Seduced At Sunset (16 page)

I am writing, however, to tell you something wonderful about
Charlotte. It seems at last that a gentleman has won her affections. As you
well know, it has been many years since she has opened her heart to love, so I
am hopeful this may be a turning point.

She is, as always, mindful of gossip and has asked me to
refrain from speaking of their acquaintance to anyone outside of the family.
But I consider you to be family, so I do not believe I am betraying any
confidences by writing to you now. I will, however, at Charlotte’s request,
keep the gentleman’s identity a secret, for reasons I cannot go into here. I am
just so very pleased that she has finally taken an interest in someone.

In that regard, I will be leaving London and returning to
Pembroke Palace tomorrow, as we have invited the young man to join us for a few
days in the country. No doubt Devon and the boys will be keen to ‘evaluate’
him.

I speak in jest, of course. If Charlotte adores him, so shall
the rest of us, for her happiness is what matters most, and she has certainly
earned it. In the meantime, I will do my best to play matchmaker. Wish me luck.

Now I must bid you farewell, for I am not sure when I will
return to London. Perhaps not for a while.

Take care of yourself,

Adelaide

Dear Duchess,

Thank you for keeping me abreast of Charlotte’s news. I will
be thinking of you all and hoping for a happy outcome. And there is no need to
thank me for our dance at the Halloway Ball. It is I who must thank you for the
pleasure of your company. Sometimes it feels as if not a single day has passed
since our friendship in Yorkshire. It is hard to believe we are easing into our
autumn years, when at times I feel like a much younger man with my whole life
yet ahead of me. There is still so much I wish to see and do. So many answers I
still seek in the field of science and medicine, and I have not yet been to
America. I would like to see the Grand Canyon. Do you know of it? Now, with
railroads and steamships, it is not an impossible dream.

Your letter today was a balm to my soul. How wonderful to be
a witness to your devotion as a mother. Your children are truly blessed, as are
all the people of Pembroke, to have had you as their duchess.

Please forgive me if I cannot write more than this tonight. I
lost a patient today at the hospital, and I am feeling low.

Please write to me from Pembroke and keep me informed about
Charlotte and her young man. It cheers my heart.

—W

Dear William,

We arrived at Pembroke last night. I am so sorry to hear
about the patient you lost. I often think about the challenges of your
profession and I am always moved by your strength and heroism. I saw it for
myself when Theodore was ill. You were an invaluable source of support and
comfort to all of us, and there are no words to convey the depth of our
appreciation. I don’t know much about the patient you lost, but if he or she
had a family, I am sure they were grateful for your kind care...

And now permit me to cheer your heart and write about
Charlotte. I am beside myself with joy, for I have not seen such passion in her
since all those years ago, when she first met and fell in love with Graham.

To be honest, I believed a part of her had died with Graham
and their unborn child, but now everything seems new to her again. She was
positively radiant on the train when she told me about her new gentleman. They
seem like kindred spirits, and I feel that fate has played a hand in bringing
them together.

Perhaps I sound like a romantic fool, but I cannot help
myself. My heart is bursting with hope. I have always longed for Charlotte to
be happy, as I am sure you understand, for I know how you have wanted the same.

Cross your fingers, William, that a broken heart can one day
be mended.

—Adelaide

Back in London, William read Adelaide’s last letter three
times before he placed it carefully in the drawer with all the others... and
locked everything away.

Chapter Fourteen

Mr. Torrington was due to arrive on the five o’clock
train from London. A coach had already been sent to fetch him, and Charlotte
could not seem to relax. It had been five days since she went rowing with him
on the Thames. She had not seen or spoken to him since, but he had been in her
thoughts to an alarming degree. At times she was completely swept away by a
flood of happiness and anticipation, for she could not wait to be alone with
him again—to touch him, and be touched by him. She wanted to show him the
estate and introduce him to all the members of her family—her brothers
and sisters-in-law, all her nieces and nephews. She wanted to enjoy the country
setting with him, and most importantly, she looked forward to pleasurable and
discreet lovemaking at night.

Other times, however, she was concerned by the intensity
of her emotions, for this wicked affair had obviously gone beyond the physical.
All the evidence was there. She longed for him constantly and dreamed that he
would change his mind about returning to America. Last night she even imagined
what she would say if he told her he could not live without her, begged her to
become his bride and cross the Atlantic with him. Would she accept? Would she
become a married woman, leave her home for a new life in a world she knew
nothing about?

Clearly her heart—in all its jagged, broken
places—had become deeply involved, for she was dreaming of her own
happily ever after and feared everyone knew it.

Charlotte jumped when her sister-in-law entered the
drawing room and said, “He should be here at any moment. Are you ready?”

