The steward turned toward her. “You are the steward, are you not?”
“I am,” he said. “I do not think we’ve been formally introduced, but I feel as if I know you from listening to Mrs. Sullivan and Lord Easterly talk. I am Mr. Shelton. Everyone calls me Edward, though.” He gave her a sloppy bow.
Charlotte offered him a curtsey in return for his bow. “I do not know that I could call you by such an intimate name. Would it insult you greatly if I called you Mr. Shelton?”
“Not at all,” Mr. Shelton said with a smile. “Now, what can I do for you, Miss Browne?”
Charlotte liked the man right away. “I was wondering if you knew where I might find Lord Easterly?”
“He went out for a walk, but he usually comes back through the gardens. So, if he is not here then I would try the gardens. You are bound to run into him eventually.” Mr. Shelton gave her a dip of his hat. “I apologise, but I really must be going to relay some work orders.”
Charlotte nodded and assured the man, “I understand. Thank you.” If Lord Easterly had gone out for a walk, hopefully he would still be far enough away from the house for them to have a private conversation.
She stepped outside and squinted up at the clouds. She had left her hat in the conservatory. It was a wonder that Mr. Shelton had not mentioned it and Charlotte blushed just thinking of it.
She moved out into the informal garden scanning the area for her quarry. There was no sign of Lord Easterly on any of the lawns that butted up against the back of the house. She swiftly moved toward the area that held trees and flowerbeds.
Charlotte made her way along the winding paths of the garden. It was beautiful here. The clouds overhead made an ominous rumble. Charlotte looked up and put her hand over her heart at the sound.
She hurried underneath an area with trees. She was still looking between the tree branches when she ran into what she thought was a tree, until she felt the fabric against her skin. “Pardon me,” Charlotte said out of habit when her eyes came up and met blue-grey eyes. “Lord Easterly,” she whispered.
They both stood still, entirely too close from their collision. Charlotte’s mind finally registered this and she took a step back.
“Were you looking for me?” Lord Easterly asked. “Seemed like you were looking at the clouds.”
Charlotte could not help but laugh at her own foolishness. “I got spooked by some thunder, but yes I was coming to find you. Your steward said you often come back from walks this way.”
Lord Easterly nodded. “I do.”
“Did you see me and let me run into you?” Charlotte asked.
Lord Easterly chuckled. “I was trying to figure out what you were looking at so earnestly.”
“Ah, well, now you know.” Charlotte smoothed down her skirts. The sight of the man’s hat made her think of her own, then she noticed he had his jacket off. She felt warmth rise to her cheeks.
Lord Easterly noticed her gaze. “Of course, I had forgotten that I was half-dressed. It was warm during the walk. Forgive my indecency.”
“It is hardly indecent to seek comfort from the heat. It would be as if I told you to take your winter jacket off because it is not fashionable,” Charlotte said, trying her best to sound reasonable as Lord Easterly slipped his arms back in his jacket and situated it against his muscular frame.
“Now what was it that brought you out here into the storm to seek me?” Lord Easterly’s eyes seemed as grey as the clouds overhead and Charlotte was lost in them for a moment. “Miss Browne?” He eyed her with concern.
Charlotte opened her mouth and then snapped it shut again. What was it she came to tell him? He was far too close for rational clear thoughts to win.
Lord Easterly reached out and ran a fingertip along her cheek. Charlotte whispered, “I love you.”
He looked at her as if he had not understood her. “I fear I must have been walking too long,” he whispered. “I surely did not hear that correctly.”
Charlotte shook her head. She nervously took his hand and tugged on it. He took a step closer, bringing them together. “I said that I love you, Lord Easterly.”
“What brought this on?” His eyes were suspicious, and Charlotte felt the distance between them still, even as they stood nearly touching each other.
Charlotte released his hand and put her hands on the front of his jacket. She looked up at him, pleading with him silently to understand. “It is not something that was brought on by anything. I have felt this way for a long while, but I did not have the courage to say it.”
Lord Easterly brought his hand back up to cup her cheek tenderly and Charlotte leaned her cheek against his palm. “What about Lord Stanhope?”
Charlotte whispered, “I do not want to marry him. I did not want to marry him before he showed his true colours and I do not want to marry him now. I told him the same thing.”
“Pity I did not get to see that,” Lord Easterly said with an angry edge. “I apologise for speaking so. It is not appropriate in front of a lady.”
His ire did not frighten Charlotte. She smiled up at him. “If you did not like him then why tell him about the dowry?”
