Light to Valhalla (43 page)

Poor Alex
.
Her heart bled for him
.
As a child, he’d never had a chance… 
“Thank you,” Charley murmured, mind abuzz with this new insight
.
“I would not have survived the last two days without your presence.”

“Yes, well, we must salvage the family name
.
Once my worthless son is through ransacking the title it will be up to us and us alone to save face.
”
She tossed back her liquor, quaffing it in
one long gulp
.
“Well,
I’m retiring for the night
.
Nerves and all that.”

“Of course.”

Regina
stole from
the room, leaving Charley to puzzle over
their bizarre moment of kinship
.
Was the dowager
truly
seeing her in a new light or merely creating a
temporary alliance until Alex managed to heave his good name
out of the mire?  Most likely the later, Regina simply hated Alex more than Charley at this particular moment in time
.
That would change w
ith the next tide
.
Charley sighed
, plucking the cinnamon stick out of her tea and rolling it between her teeth
.
She bit down just hard enough for the
tang of
raw cinnamon
to leech onto her tongue
.

Impatiently she glanced about the room
.
Her eyes fell to the clock and she sighed
.
Would waiting for
Alex
ever cease?  She’d spent her entire
life waiting for him—
for him to see her as more than a childhood friend
,
s
ix years
on the continent with the Army… three of those as his estranged wife—a
nd
once again she found herself in the cyclical pattern of waiting
because
he hadn’t come
home last night
or the night before
.
A weighty sigh wheezed from her lips
.
I
n light of the horrendous rumors circula
ting she wasn’t exactly surprised, but couldn’t help but be worried.

“Not that he deserves it,” she muttered, shoving to her feet
.
Infidelity… murder
…
more infidelity
… 
She ti
cked
the offenses off on her fingers, growing
angrier
as the seconds slipped past
.
Oh, but who was she kidding?  Anger was the wrong word to
describe the emotions plaguing
her heart and soul
.
S
he was devastated
.
The moment Alex had walked out the door yesterday her bottom had fallen out, leaving her adrift on the breeze, completely without direction
.
And after Regina’
s tale of woe
Charley had l
ittle
hope for the
salvation of her marriage
.

Charley had no idea what to do or believe, and the parade of callers
snubbing
their
crooked
noses at her did little to aide her distress
.
She had no choice but to blindly defend
her husband
even though she
herself had been the first to condemn him.

“Regina!
”
A commotion from the hall drew Charley’s attention
.

“Veronica, dear,” Regina replied
.
“I wasn’t expecting you.”

Charley tensed, quickly searching for escape
.
She had no desire to encounter Lady Veronica
.
Too many reminders of Alex’s infidelity existed in the house as it was.

“
Yes, well, I came through the back door
.
I do hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” Regina returned, invitation clear in her voice
.
“You’re practically
family
.
Come let me offer you something to drink.”

Panic rose in Charley’s throat
.
She leapt to her feet, praying the women would choose a different drawing room for their
visit
.
As it was the formal parlor had but one door and
Veronica and Reina were blocking it.

“
I am so sorry I didn’
t come sooner,” Veronica gushed
.
“
How are you faring?”

“As well as can be expected.”

“And Alex?
”

“
Took off early
this week
.”

There was a brief
quiet
.
“
Well,
I came to offer both of you
my support in any way possible,
”
Veronica said softly
.
The concern evident in her tone grated Charley’s nerves
.
Something about the woman rubbed her the wrong way.

A moment later
the women entered the formal parlor
.
Veronica stopped dead in her tracks, cool gaze slicing through Charley.

Squelching her discomfort
, Charley clasped her hands in front of her and smiled politely
.
“Good afternoon, Lady Veronica
.
I trust you’re well.”

“Quite.”

“Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll leave you ladies to visit.
”
Charley curtsied and hurried toward the door.

“Nonsense,” Regina protested
.
“Sit
.
Have a drink with us.”

“I’m sorry, but I must decline
.
I was just on my way to see
to some matters in the kitchen,” she lied
.
“Another time perhaps.
”
Chin held high—as per Regina’s advice—she swept
out of the room
.

Veronica’s judging snort followed Charley’s exit
.
“
She
is certainly handling this well
.
If Alex
was
my husband I’d never be able to act as though nothing was wrong.”