Charlotte turned from the window and laid a hand over her
heart. “Oh, Anne. You frightened me.”

“I do apologize,” Anne replied. “It was not my intention.”
She moved a little closer. “We are all very much looking forward to meeting Mr.
Torrington.”

“I know, and I appreciate your support.”

Anne watched her for a moment. “Something is wrong,” Anne
said. “I can see it in your eyes. You seemed so happy yesterday, but now it’s
as if the sun has moved behind a cloud. Have you changed your mind about him?”

Everyone knew how Charlotte had met Mr.
Torrington—how he had rescued her from peril at the hands of a purse
thief. Anne also knew that Charlotte had gone rowing with him twice at dawn,
but no one knew the true nature of their affair, that it had already gone well
beyond the limits of what could be considered proper. It was unequivocally
scandalous.

Charlotte remained at the window. “No, I have not changed
my mind, and that is the problem. He is only here for the summer, and I have
known that all along. I was determined to guard my heart and maintain an
emotional distance, but it seems I have fallen head first into an ocean of
romantic dreams. I cannot stop thinking about him, and I am afraid that...”
Of what am I afraid, exactly?

Charlotte asked herself that question over and over.

Had she, despite all her best intentions, fallen in love?

“He is not my type at all,” she argued. “Wait until you
see him. He is rough and reticent. Never cheerful. When he speaks, his voice is
very gruff.” Yet to her it was like soft black velvet across her skin. “Perhaps
you and the rest of the family won’t like him at all. I don’t know why I do. I
really shouldn’t.”

Anne smiled sympathetically. “We will like him perfectly well,
for he came to your rescue when you were in danger, and for that we are
grateful. As for the rest of it, the only thing that matters is that you are
happy. If he makes you happy then enjoy yourself over the next few days. The
rest will sort itself out.”

“Will it? Because I fear I may become very unhappy indeed
when September rolls around and I am forced to give him up. Oh, Anne. Perhaps I
shouldn’t have been so cavalier about all this. I truly believed I could manage
it, but clearly I have a very sensitive heart.”

Anne’s gaze was drawn to the window. “Well, you are going
to have to batten down the hatches, my dear, for the coach is on its way up the
drive.”

Charlotte, too, looked out, and all her senses came alive
with excitement. He was here.
At last
. Heaven help
her, he was like some sort of sizzling-hot addiction she could not resist...

Drake leaned forward in the seat to look out the coach
window. There it was... Pembroke Palace.

God above. What the blazes had he been thinking when he
accepted Lady Charlotte’s invitation to come and enjoy a few days of solitude
in the country? She had mentioned fishing and lovemaking, but this was no cozy
retreat. The palace was a monstrous bastion, the home of an exalted duke and
his entire family. Never mind that it was situated at the top of a steep hill,
lording over the entire county like a powerful monarch, surrounded by ancient
oak trees and stringently manicured gardens.

Drake grew tense at the mere sight of the place and was
half tempted to tell the coachman to turn around, for he had made a mistake. He
didn’t belong here. He wanted to leave. The only thing that kept him from doing
so was the agony of a relentless desire that grew more intense with every
revolution of the coach wheels. Over the past few days, without Charlotte, he
had slipped into a pathetic state of sexual obsession.

The coach passed under a giant triumphal arch and rumbled
across a cobbled courtyard toward a wide set of steps at the front entrance.
There was a flurry of activity as groomsmen came running. A number of servants
spilled out of the palace and quickly lined up under the portico and clock
tower.

Then he spotted Charlotte, like a beacon in the night. She
was dressed in a formfitting blue and white striped afternoon dress, and she
practically floated down the steps like an angel with wings. Behind her,
members of her family followed, and Drake wondered which man was her brother,
the duke.

God help him. What was he doing here? This was not for
him. Yet desire had prodded, and he’d not possessed the will to stay away.

Eventually the coach pulled to a halt and a footman opened
the door. Charlotte was the first to greet him.

“Mr. Torrington, welcome to Pembroke.”

Drake fought not to let his gaze linger too long on her
full pink lips or her luscious bosom, for there were others approaching.

Charlotte made all the introductions—first to her
eldest brother Devon and his wife, Rebecca, the duke and duchess. Devon was a
tall man with dark features, while the duchess was an attractive woman with
flame-red hair.

Next, he met Lord and Lady Vincent. These were the two who
had chosen to leave England after a desperately scandalous situation. Cassandra
had been Vincent’s secret mistress while he was engaged to another, but he’d
jilted the fiancée in order to marry Cassandra after she’d borne him an
illegitimate child. According to Charlotte, their daughter June was so charming
and beautiful at twelve years of age, that everyone who came in contact with
her was so bedazzled, they were blind to the fact that she had been born out of
wedlock.