by Lisa Campell
Her father chuckled. “Oh well, they are welcome to try. The more, the merrier.”
Whittaker nodded in agreement, chuckling as well. As he recovered, his eyes finally settled on Caroline.
Seeing this, her father began to talk.
“Ah… forgive my manners. You must meet my—”
Whittaker stopped him with a finger in the air. “Don’t tell me. I know. She must be your daughter. My goodness! When you said she was a beauty, I thought you were simply overstating as any parent would. Now I see you spoke no lie. She’s gorgeous.”
Caroline would have blushed if he wasn’t looking at her as though she was a beautifully molded vase, delicately designed and meant to go to the highest bidder.
She didn’t like it one bit.
He reached for her hand and she reluctantly gave it to him. Sinking into a bow, he placed a lingering kiss at the back of her palm.
Every second felt like an eternity.
Finally, he straightened, but he wouldn’t let her hand go.
“She’s Miss Caroline Wentworth. As you have rightly guessed, she is my daughter. Miss Caroline, you must meet his lordship, Jeremiah Whittaker, Earl of Clarendon.”
She sank into a graceful curtsy then, rising after a moment.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, my lord.”
“Oh no, this pleasure belongs to me. Caroline, a fitting name for such beauty. Are you set to debut this Season?”
She smirked. “I’d say I already have, seeing as my father has shown me to the whole of London only tonight. Bear in mind that the Season has yet begun.”
“Ah… a smart tongue. They’re always more fun.”
It sounded as though there was another thought after the last word, but he kept it to himself.
How wise.
Just then, she felt her father nudge at her. “Smile, will you?” he whispered as he leaned into her.
Caroline fought against the urge to roll her eyes. She forced a smile when she finally won.
“So, how is business faring? It has been a long while since we last met. There is much to speak about,” Whittaker said, returning his gaze to her father.
Relief washed over her as she heard those words.
Aware that it was the perfect time to lose her father, she claimed to need some air. She assured her aunt she wouldn’t be gone for long, and with an acknowledging bow Whitakker’s way, she slipped away.
She walked as far away from them as she could. The further she went, the more she realized that she truly did need some air.
She finally managed to rid herself of the crowd. Surprisingly, there was a portion of the hall that was almost empty. She came to a stop there and proceeded to catch her breath.
From where she stood, she looked at the crowd and wondered how anyone enjoyed such madness, to do it over and over again every Season and still look forward to the next with so much glee and joy.
She had to get married this Season so she would never have to go through another one. She had to.
Just then, the hairs on the back of her nape stood and the sense of being watched suddenly overwhelmed her. She tried to ignore it but she couldn’t. She could feel a pair of eyes on her. She could even tell where the person was standing.
On her right side. It was where she could sense the feeling the most.
She began to turn. She wanted to know who it was. At the very least, she wanted to see their face. Her heart began to thrum in her chest.
There was probably no cause to feel alarm, so she tried not to. Finally, she stood face to face with her watcher.
As she beheld him, her eyes widened. The heart that had been thrumming so quickly seemed to suddenly stop. All of her stood frozen in shock.
Tall. He had always been taller than her, but he had grown even taller.
Dark hair, identical eyes. Chiseled chin and broad shoulders. That long nose she’d often teased him about as they grew.
Surely my eyes deceive me. Surely it isn’t him. Is it? No. It can’t be.
But she knew.
Deep inside of her, she knew. The way he looked at her. Heavens! He had become a man, but he was still her Edward. How could she not recognize him?
For so many years, her heart had beat for him. It could only stop for him.
As though he wished to clear her doubts, his mouth moved then, and she could swear he whispered her name.
“Caroline.”
Chapter Seven
“Is that her?” Nathaniel asked, pulling Edward out of his wonder.
Edward nodded. His heart began to beat again like it never had before. Fast. Hard. He feared his ribs would suffer a bruising.
He still couldn’t take his eyes off her. Not when hers were holding him captive, staring into his soul.
She had always been lovely, his Lin.
How could she have gotten even more beautiful?
“Yes,” he responded, nodding.
“Fascinating.” Nathaniel’s marvel was evident in his voice.
“That it is,” he responded again.
“I’ll take a guess you didn’t know she would be here.”
Edward shook his head. “I didn’t know she was in London.”
“Ahh… I see. Will you go to her?”
