Page 83 of Unforeseen Affairs
He took her hand in his. Thunder clapped, louder than before.
“And I am glad for it.” Colin smiled. “I feel similarly about the Navy, in a way. It taught me to be disciplined, loyal… to be honorable.”
She dropped her hand, the slick kid of her glove slipping easily from his grasp.
“Honorable?”
“Yes,” he said, his face solemn. “I don’t wish for you to worry—”
They both started at another crack of thunder, this time nearly right above them.
“Worry?”
“If, by chance…” He flushed. “Well. If I were to have gotten you with child, I don’t wish you to worry, for—”
“Oh.” She cut him off again, with an unconcerned little snort of a laugh. “No, I’m not worried on that account. I’ve been noting the days of my courses for some time now.”
“The days of… I see. If you’re certain.”
“Positive.” She looked down and shook out her skirts, then abruptly changed the subject. “We look like half-drowned cats.”
Colin’s heart hurt. When the next thunderclap cracked, he could swear his teeth rattled.
Charlotte remained placid, and she did not cry out or reach for him. He did not expect her to, as much as he wished it; she was a resolute woman. It was one of the many reasons he admired her so.
“Yes,” he agreed mildly, his head awhirl. “Bedraggled.”
“Even if we were to arrive without further delay, I do not think we shall be able to attend this evening’s show without first bathing,” she said, crossing the small space under the shelter to pat the neck of her horse, who nickered at the attention.
“Or without a new set of clothes,” he sighed.
If only he hadn’t ruined their rail travel plans… but then he would never have lain with her. He’d never have realized that perhaps Charlotte Sedley could be wooed, could be courted. Perhaps she could be with him every night, in his bed. They could share their mornings, and their days as well. He’d realized for certain that he didn’t want to live alone, hiding from the world within the walls of his house, forever.
For some reason, that realization felt as if it had come far too late.
Colin crossed his arms just as another peal of thunder rolled across the sky, still powerful but no longer directly overhead. The storm was moving away from them. His throat still felt thick. For several more minutes they listened as the storm passed, each roll of thunder slightly more muted than the last, until the streams of rainwater spilling off the roof had slowed to a trickle, and the deafening hammer of the downpour had reduced to a gentle pitter-patter.
Charlotte turned to Colin and took his hand. He squeezed it, his entire body relaxing tiredly as he sighed in relief.
“Shall we get on with it, then?” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “Perhaps our room in Manchester will have a tub.”
Our room.
She must care for him. Even if in no capacity other than the purely physical, carnal way that any fool could feel for a handsome face and a charming figure.
Colin smiled, feeling like an absolute sop.
At least his head was holding steady. For now.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Charlottestaredatthebanner hanging high above her on the façade of the theater. It was bright and clean, newly hung.
The Astounding Thaddeus Taggart Bass, it read in large, flourishing script. And then below that, in smaller block text,Engagements twice daily.
She studied the depiction of him on the banner, with his too-long hair and risible mustache. His arm was extended toward a cloud with something obscured behind it. Something astounding, she supposed. Though perhaps not to her, for she’d seen his entire act before.
All of it complete duffery.
