“Right, then. I will not be far away,” Reginald muttered.
“Splendid. Do wave if you get lost,” Seth grimaced stringently before turning his back on the other man.
Charlotte walked ahead of Seth around the outer edges of the room. He followed at her shoulder, eyes intent on her.
What has changed? If this is some knavery of Reginald, then I will swing for him.
Reaching a nook in which a marble bust stood on a plinth, Charlotte turned back to face him. She smiled warmly.
“Do not look so thunderous, Your Grace. We are supposed to present the appearance of a happily betrothed couple,” she reminded gently, her tone at odds with her smile.
His posture stiffened. “What? Hang them all. I don’t care a fig for appearances,” he snapped, before dropping his voice lower. “What has happened to make you so cool toward me?”
“Happened? Nothing. This was some time ago, I believe. You would know better than I, though maybe you don’t remember. One pigeon in a flock.”
Seth frowned. “The trouble with being cryptic is that I can’t understand a word. Speak plainly.”
“I have had an interesting conversation with the Earl of Tewkesbury,” Charlotte put in.
For the first time since she had appeared, he saw the anguish that she was holding in check.
“He has something of a vendetta against you. And for good reason if it is true.”
“Tewkesbury? That little boy tied to his mother’s apron strings? What possible reason does he have to be angry at me?” Seth demanded.
“Do you know him or his family?” Charlotte asked.
She turned towards the bust as a couple strolled by and greeted them both. Charlotte responded with a nod and a smile. Seth ignored them. He stepped closer as though sharing her close examination of the sculpture.
“No. I met him for the first time some weeks ago. He was a whelp who wanted help with how to meet society women here in London. I told him to hell with society women, take a membership in a gentlemen’s club.”
Charlotte shot him a look. “I see. You advised him to avoid respectable women in favor of... of what?Courtesans? Is that all women are to you?”
“Theywere,” he shot back immediately. “Until… until I met you. And I mean you,Charlotte, not Amelia.”
“Sophistry. Your dislike of society women clearly did not extend to the Earl’s sister.”
“I have never met...” Seth began, and then his mouth clamped shut.
Charlotte glanced away, and Seth thought he glimpsed something akin to embarrassment for him in her visage.
“I see,” she murmured. “You could not deny it because you are wondering if she was among the many women you have bedded. So trivial, that she could be forgotten about.”
“Not trivial, but yes. One drop in a heedless ocean. I have never denied how I lived my life after breaking free of my father. I was a rake. A libertine. I cared little for women other than as objects for carnal pleasure. I might add that the women I chose wanted the same from me.”
Charlotte laughed bitterly. “That is what you tell yourself after you get away scot-free each time, butherreputation was destroyed. Byyou. I suppose that is another perk of being a young and brash gentleman.”
“According tohim.”
“Yes, and according to you, it wasn’t?”
“Yes, damn it!” he insisted.
“I wish I could believe you. I want to, but your history counts against you. He wanted me to sign an affidavit in which I swore that you had been unfaithful during our betrothal. That is how much he despises you. Why would he hate you so much without reason?”
Seth looked around the room, searching for Tewkesbury but not seeing him. Rage surged within him, and the violent desire for physical revenge.
Did I bed his sister? I do not even know the wretch’s family name! If I did and then discarded her... could she have suffered reputational damage if it came to light? Not intentionally on my part. But if some rat of a scandal monger found out about the assignation...