“You deserve to have your choice of match, not have it chosen for you. I thought you might still have feelings for him.” Lord Easterly shook his head. “I wanted to make sure you had what you wanted out of life, even if it was not me.”
Charlotte eyed him silently for a moment. “I do not quite understand.”
“Lord Stanhope is penniless,” Lord Easterly informed her. “I thought you wanted to marry him, so I told him of the dowry. Do not be angry with me, please. Is it not right that I should want you to be happy no matter what?” Lord Easterly seemed to be genuinely asking her the question. His eyes held such fragile hope that Charlotte felt her heart melt.
Charlotte whispered, “You really do sacrifice yourself for others too much. Sometimes it is better to simply say what you want, Lord Easterly, instead of trying to quietly help others get what they want.”
“So I should just tell you that I love you, then? he whispered back her.
Charlotte smiled. “Is that the truth?”
“It is.” Lord Easterly laughed, and the sound of it was almost unhinged to Charlotte’s ears. There was relief in it and Charlotte smiled.
She looked up at him through her lashes. “Do you feel better now?”
“Much better.” His arm encircled her waist and pulled her against him. His mouth found hers and Charlotte surrendered to his kiss completely and kissed him back with equal abandon.
The kiss made her head spin and Charlotte opened herself to him without even a second thought, stepping backward in unison with him as they nestled close to the oak to be out of view.
Charlotte felt her back touch the tree. The impact seemed to bring awareness back to both of them of just what they were doing. They broke the kiss but remained pressed together against the tree bark.
“Miss Browne,” Lord Easterly whispered, his gaze unsure.
Charlotte smiled at him. “You can call me Charlotte.” She pressed her lips back against his.
Lord Easterly made a noise that could have been pleasure or frustration. Charlotte had no experience to tell the difference, but it gave her a heady feeling all the same. She slipped her arms up around his neck and kissed him with all the passion that she felt.
When they parted again, the kiss left them both panting softly. “I guess you should call me Graham then,” Lord Easterly said with a grin that Charlotte had not seen before. It reminded her of Amanda’s mischievous grin when she was doing something she knew was wrong.
Charlotte was about to speak when there was a bright flash of lightning followed by a loud crack thunder. She gasped and clung to Graham. The next instant rain cascaded down out of the sky all around them. The tree protected them some, but Charlotte still felt the rain hitting her.
“It appears we have been caught,” Graham said as he straightened.
Charlotte whispered, “Per
haps we should say here. It is at least a little dry.”
“Maybe,” he said. “Then again, you might be a bit too tempting. I would not want to ruin your virtue.”
Charlotte shrugged and tugged at his jacket. “Technically, most of London and beyond thinks we have already been to bed together.”
Graham laughed and his mirth caught Charlotte as well as she joined him in his laughter. “That may be, but we both know differently.”
Charlotte agreed with a nod of her head. “So, instead you will run me through the rain?”
“It might do well at cooling my tempers,” Graham said, more to himself than to her.
She slipped her arm through his and looked up at him through her lashes. “It feels odd to call you Graham. I know it is your name. I have heard Amanda call you that often, yet it feels thick on my tongue.”
“Old habits are hard to break.”
“You always talk as if you have quite the temper, but I have never really seen that.” Charlotte leaned her head against his shoulder. She longed to be nearer to him, for him to kiss her again, yet she dared not initiate another kiss lest he begin to think of her some brazen woman.
Graham frowned and Charlotte regretted her words. She had been hoping to pull him closer with an intimate question, but it seemed to backfire. “You should ask Lord Stanhope about my anger.”
Charlotte forgot about her passion for the man for a moment. She reached out with her free hand and turned his face toward her. She stared at his stormy eyes and could find nothing of anger in them. “What would he tell me?”
“That I shoved him bodily against a tree for hurting you,” Graham told her. He gave her an apologetic look. “I know I had no right to do so, but I realised how forward he had been with you and I could not stop myself.”
Charlotte stared at Graham for a long moment. She could not imagine the gentle man doing such a thing. “If you did that then I am sure Lord Stanhope pushed you to it. You cannot hold yourself accountable for every little thing. Some things, no matter how large your ego, are not your fault.”
The chuckle from the man brought a smile to Charlotte’s face. She had hoped he would not take offense at her words. “You really have no qualms with calling me out, do you?”
