Julian thrust the black masque into Charlotte’s hands. “Here. Put this back on.”
She didn’t argue, but silently donned the masque and tied the ribbon.
He cracked open the door to check the hallway. It was empty. “Follow me, but don’t come into the parlor. Stay out of sight while I secure a hack.”
There was no sign of Charlotte’s friends downstairs, but their departure must have caused an uproar, because he found Mrs. Lacey soothing a group of disgruntled young bucks with promises of exotic fleshly pleasures Julian knew to be illegal in England. She was more than happy to secure him a hack, shove him and his troublesome companion toward the door, and be rid of them.
Charlotte sat across from him in the carriage on their way to Grosvenor Square, her masque in her lap and a shaft of moonlight teasing pale fingers across her face. To look at her now, he’d never guess she’d spent her evening in a whorehouse, dangling her reputation from the end of a silken cord. She appeared every inch the grand marchioness.
Neither of them spoke until the carriage drew to a halt in front of Charlotte’s house, and then Julian cleared his throat. “I’ll remain in London for a short time only. A few weeks at most.”
“Indeed? I suppose you have plans to return to Hertfordshire.”
Considering the night of passion they’d shared at his home in Hertfordshire it should have cost her an effort to mention it, but if it did, she hid it well. “Anxious to be rid of me, are you, Lady Hadley?”
She smoothed her hands over her skirts, then folded them in her lap. “I can’t think of any reason why I should be. Can you?”
Julian stared at her. She stared back with an air of polite enquiry, as if she were waiting for him to hand her a cup of tea. “As I said, I have business in London, and as my cousin is rather inconveniently married to your sister, we’re bound to be thrown into each other’s company. Not more than necessary, I hope.”
“Oh? And how much of my company would you deem necessary, Captain?”
So bloody composed.“The less, the better. I’m staying with Cam, Ellie, and Amelia in Bedford Square, and you, well…” He gestured toward the carriage window. “You have a grand house in Grosvenor Square, don’t you?”
Julian let this sink in and waited for something, anything to indicate she wasn’t as unaffected as she pretended to be.
He was disappointed. She only tilted her head to one side to study him, then, “Oh. I see. You’re warning me away from my sister’s house.”
He shrugged. “Not forever, but it would be easier while I remain in London, yes.”
She considered this as if she thought it a perfectly reasonable demand. “And should your business keep you in London longer than you anticipate? What then?”
“Would that bother you?”
“Are you asking me, Captain, if it would bother me not to see my family?”
Her cool poise was beginning to nettle him. “I can’t imagine you see much of them now, with your friends and your whorehouse romps to keep you busy. You can’t be that fond of Amelia, especially. She’s only your half-sister.”
He leaned back against his seat and waited. If a shadow of Charlotte Sutherland hid under the marchioness’s cool facade, he’d see her now. From the moment she’d discovered their connection, Charlotte had been fiercely protective of Amelia.
“I don’t do things by halves, Captain West.” Her tone was pleasant. Conversational.
“Don’t you? That’s not how I remember it.”
“Memories are deceptive things, aren’t they? I do beg your pardon, but I will make you no promises, as I may find I have an inclination to visit my family in between whorehouse romps.”
“You forget, my lady, I’ve heard your promises before. Even if you did promise, I wouldn’t believe you.”
The coachman came down from the box and held the door, waiting for Charlotte to alight. She descended from the carriage, but hesitated on the street for a moment. “No,” she said. “I don’t suppose you would.”
The moon had retreated behind a cloud and Julian could no longer see her face, but her gaze was fixed on… He didn’t know what, but something he couldn’t see. She closed the carriage door with a quiet click and mounted the stairs to her grand house, the entrance half lost in shadows.
Chapter Four
It was late when Julian returned to Bedford Square, but Cam was still awake, pacing in the entrance hall. He jerked the front door open before Julian could reach the top step.
“Well, cuz.” Julian shoved his hands into his breeches pockets and slouched against the doorframe. “If I’d known you’d answer the door dressed only in your banyan, I would have gone through the servant’s entrance.”
Cam opened the door wide and stood aside so Julian could enter. “I expected you back hours ago.”
