Page 29 of An Unwilling Earl
Charlotte seemed to want to say more but instead she walked out, and Jacob followed, taking one last look at Suzette before he closed the door behind him. She had his card clutched in her hand and was wiping tears from her eyes.
They did not speak as Charlotte led him back through the rookery. It was getting dark, and it felt like darkness touched this place first before it fell over London.
Chapter Ten
Jacob hailed a hansom cab as soon as they emerged from the rookery and helped Charlotte climb in as he told the driver where to take them. He felt better knowing she was confined to the carriage, so she couldn’t run back to Suzette, even if she was so inclined.
“Suzette was wrong,” he said after a time. “That’s not why I’m asking you to stay with me.”
“She’s lived a rough life. She doesn’t trust many people.”
“Although I can certainly see why she would think that.”
“She doesn’t know my past. She doesn’t know what you know.”
“If it makes you feel better there is a lock on the door to the room you will be staying in. I have no intention of…making you a mistress.” His cheeks were hot with embarrassment, and he couldn’t look at her. Good Lord but he felt like a young lad, unsure how to act around a woman. Silly, considering he’d been married once.
“Do you already have a mistress?” she asked.
“No! Good Lord, Charlotte. Some of the things you say.” His cheeks felt like they were on fire.
“A lot of men do, you know. It’s in their nature.”
“Is that your aunt talking or you?”
“A bit of both, I guess. She doesn’t like men much.”
“I gathered that.”
Charlotte leaned back and sighed, and it seemed that at least some of the weight of her worries left her shoulders.
“Are you sad to leave Suzette?”
“Yes and no. I wasn’t surprised that Suzette refused to come with me. She doesn’t know any other life. But she is also my friend. If it weren’t for Suzette I wouldn’t have survived as long as I did in the rookery. I’d like to help her like she helped me.”
“We can go back and try to convince her.”
“She won’t come. I think a different sort of life scares her.”
She fell silent, and he left her to her thoughts. Suzette had opened his mind, and he worried what people would think when they learned that he had taken in a woman. It wouldn’t look good for either of them, especially now that he was an earl. Those implications had not occurred to him until now, but he wouldn’t have done it any other way. To hell with what people thought.
And the idea of Charlotte as his mistress, well that was just preposterous. Charlotte Morris would make someone a good wife one day. She was smart and funny, and she would keep her husband on his toes. But she would make a horrible mistress. She was too much her own person. And personal belongings,things, didn’t seem to matter to her.
“You’re thinking deep thoughts,” she said, looking at him from beneath her lids as she rested her head against the squabs. Even dressed like a lad, she was beautiful.
“Do you worry what people will say when they learn you’re living with me?”
“What people? I have no friends except Sarah. Her mother might pitch a fit, but it makes no difference to me. And you were right when you said it won’t matter in my new life because I’ll be a completely different person. Areyouworried?”
“Maybe.”
“Ah. I see. Do you regret trying to save me?”
“Not at all. Please don’t think that.”
“Then let’s not worry about something that hasn’t happened yet.”
…