He bobbed his head. “I should.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
He turned to Nathaniel then, his brow furrowed. Nathaniel quirked his own, widening his eyes as he nodded in her direction.
That was when their words finally sank in.
“Oh, right! I have to go to her.”
Nathaniel bobbed his head. “So… go!”
Edward did just that. He didn’t know how he got his legs to move, but they did, carrying him to the only woman he had ever loved.
How long had it been?
Four years.
Too long.
Finally, he stopped in front of her. At a loss for words, he swallowed.
Why does my throat suddenly feel parched?
Thankfully, she recovered in time for the both of them. Smiling, those blue orbs he had missed so much finally twinkling at him again, she gushed, “Edward! Is it really you? It can’t be, can it? Surely not. You are not back from the war.”
He fully recovered then. She might have been shocked to find him at the ball, but he knew she had been informed of his return. Aunt Helen had told him of the dinner they had with her family in their country home.
He had felt a pang in his heart then, guilt for not writing to her to tell her of his return. It had been so long since he’d written to her.
Edward had thought it best to end the correspondence when they moved to another camp, fearing the most for his life then, believing he was very unlikely to return home.
Because he didn’t want her waiting in possible vain, because he hadn’t wished for her to receive a letter with gladness, only to open it and read of his demise. So he had told her he wouldn’t be able to write anymore.
And he had stopped.
As the end of his service neared, he began to let himself believe again, hope that he would indeed be able to return to her. The thought of fulfilling the vow he had sworn had kept him going, fighting to stay alive.
Even after he had been badly wounded and left for dead, with injuries so severe from the blast that it had brought his service to an end six months early, it was thoughts of her that kept him breathing.
As he had lain in that bed, struggling to live, she had visited his dreams often. Begging him to fight, to never let go, for her.
He had held on. He had won the battle, but he hadn’t won every fight. Some, he had lost.
He had planned that if he lived, she would be the first one he would write too. That he would charge after her as soon as he arrived in England. Take her in his arms when he finally saw her, twirl her around, declare his love and kiss her senseless.
Then, he would ask her to marry him and they would be wed in the fields they had both roamed as children. Under the moonl
ight they both loved so dearly.
Yes, he had lived, but he had lost so much to the war; he had been unable to summon the courage to send word.
He was no longer the man he had been when he had those dreams. As much as he willed it to be so, he was no longer the one for her.
So, he had remained in London, hoping she would forget him. Dreading to think that she would indeed, or that she had—that she might have already moved on with her life.
“It appears I am. As you can see…” he said with a small smile. “I didn’t know you were in London.”
“We arrived only a few days ago. Father thought it would be good to honor the invite, introduce me to society.”
“Introduce you? It’s your first Season?” He knew that. Aunt Helen had told him so, but she wasn’t the only one who knew how to feign ignorance.
She nodded.
“What are you now, eight-and-ten? You should have debuted two Seasons ago.”
“I know. Father asked me to. I ran away.”
The last part was barely a whisper, and she broke her gaze, but he caught it anyway.
He wanted to smile, but he feared revealing how happy he was to see her. If he let any sort of emotion show at all, she would be misled into believing things could continue as they had been before he left.
He could not give her hope of something that would never happen. It would be cruel to do so.
“You ran away? All these years and you still haven’t changed. But you are no longer a child, Caroline. You are now a lady, and you must learn to act like one.”
That was a lie. He had never minded. He loved her for all her wild rebellion. He was happy to know that she hadn’t changed.
She looked at him then and he saw the hurt in her eyes. His insides twisted. He did not wish to cause her pain, but it had to be done.
If she didn’t already hate him, he had to make certain she did.
She opened her mouth to speak but she hiccupped. She only did that when she was nervous. His Lin was rarely ever so.
Her hands flew to her mouth immediately, and as they fell away, he saw that she was biting her lips.
“You never used to mind,” she said finally. “I suppose you do now. Seeing as you are all grown and… manly.”
There was a pause and he suspected she was holding back words.
She began to look at him then, really look at him.
“How are you? How do you fare? Did you do alright out there at the battle front? Were you injured often? I hope you were not too lonely. You must have made friends, did you not?”
“Since when did you begin to nag? It’s rather unpleasant.”
He was happy that she cared, thrilled that she worried about him.
