Page 19 of A Seaside Scandal (Change of Heart #2)

Chapter Twelve

ALICE

Ihad been trying very hard not to look at Mr. Croft and his wet hair and lack of a shirt, but I had helplessly given in to my curiosity.

My heart pounded fast. When had I touched him?

I couldn’t recall the exact moment I had placed my hands against his chest—the waves had nearly toppled me over—but now I couldn’t seem to move my fingers at all.

I had anchored myself to him, but what I was feeling now was far more tumultuous than the waves.

I caught his gaze shift somewhere up above the rocks.

He released me quickly, taking a large step backward in the water.

A sense of clarity gripped me, and I caught my breath. I was only steps away from being out of the sea and wrapped up in my warm cloak. My emotions were boiling far too close to the surface. Jonathan Croft was the most infuriating man I had ever met.

His face turned white, his jaw tense.

What could possibly have him so discomposed?

I followed his gaze toward shore, shivering violently now.

The faint hues of sunrise illuminated the short cliffs, where three women stood overlooking the beach.

All were elegant, and all must have been close to my mother’s age.

My heart hammered in my chest as I recognized the weight of the situation.

They could have been watching us for several minutes as we swam in the waves—as Mr. Croft pulled me to him and hauled me against his chest. It might not have been perceived as an attempt to ‘rescue’ me… but as something far more scandalous.

My face burned.

My anger had clouded my judgment. I hadn’t considered that anyone would be out at this hour, especially not a trio of elegant ladies. By the looks of them, I suspected that they had an appetite for gossip—and they had just stumbled upon a feast.

I exchanged a fleeting glance with Mr. Croft before marching toward shore.

My heart pounded fast as mortification made a wave of heat climb my neck.

Would the ladies recognize me? Or would I look like maid in my plain white dress with Eliza as my companion?

It was possible that I could escape without being recognized if I hurried.

“Miss Kellaway? Is that you?” A woman’s voice from above made me freeze. Her tone was heavy with disapproval.

I should not have looked up, but I did so without thinking.

It was Lady Cinderford from the ball. Her face was in clear view now that she wasn’t covering half of it with her hand. Her eyes, wild with disapproval, scoured me from head to toe. “What on earth are you doing out here, young lady?”

The other two women whispered to one another, shaking their heads in horror.

I didn’t know how to answer. I could hear Mr. Croft trudging out of the water behind me, so I hurried forward to fetch my cloak. Eliza helped drape it over my shoulders, and I wrapped it so tightly around myself that it dug into my neck.

Lady Cinderford waved her hands in a frantic motion toward the rocks.

“Hide yourself at once!” She glanced over her shoulder.

“Where is your mother? Why are you out here alone with this…man?” Her gaze darted behind me, where I assumed Mr. Croft still stood.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him disappear behind the rocks, hopefully to fetch his clothes.

I shut my eyes as I exhaled, panic pulsing through my chest. I could hardly breathe.

What had she asked first? Where was my mother?

It was the same question Mr. Croft had asked me in the water.

“She had to return to Hampshire,” I said in a shaky voice, “but she will return in a day or two.” The second question was more difficult to answer.

“I wanted to go for a swim. I did not expect a man to be here.”

Lady Cinderford covered her face with her hands again. She muttered something behind them, and my shame only spiraled deeper. Where had Mr. Croft disappeared to? Had he been recognized?

“Is he a gentleman?” Lady Cinderford asked in a mortified whisper.

That was a complicated question. My feelings of vexation resurfaced, but I shoved them away.

Mr. Croft was not a servant or tradesman if that’s what she was implying, though at the moment he looked rugged and strong enough to be one.

I suspected the image of his muscular chest and shoulders would live in my mind for a long while, unfortunately.

I shook my head to clear it—and to dislodge a few drops of seawater from my ears.

“Well…yes, I suppose.” That was all I could say. Dread gripped my stomach. I prayed that Mr. Croft would disappear and not walk back up the sand toward me. Perhaps if he was gone quickly enough, the ladies would not recognize his face.

“It was Mr. Jonathan Croft,” one of the ladies said. Her voice was almost too quiet for me to overhear.

Drat it all.

“I thought so, too,” the other woman agreed.

“I saw them conversing at the assembly.”

