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CHAPTER FIVE

Charlie couldn’t believe his bad luck at being caught with Madeline the night before.

He knew that William hadn’t seen anything incriminating but the boy was observant enough to know something had happened.

He just wasn’t interested in finding out what that was.

The boy didn’t care about societies rules, so he didn’t care if anyone broke them.

That didn’t mean that Charlie didn’t care about keeping her reputation safe.

Charlie had intercepted William and walked him back to the party which was coming to close. By the time he had returned to the library, Madeline had retreated to her room. It was best to give her some time to think about what had happened before he approached her, so he had gone to bed himself.

The next day, many of the guests were getting ready to leave.

Charlie had expected he would be on the road early, but he found himself waiting in hopes he could talk to her before he departed.

He thought he would have to seek her out but was surprised when he was delivered a note asking him to meet her in the carriage house.

“Are you really leaving today?”

Madeline was standing near one of stall doors, wearing a proper dark green dress and jacket.

She looked very much like the tutor she was, unlike the night before.

Her blond hair was pulled back tightly, but there was a softness to her gaze that let him know she was still the same woman from the library.

“I’m afraid so. There are obligations I have to attend to.”

“Of course. You are a man in high demand.”

Charlie wanted to explain that it wasn’t another woman that called him away but technically it was since it was for the Queen.

“Did you call me out here to say goodbye?” He asked.

“No.”

Charlie swallowed hard, hoping she wasn’t going to blame him for what happened the night before. He was already blaming himself enough. Unfortunately, he could offer her nothing while working for the crown.

“I wanted to complete our lessons before you go.”

That was not what he expected, and he felted his jaw drop open a bit.

“Are you not worried about maintaining your reputation?” he said.

“I’m pretty sure I ruined that beyond repair last night. Might as well become the fallen woman they will think of me.”

“No one thinks that of you.”

“They will once they hear I was caught alone with such a rake as you.”

“No one will know.”

He saw her eyebrows rise in challenge of that.

“I have talked to William, and he doesn’t even realize he caught us doing anything inappropriate. He won’t tell anyone, and your reputation is still intact.”

“Perhaps I don’t want it to be.”

Medeline’s gaze was looking at everything but his face. He could sense she was nervous and wanted to ease that for her.

“I shouldn’t have asked you to come to bed with me. It was not my place.” Charlie told her.

“There is no one else offering.”

He found that hard to believe. Madeline was beautiful and intelligent. Everything that would stoke a man’s desire.

“No, but one day there will be, and that man will offer you more than just one experience.”

“You mean marriage?”

Her expression was one of distaste.

“Yes. You are very lovely and will make a wonderful wife one day.”

He saw her chest rise and fall in a heavy sigh.

“I do not want to shackle my life to another person. I want the freedom to pursue my own dreams and adventure.”

“As a tutor?”

She pursed her lips for a moment. “That is simply my way of earning enough money to travel in the future. It will be for nothing if I get married instead.”

She took a step closer, but kept enough distance between them that he couldn’t reach for her.

“That doesn’t mean I want to deny myself the pleasures of a man. At least not a man such as you.”

“A reckless rogue?”

“One that is a skilled lover.”

Charlie felt his pride swell inside him as she said that.

He felt torn, between doing what he knew was right by walking away and giving in to temptation to grant her wish.

He was still pondering it when he heard a shuffling sound.

A dark figure appeared out of the corner of his eye and before he knew what was happening a large man in dark jacket grabbed Madeline around the waist, throwing her over his shoulder.

“Lady Pickford sends her regards. She was disappointed you left so quickly after spending the evening with her husband.” Siad the man who was hiding his face with a hat.

That was the lady of the house he had been at before coming home. He had been flirtatious with her in hopes of distracting her while getting the information from her husband. Apparently, he had misled the wrong women.

She said she knows now why you were there, and she will make you pay for your bad manners as her guest.”

The man swung his free hand out and struck Charlie hard enough in the gut to knock him off his feet.

The man carried Madeline toward the door and outside, where he had a carriage waiting.

He dumped her inside and locked the door from the outside, then jumped on top before Charlie could catch up.

Even though his stomach was aching, Charlie jumped on the back of the carriage as it was pulling away.

through the back window he could see that Madeline had company inside because Lady Pickford was sitting across from her.

He couldn’t hear what was being said, but he knew it must be upsetting to Madeline by her expression.

Charlie had to wait until they were further away from the house, but as soon as he got the chance, he would be putting a stop to it.