by Wolf, Bree
Pierce frowned. “That masquerade is generally quite a scandalous affair. Are you certain it would be the right place for your brother?” With doubt in his heart, Pierce glanced at the proper, young man standing alone on the western side of the terrace, looking out at the extensive gardens.
“I know what you mean,” Pembroke agreed. “But perhaps a bit of a shock would do him good. I don’t think his mood can sink any lower.”
“Very well,” Pierce agreed. “I will do what I can.”
“Thank you,” Pembroke mumbled before catching sight of his darling wife and hurrying off at a subtle nod of her head.
A little distance away, Pierce caught a glimpse of Caroline as she walked down a small slope with her parents, leading them deeper into the gardens. He sighed, frustrated with her determination to keep him away. Well, if she wanted to or not, he would talk to her again.
But not here.
Not today.
He needed to speak to her alone. After all, she’d always been more responsive when they’d been alone. With deep longing, Pierce remembered the intimacies they’d shared and knew that it would shatter him if she were ever lost to him for good. No, he would not allow that to happen. He wanted her with every fiber of his body, his heart and soul, and he could only hope that she wanted him as well.
The thought that she might not was devastating.
His gaze moved back to settle on Nathanial Caswell, and he found himself utterly surprised to see that the man no longer stood alone.
Beside him, leaning against the stone balustrade of the terrace, stood Charlaine. Had she found toes to step on? Or…?
The look on her face did not speak of anger or frustration, not even of annoyance. Neither did he detect that slight curve of her lips that whispered of her playing a game, teasing and pushing until she got her way. No, the smile on her face looked genuine, her brown eyes open and watchful as she spoke.
Mr. Caswell, however, appeared rather displeased with her presence. His shoulders were taut, and Pierce could see that he offered no more than short, most likely monosyllabic answers to her questions.
Charlaine, though, looked undeterred.
Pierce smiled, knowing that once she’d set her mind to something there was no dissuading her. In all likelihood, she’d sensed Mr. Caswell’s distress and had now made it her life’s mission to cheer him up, and there wasn’t a damn thing the man could do about it.
It was a hard lesson to learn, but even Albert had relented in the end.
Never in his life had Pierce met another soul so determined to make others smile. Perhaps it would be wise of him to ensure that Mr. Caswell and Charlaine were repeatedly thrown together in the weeks to come.
Perhaps she would be the solution.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Open Words Between Cousins
“Are you all right?” Rebecca asked as the two cousins strolled through the gardens of Pembroke Hall the following day. “You look sad.”
Caroline tried to cast her cousin a joyous smile, but knew it would be to no avail even before she lifted her head. “I’m fine,” she said nonetheless, unable to banish a certain Black Baron from her mind. All night, thoughts of him and that dark-haired beauty had tormented her. Again and again, she’d relived the moment the young woman had reached for his hand on the terrace, the moment their eyes had lingered on one another, the moment Pierce had reached out to brush a gentle hand over her cheek.
Sleep had been mostly absent that night, and when Caroline had woken in the morning, exhausted and weary, her heart had felt heavier than she’d ever thought possible.
She felt ill as though something inside of her was withering away and there was simply no cure.
“You’re not fine,” Rebecca pointed out, then stopped and took Caroline’s hand. Her green eyes lingered on her cousin’s face before she huffed out a breath. “Is it Lord Markham?”
The sound of his name had Caroline’s jaw dropping. “What?”
Rebecca smiled knowingly. “We saw you.”
“We?” Caroline croaked as her knees began to wobble.
“Zach and I,” Rebecca clarified, leading her cousin over to a stone bench hidden deeper inside the inner sanctum of Pembroke Hall’s gardens.
Slumping down, Caroline knew not what to think. The idea of Rebecca and her husband observing…observing… “When?” she asked, turning to look at her cousin. “Where?”
Rebecca’s eyes narrowed, and a teasing smile played on her lips. “Oh, so there has been more than the one occasion? I see. That sounds promising.”
“Becca!”
“Very well,” her cousin relented, sitting down beside her. “It was yesterday in the front hall. I didn’t want to say anything because I know people confronted with a secret they’ve been keeping tend to lie, but,” she grasped Caroline’s hands, “I couldn’t keep it in any longer. What is going on with the two of you? I had no idea you were so well…acquainted.” The last word had a heavy note to it, and her brows lifted in question.
Caroline sighed deeply, surprised to feel relief flood her heart. Was this not what she had hoped for all along? To be able to confide in her cousin? To be offered counsel by someone who cared about her heart?
“Tell me,” Rebecca whispered, her hands closing over Caroline’s, warm and reassuring.
Another deep sigh shuddered past Caroline’s lips and, for a moment, she knew not where to begin. “It’s all so complicated,” she whispered, meeting her cousin’s green eyes. “I feel as though my head is spinning.”
Rebecca nodded. “Let me ask you this, how long have you two been better acquainted?”
“A year perhaps?” Had it truly been that long?
“A year?” Rebecca almost shrieked, her eyes going wide in shock. “I mean, I knew I’d been rather oblivious to anything outside my own quest for love, but a year?” Staring at Caroline, she shook her head. “How did you meet? I cannot remember ever seeing you together.”
“He always found me when I was alone,” Caroline mumbled, her eyes distant as she remembered the beginning of their acquaintance when she hadn’t yet known that Pierce and the masked man had been one and the same.
