“You have certainly integrated yourself into society well since emerging from the wilds of Gloucestershire,” Seth murmured to Tewkesbury.
For a heartbeat, the Earl’s practiced smile faltered. He disentangled Lady Monica’s arm from his with surprising haste.
“Yes, I suppose so,” he said, adjusting his cuffs distractedly. “One must make an effort. Throw oneself into the current, as it were. To show willingness.”
“To drown, you mean?” Seth replied mildly, offering his mail-clad arm to Charlotte.. The metal was cold, but she could imagine the warmth of the body beneath. The armor could not disguise the strength of the man inside.
“If your aim is to be accepted,” Seth continued, “then yes. But I’ve never cared to be accepted. By anyone.”
“Surely, notanyone,” Lady Monica purred. “Your betrothed, for instance. You must have striven to win the heart of such a lady. I flatter myself that I know what it is like to be pursued by a gentleman.”
“Did I strive to win your heart, dearest?” Seth asked Charlotte with a playful smile.
“You positively strove to chase me away, I should say,” she giggled.
“Surely not. That is no way to secure a wife,” Tewkesbury put in, arching a brow.
“And yet, here we are,” Seth shrugged, patting Charlotte’s gloved hand.
“Did you not wish to marry Lady Nightingale then?” Lady Monica asked, arching a brow.
She had contrived to move closer to Seth and stand before him with her exposed bosom heaving. Tewkesbury had steppedaside to permit her maneuver. Charlotte felt a pang of envy and pressed herself closer to Seth’s side. She glanced up at him, and he looked back, ignoring the expanse of female flesh on display.
“I thought myself as free as a bird and jealously protective of that fragile freedom. I thought marriage would end that, so I thought differently of it than I do now,” Seth explained.
“I should say, that marriage is certainly a loss of freedom,” Tewkesbury put in, “when one has his pick of the women.”
Seth glanced at Tewkesbury, frowning.
“Well, I should say that this is a fine talk for a royal palace. Shall we go in, gentlemen?” Aunt Phyllis added, “Come along, girls.”
She gathered a daughter on each arm and led the way toward the entrance door. Seth’s eyes never left Tewkesbury, a curious expression plastered on his face.
“Shall we?” Charlotte whispered.
Seth started and then grunted. He gave a perfunctory nod to Tewkesbury and Lady Monica, then led Charlotte towards the entrance.
“I do not like that man,” he murmured for her ears alone as they strolled. “There is something about his manner lately that makes me think...”
Charlotte frowned. “Think what? He seems harmless enough to me.”
Seth glanced down at her. “Your sister would have seen more with her knowledge of the ton and their machinations. He is up to something. It was almost as if he were presenting me with that woman as though to tempt me. And it is not the first time he has behaved thusly. There was a woman at Catesby’s that he practically shoved into my path.”
Charlotte was only half-listening. “If Amelia is so wonderful as a navigator of the Ton, then why do you not just marry her?”
“Marry Amelia? Or marry thisAmelia?” he smirked.
“The first is in Scarborough and unwilling to marry you by her own account,” she pointed out less-than-subtly.
He groaned theatrically. “But I doubt her letter will be accepted by Tharpe Monkton. It would be simple enough for me to have a letter written in a female hand. I could have done it in one day for each woman I was supposed to marry and be free.”
“Youarefree,” she reminded him, “to choose as you will.”
“We both know that is untrue,” he shook his head. “My father’s former solicitor is no naif, and I would prefer not to test his scruples. I cannot prove that you are not Amelia.Sheneeds to be here with us to prove that. Onlythenwill I be free.”
“As will I. To go back to Yorkshire and my old life,” Charlotte sighed.
They were ambling through the magnificent Great Hall of Hampton Court, towards the inner courtyard where they would be greeted by the Regent. The splendor was lost on Charlotte. Her attention was focused on Seth, trying to puzzle out his intentions.