Choosing not to answer her questions, he asked one of his own, ignoring her sullenness. “Whyever did you run away? You wasted two good Seasons. I am certain many of your peers are married now. You shall be debuting with girls fresh out of the classroom.”
“Is that all that matters to you? Did you hope that you would return to news of my marriage?”
“I imagined you would at least be suckling a child by now.”
She chuckled. It was forced. He could tell she was trying to make light of the matter, pretend as though she wasn’t hurt.
“You know me. I hate to do anything just because it is expected of me. Why I ran away? No reason. I simply felt like being rebellious. It was quite hilarious, worrying Father so. He looked all over for me. You should have been there. You would have been amused as well.”
“I doubt it,” he said. It hurt that she hadn’t said it was because she’d been waiting for him.
Wasn’t that the reason? She must have missed all those Seasons, knowing that if she debuted, her hand would have been forced in marriage before his return.
He would have asked for her hand before leaving for war. He had wanted to see them betrothed, but his conscience wouldn’t let him. No soldier knew if they would ever return from war.
“I don’t think such childish antics would have tickled my fancy. Anyhow, it is nice to see you again. I never thought the day would come when I would say this, but you actually look beautiful—like a lady. I can tell the years have been good to you. I’m glad.”
“I’m not so certain you are,” she croaked, her voice broken. However, she was quick to clear her throat and brandish a bright smile. “It is wonderful to see you too, your grace. I bless the heavens for your safe return. I suppose we shall be running into each other often like this as the Season progresses. Well, then, I shall see you around.”
She started to leave but just then, her father and his aunt and uncle stepped out of the crowd.
“There she is!” Aunt Helen chimed. “I told you there was nothing to worry about, we were certain to find her.”
Caroline stopped in her tracks and he watched as she closed her eyes before opening them. It was apparent she couldn’t wait to get away… from him.
Good.
No, it wasn’t good. But it was what he had wanted—so why did it hurt so?
Why did he want to pull her into his arms, hold on to her tightly and never let go? Why did he want to cry in her arms as he told her of the horrors he had seen? The terrors of war.
He wanted to kiss her and run his hands through that wild mane of hers.
She was the reason why every woman he had ever lain with since his return was a redhead. He had unwittingly been searching for her in them, but they could never compare. They could never be his Lin.
“Oh look! There’s Edward, too. It appears they found each other all on their own. See? She has been safe all this time.” It was his aunt still.
They drew to a halt as they reached them, and Viscount Wymore cradled his daughter’s face.
“My dear, never scare me like that again! I feared the worst. Thank goodness for Helen and Ethan, else I would have lost my mind worrying. So, this is where you were all this while.”
Her aunt joined them then. Her relief was apparent.
“Caroline! Ah… we found you.”
She turned to him then, her eyes widening as recognition hit.
“Goodness! Your grace, it is you! How delightful it is to see you again. You finally managed to grow taller than me.”
Edward let himself smile this time. He had always been fond of Lady Trudy, and he had no reason to push her away.
“You are still as young as ever, my lady.”
Her cheeks flushed. It was then it occurred to him that when he had told Caroline she was beautiful, she hadn’t blushed.
How could she have? When it had been so cruelly said?
“Pshaw!” she gushed, waving him away. “Did they teach you flattery at the training grounds?”
“No, my lady. Only to say the truth in honor.”
Aunt Trudy giggled then. It was light and free. The kind he wished he had elicited from Caroline.
He glanced at her but she wouldn’t look his way.
“You have grown into a man indeed, Brandon,” Wymore said, finally speaking.
Edward bowed his head. “My lord, it is wonderful seeing you again.”
Wymore gave him a pat on his shoulder, still chuckling. “That it is, that it is. Have you been well?”
He nodded. “Very well, sir.”
Wymore took his time to look him over. “Yes. It does look like you returned home in one piece. Heavens be praised. We must celebrate. Your aunt tells me she’s planning a small dinner. We will be there.”
Edward was only just hearing about such a thing. He turned to his guardians. Uncle Ethan looked away and Aunt Helen pleaded his understanding with her eyes.
He sighed. They were still the same, and he could not even bring himself to be angry at them.
“As long as it doesn’t turn out like Nathaniel’s ball. An intimate gathering, please.”
Aunt Helen grinned from ear to ear, aware that she’d just gotten his approval. “Of course! I shall only be inviting a few families, you can trust me.”
