Chapter 21
“Shall I bring your breakfast to George’s room as usual, Your Grace?” Delia asked.
Her mind still on what had happened between her and Damien last night, Caroline simply stared ahead.
She had to set the record straight with him today.
What happened last night was a fluke... a temporary lapse of judgment or perhaps even a moment of insanity.
Even if she had never felt such pleasure before in her entire life, it could not happen again.
While the act had been… indescribably wonderful, the aftereffects had not.
Once she had felt that explosion of pleasure, Damien had gotten up without a word, leaving her still trembling and exposed as he left the parlor.
It left her feeling ashamed and tricked, and she would not, under any circumstances, fall for it again.
It would only complicate things further.
“Your Grace?” Delia repeated.
“No, Delia,” Caroline replied, forcing herself out of her reverie.
“I believe it would be good for George to start taking meals in the dining room. Become more accustomed to such social situations. Please have our breakfast laid out on the table, and do please let Clara know to bring George down once he is awake and dressed.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” Delia answered, curtsying.
Once alone again, Caroline walked to her full-length mirror to examine herself.
She touched her simple braided bun and smoothed her hands down the neat skirts of her dark blue dress.
Her complexion looked as smooth as ever, and her lashes and brows framed her brown eyes perfectly, with not a hair out of place.
She thought she looked the same, she guessed.
Yet she felt utterly different. She examined herself a little longer, searching for any sign of the change she sensed inside.
Finding nothing, she turned with a sigh and left her room.
With sure, steady steps, she went to the dining room, but the moment she saw Damien already there, she felt her shakiness from last night return with a vengeance.
She had not expected him to be there, thinking that he would take his breakfast as he usually did in his study.
From the startled look on his face, it was clear that he had not been expecting to see her either.
“Good morning,” his deep voice rumbled through the room after a moment of silence.
Caroline ignored the wave of pleasure that swept through her as she heard his voice and raised her chin.
“I want you to know that last night changes nothing,” she stated, bypassing returning his greeting. “Our contract still stands and last night was simply…”
Damien raised a single brow as her mind raced to find the appropriate wording.
“A mistake.” The two words came out far less forceful than she had hoped, sounding more like a whispered question than a strict statement. “I still wish to leave as soon as George’s parents are found.”
Damien pressed his lips together as he put down his fork. He looked at her with a studious expression for a long minute, then rose silently from his chair.
“As you wish, wife,” he finally murmured.
Caroline waited, expecting him to say more. To disagree or try to seduce her again. Instead, he walked past her, his shoulder nearly brushing hers as he did so, and did not even turn his head to give her a parting glance.
To her surprise, guilt washed over her as she watched his back grow smaller as he continued walking away. She did not have time to dwell on it, though, for as Damien turned the corner and disappeared down the hall where his study was, George came walking down the stairs.
Caroline put a smile on her face and walked toward him, offering her hand as he reached the bottom.
“Good morning, Georgie,” she greeted warmly.
“Good morning, Cece,” George replied cheerily. If he was still tired from his late-night play, he showed no signs of it. Instead, his brown eyes were bright and alert, and he walked with a pep in his step as they headed back toward the dining room.
“Are we going to start having every meal down here now?” George asked as she helped him into his chair.
“Yes, I believe we shall,” Caroline agreed. “We have started on our other lessons, such as reading, but now we must add others. Such as dining etiquette and polite conversation. This room will give us great practice.”
“Is Jeremy going to join us?” George asked as Caroline took her seat beside him.
She laughed as the servants came forward to fill their plates.
“Jeremy stayed up even later than you did, my darling,” Caroline replied, choosing to leave out the fact that he no doubt had drunk too much. “I suspect that he may not wake up until the afternoon. Do not worry, though, we can have our reading lessons outside until he is ready for our help again.”
“I like Jeremy,” George stated as he stabbed his fork into his eggs. “I think I want to be like him when I grow up.”
Caroline’s brows rose curiously as she waited for him to swallow his bite of eggs.
“Oh? Why is that?” she asked, carving up her sausage link.
“I think he is quite funny,” George said matter-of-factly. “And happy. And he has many friends. I should like to be funny and happy.”
Caroline gave him a serene smile.
