Page 43 of An Unwilling Earl
“I know you said not to, but I couldn’t help but feel that we needed to explore—”
“We?We?There is nowe, my lord. This is me. All me.”
“You asked me to help you—”
“To get toAmerica.” Her voice was rising to an alarming level. “I asked you to help me get to America. I didn’t ask you to meddle in my life and talk to my mother’s family!”
“They’re your family, too.” He’d known she wouldn’t be happy, but he never thought she’d be furious. And there was no doubt that she was furious. Her eyes were dark and stormy, her arms locked at her side, and she was trembling. But good God, despite that, she was magnificent. Truly a sight to behold and he was drawn to this storm that was Charlotte.
“They are not my family. They weren’t there when my mother died. They weren’t there to help my father with a newborn daughter. They weren’t there when I was forced to live with my horrid aunt.”
“They—”
She held up her hand, and he shut his mouth. This was the Charlotte who had walked out of her aunt’s house into an unknown future. This was the Charlotte who had survived the rookery. “I don’t want to hear any more about them. They are nothing to me. How dare you?” she whispered. “How dare you go behind my back and do this to me.”
She’d taken his actions as a personal attack, and that was far from the truth. “I just wanted to help.”
“You can keep your help. I don’t need it.” She marched out of the room, and he followed her.
“Where are you going?”
“Out.”
“I will go with you.”
She laughed, but it was a mirthless, cold, laugh. “I don’t think so.”
“It’s getting dark. It’s not safe for you to be out there alone.”
She turned to him, and he inwardly winced at the naked anger in her eyes. “I think I’ve proven that I can take care of myself.”
“That was when you had a disguise. I know you’re angry with me, and that is fine, but don’t put yourself in danger.”
She hesitated, and her shoulders drooped as she passed a hand over her eyes. “I can’t believe you did that even after we discussed it and I told you I didn’t want them involved.”
“I just think Lord Chadley could be a valuable ally. He’s a powerful marquess, well liked in Society. And…” He hesitated, not knowing how much he should say or how far he could push her, but he wanted to her to know what he’d learned today.
“You may as well say it,” she said wearily. “I can see you’re dying to.”
“He wants to meet you, Charlotte. He wants to get to know you.”
“He told you that.” She didn’t look convinced, and he didn’t blame her. The Chadleys had done wrong by Harriet and by Charlotte and her father. So much needless suffering.
“Yes, he told me that. He’s not like your grandfather. He was truly shocked by the story I told him, and angry at your treatment at the hands of your aunt. He wants to do what is right.”
“He’s a few years too late, don’t you think?”
“I think he’s aware of that, but he wants to make it up to you.”
“He can’t make up for the last five years of hell that I lived with my aunt. He can’t make up for the fact that my father and I were cut off from any family for the entirety of my life. He can’t make anything up to my mother, who died knowing her family never forgave her.”
“He wants to at least try…with you.”
She considered him for a long time, her toe tapping on the hardwood floor, her eyes narrowed into angry slits of glittering blue sapphire, and her lips pressed together in a furious line.
“I’m not interested,” she finally said.
Jacob let out a pent-up breath. She was being obstinate, letting her anger dictate her actions. But what would he have done in her case? Could he put aside years and years of betrayal to forgive so easily? “Very well. I will let him know.”
