An English Lord's Love Affair

Chapter 9.3. Controversy And Censure

"Chloe," a male voice whispered behind her.

She dropped the paper on her pillow, stifling a scream as a dark-garbed figure loomed in the dressing closet door. For an irrationally relieved moment, she thought her ghost had returned, but the shadowy figure soon resolved into the more familiar and far less threatening form of her outlaw brother, Damon. She had practically forgotten all about the rogue.

"Oh, it's you," she said in a soft voice, tucking the scrap of paper under her pillow. "Why do you have to sneak up on me like that?"

He gave her an engaging grin, his blue eyes glittering. "I can hardly announce myself with a fanfare of trumpets, can I?"

"You shall be announced in prison if you don't stop playing highwayman, Damon Brumidge, " she said in a burst of irritation.

He looked genuinely puzzled. "What do you mean? It was once, Charlotte. A very bad mistake of judgment."

She jumped up to face him, his equal in temperament if not in size. "Cooper's Bridge. And don't lie to me. It isn't funny."

"Cooper's Bridge?" He ran his hand through his short black hair.

"The Kissing Highwayman, Damon. You have to stop."

He blew out a sigh of annoyance. "It wasn't me. . . . I seemed to have started a fashion, Chloe. It's a damned embarrassment if you must know. Bored young men are holding up coaches to steal kisses."

"And risking their lives," Charlotte said, looking him over.

"Well, I can't stop their stupidity, can I?"

She hesitated. "It really wasn't you?'

"Good God, no. I've been quite a good boy, believe it or not, helping old Cousin Charles pot his orchids. What about you?" He leaned against the dresser, giving her a rueful look. "Desperate for a bit of excitement, are you?"

She glanced away from his shrewd gaze. "You have no idea." And he would not believe her if she told him exactly how much spine-tingling excitement she had encountered since his last visit. Should she tell him?

"You've met a man," he said, amused and concerned at once.

She looked up, a little too quickly to hide her guilt. "Don't be silly. In Chistlebury?"

He strolled across the room, eyeing the pillow behind her. "That was a love note you were reading, wasn't it? Lord above, Charlotte, don't go falling for some country bumpkin. Our exile shan't last much longer."

"I most certainly hope not," she said. She hesitated a moment. "Damon, no one will talk of it, but you've always been candid with me. Do you think Bernard might have been involved in espionage after he left England?"

"In the Honourable East India Company? I doubt it, although before—" He met her gaze. "It shouldn't be a secret, not from you, not since he's dead. I believe he carried a few message back and forth for Henry in Portugal. Imagine surviving the war only to be ambushed by fanatics. It doesn't seem right, does it?"

Charlotte shook her head, feeling torn between trusting him and the promise she had made to a man she barely knew. Should she break her word to Benedic? After all, she could not be held accountable for a vow she had made while being tossed on the bed and kept a virtual hostage. But. . . . a promise was a promise, and if that was the only way learn what had really happened to Bernard, then so be it.

Besides, Damon might assume the worst. He might believe that Charlotte had been compromised beyond repair. The dominant male in him would go after Benedic, and there would be the devil to pay all around. Charlotte would be the eye in the center of another storm. No matter what decision she made, she would face controversy and censure.

She looked up. "I suppose you came here for more cash."

He marched his brow. "Actually I came here because I was worried about you. Old Charles is generous enough, but I shan't be responsible for my sanity if I have to put any more plants."

"Why would you worry about me?"

"Just a sense, Charlotte. Oh, all right. I know it sounds daft, but I had the silliest dream that you were in danger." He put his hands on her shoulders. "You aren't are you? I mean, you're not planning to elope with another cock-brained cavalry officer? Geordo and Henry would have my head if I let anything like that happen."

Charlotte felt a cold flush go through her. She'd never lied to Damon before. He had a sixth sense about some things, and deception did not come easily to her now. Now that Bernard was gone, Damon was the best friend she had. Even so, she wasn't quite ready to share her secret with him yet. She had to think it through herself first.

"I did meet a man, if you have to know." She smiled up into his concerned, handsome face. "It's James Preston, and yes, he's thrown stones at my window and made up awful poetry in my honor. But he's good fun, Damon. I think the Old Ones might even approve."

The Old Ones included their siblings Geordo, Henry, and Lizzie, who were not chronologically that much older but who, had always been the family tyrants. David had fallen somewhere in between the label of tyrant and troublemaker.

"As long as you approve, Charlotte," Damon said gently, "then he cannot be all that bad, although I have to say I really took a dislike to that baron you kissed in the park."

Charlotte crossed her arms over her chest, the gesture instinctively self-protection. "Yes, well, I'm not liking him all that much myself right now. Look where that indiscretion led me."

The rumble of voices from the stairwell outside her room distracted them. Damon stirred, giving his sister a kiss on the forehead before he stepped back toward the closet.

"All this cloak-and-dagger nonsense, Damon," she whispered at his retreating figure. "I shall be glad when Geordo gives the word, and you are no longer afraid of the authorities."

He grinned before disappearing from sight. "The authorities be damned. It's Aunt Penelope I'm avoiding. The woman will lecture me to death if she gets a hold of me."

*A/N: Please be my patron in Patre*n and read chapters in advance. My other works are also available there. Or if you just want to support me. Please look for creator Zetar086.
Love lots ♥️