Page 75 of How to Seduce a Duke this Autumn
Charlene stepped back, waves of confusion and anger colliding in her stomach. The crush of the crowd, the heavy scent of lantern smoke, the heat of nearly a dozen bodies pressing too close—everything clamored at once. She understood his twin had long been a shadow haunting Adam, just as he haunted her, but to see this, to feel both heartbreak and fury in the same breath—she wasn’t sure how she would stand.
How could he be back?
When had he returned?
Had Adam known?
She couldn’t deal with this now. The world was a blur of motion and sound as Charlene turned, her skirts catching awkwardly on her hurried steps. The air seemed thicker now, heavier, as if even her breath fought to escape her chest. Tears spilled from her eyes, their heat blinding her further to the chaos of bodies pressing in around her. She pushed forward, arms brushing against coarse wool coats and silken shawls alike, murmuring breaths of “Excuse me” that no one seemed to hear. The hum of laughter and conversations buzzed uncomfortably in her ears, louder than before, though she could barely make out the words.
She needed to get away.
Away from the suffocating crowd. Away from the sight that replayed in her mind, over and over. Her steps faltered as the image stabbed at her once more—Adam’s arms around that woman. And then, cruelly, her realization corrected the thought. It wasn’t Adam, but his twin. His awful brother. Her chest tightened, anger pushing at the edges of her heartbreak, but there was no comfort in the distinction.
The crowd seemed endless, faces passing too quickly for her to focus, their features swimming as her tears blurred everything around her. One shoulder clipped hers, spinning her slightlyoff balance, but she stumbled forward, unwilling to stop. She ducked her head and pressed her palm at her cheek, wiping futilely at the wet streams. The smell of lantern smoke mingled with sweat and cheap cologne, stinging her nose as she tried to weave through the endlessly shifting mass of people.
Her foot caught on something—a raised cobble, perhaps—and she stumbled forward again, breathless, only to crash into the ground before scrambling up again.
How had the day come to this?
Chapter Eighteen
The crowd surgedaround Adam like a living tide, every movement shifting him farther from her. He craned his neck, his dark eyes darting over the sea of faces, hats, and bonnets. “Charlene!” he called, his voice cutting through the laughter and chatter, desperation lacing every syllable. But she was gone. Swallowed by the chaos of Vauxhall Gardens.
The gasp of a lady startled nearby, followed by the loud crack of a gentleman’s cane hitting stone. Somewhere in the distance, a gunshot rang out, sharp and final. Adam jerked his head toward the noise, but his heart couldn’t settle. The sound of it clashed with the rising cheers as hot air balloons lifted, the firelight beneath them flickering like colorful paper lanterns against the sky. He’d imagined this moment so differently. He’d imagined Charlene beside him, standing on the rooftop, her hand in his. He would’ve told her then. How much he loved her. How much he needed her.
Instead, this. A mad crush of strangers and a gnawing emptiness where she should have been.
His hands curled into fists at his sides as he spun to search again, but his movement faltered mid-turn. A face emerged, unmistakable even in the dim light cast by gold-hued lanterns strung throughout the gardens. His stomach churned as hatred surged to the surface, unbidden but impossible to contain. David.
His twin stood tall amid the milling crowd, his lips curved into a smug, lopsided grin that could rot even the brightest mood. Adam’s heart kicked painfully in his chest. The resemblance between them was unavoidable, yet where Adam prided himself on honor, David wore his misdeeds as comfortably as his tailored coat.
“What are you doing here?” Adam growled, his voice low and rough as he closed the distance between them. His gaze darted past David again, sweeping the crowd for Charlene’s familiar figure. She wasn’t there. Of course she wasn’t. She was out of reach now, thanks to his do-no-good brother.
“Good day to you too, Adam.” David’s grin widened, the liquor on his breath thick enough to make Adam’s stomach turn. “Aren’t you happy to see me after all this time?” His twin tilted his head as though amused, as though all of this were nothing more than a game.
“You have some nerve returning to England!”
“Why? Haven’t I been punished enough?”
“A lifetime wouldn’t be enough to punish you, brother.” Not for what he did to Charlene. He would be rotting in a prison cell if it wasn’t for the fact that if his deeds ever became known then Charlene would be completely ruined.
He would never allow that.
Which was why he wanted David gone.
“You need to leave.”
“You mean go home?” David said. “I must say, I have missed our mother. I should call on her, don’t you think?”
“I’m warning you, David. Stay away from my family.”
“You mean our family.”
“We stopped being your family the day you tried to force yourself on an innocent.”
“You mean my fiancée, and is it forced if you are betrothed?”
“You weren’t betrothed yet, and even if you were, that wouldn’t make what you did right.”