“I should like that for you as well, darling,” she replied, reaching over to pat his little hand.
She watched him as he took another look around the table.
“Are you missing something?” Caroline asked.
“Well…” George murmured. “I was wondering if Damien was going to join us.”
Caroline’s brows drew up in surprise as her heartbeat picked up speed.
“Did you… want him to join us?” she asked tentatively.
George turned to her with a half-smile and shrugged.
“I do not know,” he confessed, picking up his spoon. He was quiet as he slowly stirred his porridge.
Caroline patted his hand and gave him an encouraging smile as he looked up at her.
“You can tell me anything, Georgie, I promise,” she told him.
George nodded, but was quiet for another moment.
“He still frightens me sometimes,” the boy confessed with a small frown. “A little. But other times, he is quite nice. Like at dinner last night. And I know he was angry when I got out of bed, but there was a biscuit in my room like he promised. That was nice too.”
Caroline nibbled on her bottom lip as George began to eat his porridge.
George wanted to like Damien; she was sure of it.
She was also quite certain that, despite the fact that Damien was still searching for Georgie’s parents, he did not hold anything against the boy.
She recalled how unsure, how almost timid, he looked when he saw George with her and Jeremy last night, as if he simply had no idea how to act around a child.
Despite what had just happened between them, Caroline felt her desire to be the bridge between the boy and man renewed, and decided to speak on Damien’s behalf.
“You know, for quite a while I was quite afraid of Damien too,” she said, her tone conversational as she picked up her cup of tea. “But then I spent some more time with him, and you know what I learned?”
George looked over at her as he chewed and shook his head. Caroline leaned toward him, giving him a little grin.
“That Damien is much like a bad dog. He barks quite often, and sometimes he growls, too. But he never bites,” she whispered, as if telling him a great secret.
George’s lips split into a wide grin, and he tossed his head back and let out such a pure, mirthful laugh that Caroline forgot her awkwardness with Damien from earlier and laughed with him.
“A bad dog?” George repeated, giggling.
“Exactly,” Caroline said, happy to see the boy so cheerful. “That is all he is. So do not worry. He will not hurt you. I promise.”
George gave an eager nod and spooned up another bite of porridge.
“Now come along,” Caroline gently urged, trading her cup of tea for a fork. “It is a beautiful day outside. Let us finish our breakfast and go enjoy it. I do not think there is anything wrong with having our lessons in the sun, do you?”
Three Days Later
“Do you have another headache, Jeremy?”
Caroline looked up from her book as she heard George’s question and found Jeremy walking into the parlor. She bit back a grin as she took in his wrinkled clothes, messy hair, and the way he rubbed his head as he squinted from the light.
She and George had just finished their morning lessons, and they were taking a small respite in the parlor. Caroline had chosen to read some of her book, and George had been quietly drawing pictures on a large sheet of paper as he lay on his stomach on the rug in the middle of the floor.
“You are very astute, my boy,” Jeremy remarked, stopping in front of the drink cart. “I had a very long night, and now I suffer the consequences. But worry not, it is nothing a little hair of the dog will not fix.”
The sound of a cork popping followed, and Jeremy poured himself a snifter of brandy.
“Does hair of a bad dog work the same?” George asked, cocking his head. “If so, then maybe we could ask Damien for some?”
Caroline stifled a giggle as Jeremy choked on his brandy and looked at George curiously.
“What was that, my boy?” Jeremy asked, looking from George to Caroline.
“Oh, just a little jest he and I share is all,” she replied.
“I see,” Jeremy mused, rubbing at his head again. “And pray, what is the jest?”
“Damien is a bad dog,” George stated matter-of-factly, and went back to his drawing.
Jeremy’s mouth dropped open as his brow furrowed deeper in confusion. Then he closed his eyes, raised his brows comically high, and announced, “You know what? I do believe I am still suffering far too much from bottle-ache to understand this conversation.”
Caroline and George both giggled, and after Jeremy took a moment to ruffle George’s hair, he plopped rather slovenly onto the couch beside Caroline, then took a drink from his glass.
“Does that really help?” she asked quietly, using her eyes to point to the brandy.
Jeremy smacked his lips in satisfaction as he swallowed.
