The three of them turned to look back across the foyer. The footman opened the front door. Morgan stood on the front step. Caroline’s breath caught in her throat. Her gaze traveled from his windblown hair, admiring his broad shoulders encased in a navy riding jacket, and slid down to notice the snug fit of his buckskin breeches as they disappeared into dusty Hessians. No man should be that fine-looking after traveling for half the day.
“Morgan, we were not expecting you today.” Caroline crossed her arms. She remained angry at him and needed to remember that.
“Cage Morgan, what in the hell are you doing here?” Jack said with a grin. He strode forward, and the two men shook hands.
“Good to see you, Aston,” Cage exclaimed.
“Has he been taken care of?” Andrew asked, his voice deadly serious.
Cage walked over to her. “He will never bother you again.”
Caroline gasped. Her hand rose to her throat. Had he killed Valentine?
“Don’t worry, I didn’t take your brother’s advice and throw him into the Thames,” Cage said with a chuckle. “He is in the tower. You are safe.” His hand reached out, and the back of his fingers brushed hers.
She wished she was not angry with him so she could walk into his embrace. Instead, she nodded stiffly. Weak, she was so weak around this man.You were just an assignment to him until you threw yourself at him like a brazen hussy.What man would say no to an affair? She was just another in a long string of his lovers. All the while, her heart had become unmoored. It wasn’t fair. Caroline whirled around and headed for the drawing room.
Chapter 41
Cage watched her walk away with a sinking heart. Definitely still mad. He sighed; it was probably for the best. Despite the duke’s command to fix things with Caroline, he’d decided to let her be angry. Their relationship had tumbled from lighthearted into something far deeper so quickly that he felt underwater, struggling against the current to do the right thing. He couldn’t keep her. It would only end in misery for her. His feelings for her were too big, too possessive. It had taken every bit of his self-control not to strangle Valentine when he had the man’s throat in his grip. To punish the man for touching Caroline, for damaging her. The kind of passion Caroline evoked could lead him to let loose the beast inside.
Cage always knew their inevitable parting would be hard. If Caroline’s anger toward him would be the catalyst for her to make a clean break, then he would bear her icy demeanor toward him for the next week.
“Is this about the threats you wrote to me about?” Jack asked his brother.
“Yes, we finally had to tell Caroline about the threatening letters. She knew exactly who they were from. She is rather angry at both of us for not telling her the truth of what was happening.”
Jack snorted. “I could have told she’d be mad. You are always trying to fix things, big brother. The women in our lives don’t need us to take care of them. They just need us to stand by them. Still haven’t learned that lesson?” He slapped his brother on the back.
The duke grimaced. “Come on, you two, they’ll be waiting on us to serve tea.”
Cage followed at a slower pace, bracing himself mentally to spend the week in polite discord with the woman he loved. Whenhe walked into the room, the dowager duchess rose and smiled at him. “Lord Wrotham, I’m so glad you could join us this week.”
“Who is Lord Wrotham?” Jack asked.
“I am Wrotham.” Cage replied. Caroline sat on the sofa next to her two sisters-in-law. She glanced up at his pronouncement, her eyes wide in surprise. “My father died six months ago, leaving the earldom to me.”
“Lord Wrotham is your sister’s fiancé.” Lady Gilchrest said.
Jack whirled around to glare at him. All his earlier good cheer gone. “Her what?”
Vivian and Caroline rose in unison. They rushed across the short distance to where he and Jack stood. Vivian grasped her husband’s upper arm. “Well, I think this is wonderful news! Congratulations, you two.” She tugged hard on Jack’s arm until the man looked at her. Her look spoke volumes, and Jack’s glower became darker.
“Thank you.” Caroline threaded her fingers through his and squeezed. Cage glanced over at her, willing her to meet his gaze. Her smile was carefully composed—the one she used at social functions to hide how tired she felt.
“And how exactly did you two meet?” Jack’s glare swung to Gilchrest, who promptly turned on his heel and went to sit next to his wife on the sofa.
“The usual way, at a ball,” Caroline replied.
“She hit me in the head with her bejeweled mask,” Cage said.
Caroline finally looked at him. “Stop telling people that.” Her brow furrowed in annoyance.
He squeezed her hand and grinned. “But it’s the truth. I’ve not been the same since.”
She tugged her hand out of his with a small unladylike huff and marched away. This did not go unnoticed by Jack, whose look turned from glaring to questioning.
“Gilchrest told you she was still mad.” Cage shrugged.