“I do not think there should be any boundaries between those who love each other. Besides, my father taught me to tell the truth. That is actually why I came out here. I realised that I was not following my father’s very first rule, which is to simply be honest in all things.” Charlotte hugged Graham’s arm and gave the man a smile.
Graham nodded and put his hand hers on his arm. “I think that is a good rule.”
“And what of the duchess? I know that this is not really proper, and I would never see you burdened with more scandal on my account.” Charlotte eyed him curiously.
Graham shook his head. “I thought I already explained that the duchess and I are nothing more than friends. She wants more, but I do not. She knows that, Charlotte.”
“Then why does she still pursue you?” Charlotte wanted to believe Graham, but surely the woman had some kind of provocation for thinking Graham might change his mind.
Graham turned toward her, and she felt the loss of closeness with the man as he came to stand in front of her. The hum of the rain falling around them made the world seem very small, indeed. “Sometimes people just get an idea in their heads, Charlotte. Are you actually going to hold me responsible for her false beliefs about me?”
Charlotte reached out and took his hands in hers. “Of course not. It is not you or her that made me ask that. It is my own insecurity.” She looked down at her feet then back up at him. “Does Amanda know about Lord Stanhope being penniless?”
Graham shook his head. “I had only been certain of it since he came here from London. His brother is covering for him, but plenty of people talk about his overindulgence in gambling.”
“I am glad she did not marry him, but to think you would let me. You are a scoundrel, Graham,” Charlotte scolded him.
Graham chuckled. “So, I should not try to make you happy?”
“Perhaps you should ask me if it is truly what I want before you try and make me happy.” Charlotte swung their arms together.
He seemed to be contemplating what she was saying. “That is a very wise suggestion. I shall attempt to comply with it in all future endeavours.”
“You would think as seasoned as you are in this world you would have come to that realisation before now.” Her voice was light and teasing and she saw the moment that Graham caught on to her meaning.
He leaned forward. “Are you calling me old?”
“Lord Easterly, why ever would you think that?” Charlotte panicked a little as he let go of her hands and swiftly pulled her to him.
He leaned over and brushed his lips against hers. She shivered at the feeling of his beard as he placed kisses on her cheek and then her ear. “Thought I said you could call me Graham.”
Charlotte nodded, her tongue felt thick and she struggled to speak as his lips found her neck. “Graham,” she managed to get out in a strangled whisper.
She felt as much as heard his chuckle. He lifted his head and met her eyes. “Yes, Charlotte?”
She shook her head. There was nothing she wanted. Not in all of the world was there something she wanted more than this. She stood up on her tip-toes and pressed her lips against his.
*
Graham closed his eyes as Charlotte kissed him with such a sweet tenderness it was slowly crumbling his defences. It had been a mistake to take her back into his arms. She was too warm, too compliant, and far too tempting.
Oblivious to Graham’s inner struggle, Charlotte pressed herself against him and slipped her arms around his neck. It would be so easy to give in. Yet, Graham fought back against the rising tide of his desire.
This was no place for a lady to have her first such encounter. No. Charlotte should be pleasured slowly in a soft bed, with all the gentleness he could muster. Thoughts of what he might do to her in that bed made him all the more hard, and he reluctantly pushed her away.
“What is it?” Charlotte asked through little pants that spoke of her own eagerness.
Now that he had a few inches of space he could at least gain some semblance of control over himself. He stepped back out from under the tree’s cover to let the rain wash over him fully. The cold water hitting his skin was wonderful at soothing away the urges.
Charlotte tentatively stepped out into the rain as well, and Graham silently cursed himself for not realising that she would follow. The rain pelted down over her, wetting her hair and her lovely face, but all the more disconcerting it was wetting her dress.
Graham grabbed her by her hand and shouted over the rain. “Come on! We need to make it back to the house. It does not look as if this rain is going to let up any time soon.”
Charlotte was left with little choice but to follow him as he still had her hand. He did not push her to run too fast, and they did stop to breathe once under a tree before tackling the lawns. Running was a great distraction and Graham was relieved that he was finally in full control of himself again.
When they reached the patio Charlotte exclaimed, “Oh my dress!”
“You have more,” he reminded her.
Charlotte sighed as he held the door open for her. She slipped past him, a bit closer than necessary Graham thought. He gave her a wry smile, which she returned. She fell into step beside him as they went down the hallway. “Still, I do not think Mrs. Sullivan will appreciate the water being dripped through the house.”
Under the Seductive Lady's Charm: A Historical Regency Romance Book Page 25