“There was something between them, to be sure.”

“An attachment?”

The conversation carried on, but I grabbed Eliza by the arm and started hurrying up the beach.

“Miss Kellaway! Where are you going?” Lady Cinderford’s voice echoed, but I didn’t turn around.

I was already in deep trouble, and staying there would not help my situation.

Panic carried my legs faster than I thought possible without breaking into a run.

My lungs were already tired from treading water, and I had even inhaled a little bit.

The salt stung my throat and eyes, but that was the least of my concerns.

Eliza’s somber expression told me that something was deeply amiss.

Perhaps something that couldn’t be mended.

I rubbed at my nose, drawing a deep breath to keep my tears at bay. I had never been so mortified in my entire life. How would I have known that Mr. Croft went swimming in that exact place each morning? The possibility of encountering him had not even crossed my mind.

I didn’t dare think of what the consequences would be.

The three ladies who had seen us would not forget the incident, especially not Lady Cinderford.

I didn’t suspect that she would intentionally spread gossip, but it was entirely possible that she would demand reparations from Mr. Croft.

She had seen us swimming in the sea together.

She had seen the clinging, the closeness—but she had not seen the arguing.

She hadn’t seen how very angry we both were.

My veins still pulsed with frustration as Eliza and I approached the front door of our townhouse.

How could Mr. Croft have been so quick to assume that I was ensnaring him?

I glared down at the cobblestones, biting hard on my lip. It tasted of sea salt. The action didn’t keep tears from welling up in my eyes.

The streets were quiet and empty, the Steine marked with only a few riders in the distance.

I made it just inside the entry hall before the tears spilled down my cheeks.

“Blast Jonathan Croft.” I buried my face in my hands.

I sensed Eliza step closer. She had been a maid in our household for many years, and most of the time, she stayed in her place.

But today, I sensed her dread as strongly as my own.

“‘Tisn’t proper, miss. Yer reputation—”

I uncovered my eyes, a shaky breath escaping my lungs.

How much had those women really seen? If it were possible to convince them that he was rescuing me—that he had no choice but to come to my aid—then perhaps the situation could be excused and my reputation could recover.

But if they had seen how long we remained in the water—and that I was entirely capable of swimming on my own, then the story might not be believable at all.

Was Mr. Croft still on the beach? Or had he left as quickly as I had?

Water dripped from my skirts, forming a puddle at my feet. I had been very wrong about the Brighton waters. They hadn’t healed me at all.

They had put me in dire straits.

“Ye’d best not leave the house for a few days.” Eliza closed the curtain by the front door before turning around. “Yer brother should remain ‘ere as well. The less people see of ye, the more likely this incident’ll be forgotten.”

All I could do was nod. I had told Mr. Croft that I never wished to see him or speak with him ever again. And I meant it.

Eliza followed me upstairs and drew me a bath. I scrubbed away every last particle of salt from my skin and hair before dressing in a clean gown. I was still cold, so I sat in front of the fire in the drawing room as my hair dried, and until Edmund finally made his appearance.

He peeked his head through the open doorway.

We hadn’t spoken since Mama had left Brighton.

My brother had always been far too skilled at recognizing when I was upset.

He would surely think it was because of Charlotte’s departure, not anything as damaging as what had occurred that morning.

I debated if I should tell him, but I was not in the mood to be scolded.

“How are you faring?” he asked in a tentative voice. “Well enough for breakfast?”

I was glad he didn’t immediately blame me for causing Mama’s departure from Brighton. “No, actually. I don’t think I can eat.” I wrung my fingers together. Perhaps I could still keep my morning swim a secret. If Lady Cinderford was wise, she would too.

“Not even a fresh loaf of bread? Orange marmalade?” Edmund’s cajoling smile was usually his tactic for raising my spirits, but today it didn’t work. My head spun wildly, and fear had taken root inside my stomach. There was no room for food.

“Not today.”

Edmund sighed, crossing the room to sit on the settee behind my chair. “I heard what you said to Charlotte. I am proud of you. Mother will return soon, and you will be free to continue living out your dream of Brighton.” He leaned forward as if trying to catch my gaze, but I stared at the fire.

He would not be proud of me at all soon enough. I swallowed. “Something—er—happened this morning.”

He raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

I sat up straighter, rubbing my palms over my knees. My heart hammered. “I’m afraid to tell you.”

Edmund looked truly concerned now, his brow furrowed. “The day has barely begun, Alice. It’s not yet eight o’clock. What could have possibly happened already?” His amusement peeked through for a brief moment before he realized that I was entirely serious.

I didn’t have the chance to answer before a knock sounded on the front door.

I leaped to my feet, my heart nearly escaping my chest. Edmund jumped at my abrupt reaction, rising to his feet a second later. He threw me a suspicious look. “Are you expecting a caller?”

I shook my head. I struggled to draw air into my lungs as I stared at the drawing room door.

Where was Eliza? If she had warned the other servants about my situation, then they might not be inclined to answer the door.

I held perfectly still, frozen beside the fireplace as the dreaded sound of the door latch drifted from the entry hall.

I smoothed my hands over my partially dry hair, cringing at the fuzz that had formed on the surface. Edmund watched the drawing room door as if he expected a cloaked, monstrous figure to waltz through at any moment.

His features shifted to confusion when Lady Cinderford entered the room instead, bringing with her a waft of floral perfume.

I had seen her dismayed expression from atop the cliffs, but I hadn’t truly seen it until now.

Her thin brows arched dangerously over her eyes; rosy lips pursed tight.

For a long moment, she simply stared at me with that look, until I felt that it might impale me.

“Lady Cinderford,” Edmund said, breaking the silence. He walked forward with a bow. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

Her nostrils flared, and she interlocked her hands in front of her as she stared down at me. “Unfortunately, I am not here on pleasant business at all.”

Edmund shifted on his feet, casting me a sidelong glance. “Is something amiss?”

Lady Cinderford sucked in a deep breath. “Indeed. Miss Kellaway’s reputation is being called into question as we speak.”

Edmund strode closer, stopping directly beside me. I felt his eyes searching my face, but I couldn’t look at him.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I went for a swim this morning,” I muttered. “After Mama and Charlotte left, I—” I let out a sigh. “I wanted to experience every part of Brighton.”

“You went for a swim alone?” Edmund’s voice was heavy with shock.

“Not alone.” Lady Cinderford seemed on the verge of fainting from the distress of the matter. “She went for a swim with Mr. Jonathan Croft.”

I turned to face her, shaking my head. “That was not my intention.”

Edmund was silent for a long moment. “Please explain, then, what your intention was.” His frustration was evident, and it made me even more ashamed.

“I thought I had found a secluded beach. I thought I was alone, so I planned to take a short swim in the sea and come straight back to shore. Eliza was with me, and there was no one else in sight. Until…” I gulped, remembering the moment I had surfaced directly beside Mr. Croft.

He had seemed to have come out of nowhere.

“Suddenly Mr. Croft was there in the water. I avoided him, but he thought I was incapable of swimming on my own. He thought he was rescuing me.”

“And he was not clothed,” Lady Cinderford whispered in a scandalized voice.

“He was! Partially.” My face burned. I shouldn’t have acted like I had even noticed such details.

Edmund closed his eyes for several seconds. When they opened, I saw the dread in them. “I would ask for your silence on the subject, my lady.”

Lady Cinderford lifted her chin. “As a friend of your mother’s, I have vowed my silence on the matter, but my companions this morning are not so keen to withhold the news from their circles.

” She turned her gaze to me. “Miss Kellaway, do you realize the weight of this situation? The absolute destruction it could bring upon your entire family?”

I swallowed but couldn’t find the words to answer.

Edmund sighed. “I will speak with Mr. Croft about this unfortunate accident. I am sure he is just as keen to put the incident behind him as we are.”

Lady Cinderford scoffed. “What will you speak with him about? His silence most certainly will not be enough. He happened upon Miss Kellaway this morning, accident or not, and they were seen clinging to one another in a most scandalous fashion. If he is a gentleman at all, he should do the honorable thing. Miss Kellaway is under your protection. I would strongly suggest you demand it of him.”

My heart thudded. Demand…what? The answer flitted through my mind, flooding my stomach with panic.

“There is only one way to sort this out with minimal damage to her reputation.” Lady Cinderford raised her chin. “Mr. Croft must marry her, and quickly.”