“One cannot suffer from bottle-ache too long if one does not put down the bottle for too long,” Jeremy replied, sinking further into the couch. He then stretched his one leg out onto the carpet as he placed the ankle of his other on his knee, and rubbed at his temple with his free hand.
Caroline closed her book and shifted in her seat to face him.
“Are you saying that you are always foxed?” she asked.
“The varying degrees depend on the time of day and what occurs on said day,” Jeremy answered with a careless shrug.
Though she kept her smile on her face, a sense of worry bloomed through her heart.
“Are you sure that is… healthy for you?” she asked.
Jeremy gave another shrug, appearing, as usual, completely unbothered.
“Oh, we do not always love what is healthy for us. But worry not about me, I have never been better,” he assured, patting her knee. “Enough about me. What are you two up to today? Done with your lessons already?”
George hopped up from the floor and joined them on the couch, adopting the same leisurely position as Jeremy.
His legs could not reach the floor at all, and his tiny leg dangled humorously over the edge of the couch as he tried to balance his other ankle on his knee.
Caroline pressed her lips together, holding back another giggle when he finally succeeded and started rubbing his temple, just like Jeremy was doing.
“I want to go on a picnic today,” George sighed, his tone mimicking Jeremy’s.
Jeremy shifted in his seat to look at George with an amused grin, which the boy immediately imitated.
“You do, do you?” Jeremy asked, clearly amused by his little shadow.
“Yes,” George replied. “Would you come with us? We can bring your favorite drink if you like. Maybe you could even let me try some?”
“No,” Caroline and Jeremy answered in unison, and they immediately followed up with a shared chuckle.
“Like boxing, you must wait until you are older to enjoy my favorite drink,” Jeremy replied. He paused, then added, “Much, much older.”
George pouted, but he did not argue. Caroline smiled at him fondly as she shook her head. The boy was starting to look up to Jeremy, and she was grateful that, even with Jeremy’s more lackadaisical outlook on life, he was still able to be responsible when it came to George.
“So, a picnic!” Jeremy mused, changing the subject. “That sounds delightful. Perhaps under the wonderful shade that the large tree by the pond casts? I do not know how long I would make it if we sat in the sun.”
At the mention of the pond, Caroline’s mind flung her back to her last memory of it. Of seeing Damien’s delicious physique so bare and on display. She blushed as heat pooled in the spot between her thighs and her nipples hardened under her corset.
“Well, I am not sure...” she began to say, but George excitedly jumped up from the couch.
“Oh, yes!” he said excitedly. “And then perhaps after that, you could teach me how to swim?”
Jeremy’s lips drew into a half-grin as he nodded.
“What if we start off with learning how to float?” he asked. “Today seems like a good floating day.”
Caroline chortled, wagering that with the bottle-ache still booming in Jeremy’s head, that was all he could probably muster in terms of exercise.
“Yes,” George readily agreed.
“Very well then,” Jeremy said, slapping his knee. “Let us have our picnic. What do you think? Should we encourage the grump to leave his study for a few short hours and join us? He could probably use some fresh air as well.”
“Are you sure he would want that?” Caroline asked, the words leaving her lips in a rush as her heartbeat quickened.
Though they had seen one another at meals now shared in the dining room, Caroline had not spoken to him since she confessed her momentary lapse of judgment a few days ago.
She was not at all sure if she could keep her mind off what had occurred between them at the pond, and even now she was blushing at what sort of thoughts might form in her mind as they visited the place together again.
Jeremy gave her an odd look, and she quickly shook her head, silently pleading for the heat in her cheeks to dissipate.
“I mean, yes! I suppose we could at least invite him,” she replied, focusing on George. “What do you think?”
George took a moment to ponder, then nodded.
“We should invite the bad dog,” he announced. “Maybe he would feel a little less grumpy if he got to play with us. He could become a good dog!”
“Wait, Damien is the bad dog?” Jeremy asked, then he threw his head back and laughed, an action that George immediately mimicked, and even Caroline giggled.
Though she was hesitant to spend more time with Damien, she knew it was a good thing that George wanted him to go along. They needed to bond, and despite what she felt, she was not going to get in the way of that.