Page 52 of Awakening a Lord's Desires
“There is a visitor here. At the front door. I have left her in the entryway.”
“Her?” He sat up a bit, his heart skipping a beat.
“Yes.”
“I shall come and see her myself.”
“Very good, My Lord.”
He followed the young footman from his study to the entryway, where a lone, cloaked figure stood. When he got closer, and the footman’s candle rose a little, he could see that it was Caroline, and he wondered if he’d just been given another chance.
“Come with me,” he said without saying her name.
He turned to lead the way to the sitting room, but he paused and glanced at the footman. “You know that you must keep this entirely discreet.”
“Of course, My Lord.” The footman bowed, reddening a little, and Charles was satisfied.
He led the way to the sitting room and opened the door for her, and she swept inside, still silent. But once he shut the door behind him, she turned around and pulled down her hood.
Charles sucked in a breath, amazed how even now, in the middle of the night, having walked from her house to his under the cover of darkness, she could be so lovely, so otherworldly, and his heart ached to be forgiven. He wasn’t yet sure of the truth, but he was certain there was more to the story than he even realised. Alexander had been right to chasten him.
“Let us sit,” he said, and they sat quietly by the fire, and he waited a few seconds before he spoke.
“Your friend, Lord Fitzroy, came to speak to me on your behalf just before I left the ball. He told me that I did not listen to you and that I should have done. Please, Caroline. Forgive me. I will listen to you now. But my heart is breaking. Tell me that you do not want to marry Max.”
“I do not,” she said calmly and quickly, and his shoulders sank with relief.
“Thank God.”
“Now that you are listening, let me tell you this, Charles. I do not want to marry Max. It is only that Penelope is trying to force me to do so, and she is claiming that my father, in his illness, also wants this. But he is so unwell at the moment that I do not want to trouble him with this problem. I want to solve it myself.”
Charles’ anger slowly seeped out of him, and he realised what a big mistake he had made that night, not listening to her and not trusting her.
“My father told me that if he dies, then all the money and the inheritance, the house and more, will pass to me. Penelope will have an allowance, of course, but the money will be mine.”
Charles’ brows lifted in surprise. That was very unusual, but he liked that her father wished for her to be in comfort.
“And once Penelope heard of that, she decided that Max and I should be wed.”
It all became clear to him then. “Because of the inheritance…”
“Exactly. I had to come and find you to tell you the truth of it, once she’d spoken with you.”
“But I was too thick-headed to listen.”
She smiled at that, her fingers drumming on the arm of the chair. “Well, yes, that is how I would describe it.”
He allowed himself to smirk at her. At least she no longer seemed angry, but there was a wariness about her that had never been there before.
He asked, “But why should she tell me? It was as if she knew of our secret courtship and wished to injure you.”
“Yes, that was my conclusion as well.” Caroline turned to briefly look at the fire in the hearth. “To my knowledge, she has told no one else, and I think that is only because she knows there is a chance my father may recover from his illness and be enraged at what she is trying to do. I know with all my heart that he does not want this for me. He does not even like Max.”
Charles nodded, feeling better with each moment. But there was still the problem of Penelope and whatever she might do before them.
“I had to come and see you after our argument, to force you to listen to me,” Caroline said with some emotion. “I was ready to burst in here and yell and scream, but I could tell by your look that you were ready to hear me.”
He sighed and pushed a hand through his hair. “I hate myself for how I made you feel, for what I said. I’m sorry for thinking the worst of you. I was just so afraid that it was true, after I had… well, after our secret courtship. I didn’t want to get hurt.”