Barring her ears—and her pride—Charley kicked up the pace
.
Women like Veronica and Lady Carmichael were all the same
.
Best not to heed them any mind
… or so her mother would say
.
Charley sighed
.
It was much easier said than done to
turn the other cheek
.

Mounting the stairs she made her way to the nursery
.
She’d promised Jack a story after
his supper
.
Right now she would focus on that
and banish gossiping biddies from her thoughts
.

She supposed most women would resent the boy’s presence in their home, but not Charley
.
No
.
She’d been raised to leave blame where it l
ay
.
The moment she entered the room and laid eyes on Jack she smiled
, the sour taste
left by Veronica’s visit washed
away
.
Only a monster could lay blame to an innocent child
.
Th
e boy looked up to her and beame
d,
his
little round face filled with such joy her heart
melted
.
He was a truly beautiful child, blessed with the signature
Coverstone
blue eyes and soft blond curls
.

Jack leapt down from his miniature wooden chair and scampered to
the
bookshelf
lining the far wall
, tugging free his favorite picture book
.
Arms extended
he held the volume up, and jumped excitedly
.
“Read!”

Charley and Mrs.
Floreck
, the nursemaid, laughed
.

“Come along then.
”
Charley crossed to the wooden rocker and held her arms out
.
Jack wasted no time in hurr
ying to her
.
“Mrs.
Floreck
you’re welcome to take a break
.
I’ll ring when you’re needed back,”
she said, snuggling Jack up onto her lap.

“Thank you, milady.
”
Mrs.
Floreck
curtsied
, but
hesitated
before leaving
.
“And if I may say, Lady
Coverstone
, what you’re doing for this boy
, showing him so much love
… Well, you’re truly an angel sent from heaven.”

Charley didn’t know what to say
.
The words brought unexpected tears to her eyes and for some
reason,
it was exactly what she’d needed to hear
.
“
Th
-thank you,” she stammered, forcing back
sniffles.

The woman flushed
.
“Forgive me speaking out of turn
.
I’ll leave you two be.
”
She bobbed a second harried curtsy and bolted through the door
.

Jack squirmed impatiently, tugging at the book clutched in Charley’s hands
.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart
.
Where were we?
”
She swallowed against the lump in her throat, and opened to the book, dropping a kiss on his downy curls
.
Jack pointed a chubby finger at the fairytale castle on the first page
.
“Once upon a time,” Charley began, “there lived a prince…”

Three stories
and two songs
later
, Jack
cuddled in her lap, gazing up at her with sl
eep heavy eyes
.
“Are you my mama?”
he asked in what was undoubtedly the most complete sentence she’d heard him speak.

Her stomach flopped and her heart swelled with a newly discovered level of emotion
.
With gentle fingers Charley swept a curl from his brow
.
“Yes,” she murmured, without a second thought
.
“Yes, I am.”

Jack smiled
contentedly
as his eyes drifted closed.

*
             
*
             
*

             
White’s
.
Alex hadn’t visited the club in an age
.
His f
ather had forced him to lunch a
time or two, but in all, the establishment was not part of Alex’s usual scene
.
He approached the door, puffs of
breath leading the way, and ground his teeth
.
He
did not
want to go in there and face the cream of London society, every one of which was likely gossiping madly about him, but if
Mancroft
was in London he’d almost surely be here for the dinner hour
.

Exhausted after the wasted day and a half ride to the Earl’s estate
and additional day and a half back
, Alex shook off the chill November air, and strode into the Gentleman’s club
.
A hush fell over the room and every eye fell to him
.
Alex beat back the roiling irritation edging
it’s
way up and along his nerves
.
He was a bloody Marquis for Christ sake, he was damn near the highest ranking peer in attendance; none of these fops would be fool enough to snub him directly
.
Assuming an air of regal indifference
,
Alex sauntered deeper into the club
.

Immediately a waiter hastened to take his jacket and escort him to a nearby table
.
Many a curious
gaze
roved over Alex as he weaved through the tastefully arranged tables and sitting areas
.
Most he did not recognize though a few familiar faces leapt out at him
.
He nodded to a few
acquaintances
, keeping his eyes peeled for Lord
Mancroft
.
Alex would get to the bottom of this Jack business if it drove him to the grave.