently, he lifted the stack of paper out.
The pens and notebooks had been on top of the paper.
He put them aside to make sure the paper was the correct type he wanted.
Seeing it was, he opened the right-hand desk drawer and placed it on top of the remaining few sheets he had left.
The notebooks were nothing fancy. Two were of the size that they could fit in his pocket and the other two were larger.
He preferred these for making notes or writing his daily activities if there were something worth writing about.
His introduction to Lady Cathryn and his odd feelings made it perfect to put this to paper.
Frazier walked in the room. “I understand you had a hard time at lunch.”
“Who told you?”
“One of the footmen who travels with the duke.”
“Then you know I walked out of the dining room and kept going.”
“Yes, though why you did it, they did not convey.”
“A rather loud and obnoxious gentleman stopped by the table and began going on about Arthur and me being twins. I couldn’t take it.”
“You’re going to have to learn to accept and live with the fact that there are all sorts of people. Some are nice, some are not. His Grace doesn’t know you that well yet. I’m sure it made him frantic until he realized that leaving was a coping mechanism for you.”
“I’ll make my apologies to Arthur when he arrives home.”
“I know he’ll appreciate that. You are trying, I will say that much. You’re taking walks and putting yourself in uncomfortable situations. I call that trying, and you certainly have done a lot of that.”
“Your encouragement has helped me.”
Frazier ignored the compliment for a moment. “Dinner is at seven-thirty with drinks in the drawing room at seven.”
“That leaves me with some time to relax. Make sure I have plenty of time to change.”