Chapter 28
KENDRICK
We stood like that for what seemed an eternity. Then Penham looked down at his right shoulder, where blood was seeping through the layers of his clothing. His eyes lifted to meet mine before swiveling to the left.
I followed his gaze to see someone racing across the field.
Caroline.
My stomach clenched as I waited to see whether she’d go to him.
Women were such delicate creatures, after all.
And I might have played right into Penham’s hands, allowing him to appear the wounded hero.
Caroline came to a halt midway between Penham and me.
Her jaw was tight, her breath coming in pants. She turned and walked toward me.
She stopped when she reached my side. “Are we done here?”
I nodded.
“Caroline—” Penham called out to her.
She whipped around and glared at him. “Enough of this nonsense. I don’t know what you and my brother thought was going to happen here, but I am not impressed by your theatrics.
” She turned to me again, and I didn’t miss the way her eyes swept up and down my body.
She let out a relieved sigh when she saw I was uninjured.
“I would appreciate it if you could escort me back to my carriage.”
Silently, I offered her my arm. For a moment, I thought she was going to refuse it, but she finally relented and placed her hand in the crook of my elbow.
I nodded to my friends, who were watching the scene unfold from the side, and led her to where my carriage was waiting.
We’d already reached it when she realized the direction we’d been headed.
She was definitely more upset than she was willing to let on.
“This isn’t my carriage.”
“No, but I can see you’re distraught. Please allow me to escort you home.”
Her eyes searched mine. “I came in Lord Moreland’s carriage… And my maid is waiting for me.”
“Moreland is here. He’ll take care of it.”
She hesitated, unsure. Finally, she nodded and allowed me to help her into the carriage. I instructed my driver to take us to Caroline’s home first, then I joined her, settling onto the bench opposite her.
Heavy silence blanketed the air, and I watched as Caroline stared down at her clenched hands. When she’d said nothing for a full minute, I could no longer take the quiet.
“I’m sorry you had to witness that.”
When she looked up, I saw her lower lip tremble. I wanted to curse but somehow stopped myself. “Penham will be fine. It was only a shoulder wound.”
She reached across the carriage and hit my arm. “You could have been hurt. What were you thinking?”
Her statement took me aback. “I was thinking that I’m not the type of man to run away from a challenge.” I rose and moved to sit next to her.
She glared at me. “Penham is a fool. I wouldn’t have cared if you refused his challenge.”
“But I care. I can’t have people thinking me a coward.”
She hit my arm again. “Heaven forbid people think you a coward. If you had died out there, they would have said you’d gone foolishly to your grave, but at least you acted bravely.”
I examined her face, taking note of the taut line of her jaw, the way she pressed her lips together, and something shifted in my chest.
“Caroline,” I asked slowly, “were you worried about me?”
She huffed out a breath. “Of course I was worried about you.”
“But you weren’t worried about Penham or your brother, who acted as his second?”
“My brother was in no danger. And if he’d been hurt, it would have served him right.”
I frowned. “What if he’d taken Penham’s place against me? Penham wanted me to destroy the promissory note. An argument could be made that your brother also had a right to engage in the duel.”
She snorted. “Henry isn’t that brave, or that foolish. Penham, on the other hand, is.” She shook her head. “And you…”
“What about me?”
She let out a breath. “I knew you wouldn’t kill him or hurt him terribly.
Although, you should have aimed for his leg.
That would have kept him home for the rest of the season.
As it is, he’ll don a sling and wear that injury as a badge of honor.
I can just imagine how he’ll spin a tail about how he was hurt by a blackguard while trying to defend a woman’s honor. ”
I stared at her, stunned. How was it possible that this woman cared more about me being injured than her own brother?
“You couldn’t have known I wouldn’t kill him.”
She actually smiled. “You’re a smart man, Kendrick. You know dueling is illegal, and you wouldn’t draw that type of attention to yourself or your friends. It is one thing for people to turn a blind eye when someone receives a superficial wound, but it is quite another when someone is killed.”
I shook my head. “How are you so clever when…”
She snorted. “When my brother is a lackwit?” She laughed louder. “Apparently, I received all the intelligence in this family.”
“And all the beauty,” I said.
Her eyes met mine and held. In the short time I’d known Caroline, I’d watched her deflect comments about her beauty and change the subject.
But she was so much more than what fools like Penham and the others saw when they looked at her.
She was a woman any man would be honored to call his wife, and not just because she’d look pretty on his arm.
If they looked deeper, they’d see how special she was. The thought terrified me.
She searched my features. “What are you thinking? You have a very strange expression.” She licked her lips, and I wanted to groan. “Have you decided that I’m not worth all this trouble? Heaven knows I wouldn’t blame you.”
She looked away and leaned back against the seat cushion, crossing her arms over her chest.
The backs of my hands brushed against her breasts as I reached for her hands. She sucked in a shocked breath, her gaze flying to mine, but didn’t protest when I captured her hands and held them between us.
“I’m thinking that, while your brother is a fool, he might have done me the biggest favor any man could do for another when he wrote your name on that note.”
Her mouth dropped open and I waited to see what she would say. The air in the carriage seemed to thicken around us as we continued our slow progress through the streets.
Finally, she shook her head. “I don’t understand what’s happening here.”
“The truth, my dear, is that it would have been a shame if we’d never met.”
She licked her lips again, and I wanted nothing more than to draw her into my arms. But I wouldn’t take advantage of her when she was still distraught. “I’m going to take you home now, Caroline. But you should know that I’ve decided we should get to know each other better.”
She shook her head again. “You’re not looking for a wife, and I’m not looking for a husband.”
I dropped a kiss onto the center of one palm, enjoying the way she shivered. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t spend time together.” My eyes were steady on hers. “I know you find me attractive. I also know that you want me to kiss you right now.”
Her eyes fell to my mouth, and it took everything in me not to do just that.
If she were any other woman, I would already be kissing her, but I wanted Caroline to come to me with full understanding of what I was proposing.
I wouldn’t force her, but I wanted her completely, and she needed to know that it was her choice. I didn’t want her to have any regrets.
The carriage slowed, and I glanced out the window. “We’re almost at your house.”
She shook her head, and I felt the disappointment keenly. “No?”
She shook her head again. “No, I think I want to go to your home.”
My blood turned thick in my veins. I should refuse. “Perhaps you need to think about this.”
She leaned forward. Her mouth was only inches from mine.
“I’ve thought about nothing else, and today showed me one thing.
If something had happened to you on that field, if Penham had managed to hurt you or…
” She shook her head as if unable to complete that thought.
“If anything had happened, my one regret would have been not knowing what it was like to be with you.”
She didn’t need to say anything more. I was a weak man, after all.
I tapped on the roof of the carriage and leaned forward to open the small window that allowed me to speak directly to the driver. “There’s been a change of plans. Take me home.”
The carriage sped up then, and I turned to Caroline. “If you change your mind…”
She smiled, and the look in her eyes hit me square in the middle of my chest. “I’m not going to change my mind.”