Page 53 of Unforeseen Affairs
“I apologize for my intrusion, sir.” Colin bowed his head slightly, then looked to Miss Sedley. He started, for she was as blasé as ever, going so far as to yawn into the back of her hand.
He cleared his throat and spoke again.
“Only I encountered Miss Sedley…” Colin paused. He’d better tread as close to the truth as possible. “I encountered Miss Sedley at an engagement in Bayswater, and I promised to see her home safely, as the hour was growing late, and she was without a chaperone.”
Lying by omission to protect a young lady was certainly the lesser evil in this situation, wasn’t it? Colin could not say with certainty anymore.
Miss Sedley’s father—as Colin presumed he was—crossed his arms and leveled an intense, inscrutable look upon his daughter, who responded with a bold look of her own.
Colin sighed.
“How rude of me… Papa, this is Sir Colin Gearing,” she said, waving a hand in his direction.
“Second lieutenant, Her Majesty’s Navy,” Colin added hastily, praying it might temper Miss Sedley’s cheek. Colin would never dream of addressing his father thus.
“So lovely to meet you, Sir Colin, and so kind of you to offer Charlotte your assistance,” the woman at the table said. Her face was so gentle that Colin almost forgot what a scoundrel he’d been.
Almost.
“I’m Mrs. Susanna Sedley, and this is my husband, Mr. Ajax Sedley. Thank you so much for bringing Charlotte home safely. We are in your debt.”
Colin responded with a perfunctory nod, feeling a cad of the first order.
Then, her voice laced with concern, Mrs. Sedley turned to her stepdaughter. “Charlotte, darling, what have you been about? Why didn’t you leave word?”
“I was at a spirit circle. I didn’t wish for you to wait up and worry.”
“So you deceived the staff and slipped away?” scoffed Mr. Sedley, shaking his head in resignation. “Well,nowI’m bloody well worried! And what of Cousin Bess? If you keep this up I’ll have to move herhere, where you can’t escape her notice.”
“Ajax, there simply isn’t the room,” Mrs. Sedley said lightly. Then she smiled beneficently, her hands folded in her lap.
“Sir Colin. I know it’s somewhat irregular, but would you care to join us for dinner?”
Colin hesitated. “Er, are you quite sure?” His guilt still weighed heavily on him. “I do not wish to intrude.”
On the other hand, rejecting her hospitality might arouse suspicion.
But how could he dine with Miss Sedley and her family when he’d all but taken advantage of her a short time ago? His cheeks burned as he recalled her touch on his face, the softness of her lips under his…
Was it all that bad, though?a horrid little voice asked.After all, she was a willing participant, if you’ll recall.
Colin set his jaw.
Mr. Sedley was studying his daughter, one eyebrow raised as if he didn’t believe a word of either her explanation or Colin’s. But then he shook his head with a sigh, and when he looked again at Colin, he had taken on a completely new bearing altogether: grinning wide, face open, posture relaxed. Practically an entirely different person in an instant. No longer an intractable father, but a gracious host.
“Intrude? If anything you’d be doing me a favor, what with all this rich fare and wine and my wife, as you can see, unable to take even one bite.”
“Oh? Have I truly not takenonebite?” Mrs. Sedley said in mock incredulity.
Mr. Sedley returned to his seat.
“Very well, one point to you. Sir Colin, please join us, for I am lousy with expensive foodstuffs, and my wife has been unable to take even four bites.”
Mrs. Sedley laughed and shook her head. “You know as well as I, I haven’t been feeling much for anything lately beyond a bit of toast.”
“Mrs. Stone recommends barley water, recall,” Miss Sedley interrupted in a cool, aloof voice.
Still standing alongside him, she wasn’t smiling—she hardly ever did, Colin knew by now—but her eyes sparkled with life.