“That sounds promising,” Rebecca commented with a wide grin.
Caroline chuckled, welcoming her cousin’s enthusiasm. Indeed, not long ago, she too had felt it, had reveled in it. But now?
“Tell me everything,” Rebecca prompted when Caroline’s thoughts once more drifted to more disappointing developments.
Seeing the excitement in her cousin’s eyes, Caroline nodded. “Very well. In truth, I should have told you a long time ago.” And then step by step, she told Rebecca about how Pierce had first addressed her at a ball, about how she’d sneaked out at night to go to the orphanage—
“Wait! What orphanage?” Rebecca interrupted frowning.
Caroline paused. “Right. You don’t know about that either.”
“It seems you’ve been keeping quite a few secrets, dear cousin.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” Caroline shook her head. “I’m beginning to lose track of them.” With her elbows on her legs, she bowed her head, resting it in her hands, her eyes closed as she fought to remember all that had happened, all she had kept from her cousin.
“He tried to rob you?” Rebecca asked with wide eyes. The excitement in her gaze did not dim for Rebecca was an adventurer at heart.
Caroline smiled. “He did, but I outdid him and got away.” The memory of her first encounter with the masked man still lingered on her mind as though it had happened yesterday.
“You must have been terrified. I mean, you didn’t know who he was.”
Frowning, Caroline shook her head. “I can’t say that I was, at least not in the sense that I was fearing for my life.” A small smile tugged on her lips at the memory. “There’s always been something…honorable about him.”
With the warm sun shining down at the world around them, the two cousins sat in the shade of the tall hedge and
finally spoke to one another without holding anything back. Caroline finally learned about all that had led to the day Pembroke had stolen Rebecca away from Lord Coleridge’s townhouse and whisked her off to Gretna Green before finally revealing all her own secrets, small and big, that had led her to this very day.
“Do you love him?” Rebecca asked carefully, her cheeks flushed after the ups and downs of Caroline’s story.
Caroline felt her teeth grit together. “I don’t know.”
“I think you do,” Rebecca observed shrewdly. “I think you simply don’t know whether or not it is wise to do so.” She squeezed Caroline’s hand, urging her cousin to look at her. “What happened? Why are you so afraid to love him?”
Caroline closed her eyes as her father’s voice once more echoed in her head. “I know that…I myself created this persona,” she said, then looked at her cousin as she gestured to her attire, her hairdo as well as her spectacles—spare ones as Pierce was still in possession of her other pair. “I wanted to be invisible. I thought it was the only way I could do what I needed to do.” She inhaled a deep breath. “But now…”
“Now, you want him to see you,” Rebecca finished for her.
Caroline nodded, her lips pressing together to hold back the tears that threatened as her heart finally admitted what it wanted, what it longed for, what it needed to find happiness.
“What makes you think he doesn’t see you?” Rebecca asked, a small grin teasing her lips. “I must say the way he pulled you into his arms looked very telling.”
“He didn’t,” Caroline pointed out, not quite certain why as her face began to heat. “I lost my balance and I fell…forward and…”
“That doesn’t matter,” Rebecca insisted with a snort. “He held on to you as though he never wanted to let go. Did you not notice the possessive look in his eyes?” Like Pierce had done the day before, Rebecca snatched the spectacles from Caroline’s nose. “These truly must hinder your eyesight for I noticed it hiding halfway across the room.” Her brows rose. “So did Zach.”
Caroline wanted the earth to open and swallow her whole. “Why did you watch us? Have you never heard of privacy?”
“Then you should have conducted your conversation in the library…or perhaps a bedchamber,” Rebecca teased, a devilish spark lighting up her green eyes, “and not in the foyer. Anyone could have stumbled upon you there. Fortunately for you, it was a beautiful day and people did not wish to remain indoors.”
“Then what were you two doing there?” Caroline demanded, determined to shift the focus off herself.
Rebecca grinned. “Well, quite frankly, we were on our way to seek out a…more private setting when we stumbled upon the two of you.”
Caroline’s jaw dropped. “It was your wedding celebration,” she pointed out breathlessly, “and you thought it the right moment to sneak off and…and…”
Rebecca laughed. “You look quite mortified, dear cousin. But now enough about me! Why the blazes do you think Markham does not care for you?”
“How can you think he does?” Caroline huffed out.
“How can I not?” Rebecca retorted. “After everything you told me, it seems fairly obvious.” Her gaze narrowed. “I think you thought so as well, but not anymore. What happened?”
Caroline shook her head at her cousin. “Did you not see them together?”
“Them?”
“That raven-haired beauty!” Caroline spat, hating how jealous she sounded.
Rebecca frowned, then her eyes widened in understanding. “Oh, you mean Charlaine Palmer?”
“You know her? Well, of course, you’d know her. After all, he’s friends with your husband.” She shot to her feet, overwhelmed by a most disturbing thought. “I hope you like her for it looks as though you’ll be seeing a lot of her in the future.” Then she spun on her heel and marched off.
Or tried to if Rebecca’s hand had not grabbed her arm, keeping her where she was. “Look at me,” her cousin ordered as she pulled her back, her hands grasping Caroline’s.
Inhaling a deep breath, Caroline forced her eyes up, afraid to see pity in her cousin’s gaze.
Warmth and understanding clung to Rebecca’s face as she smiled at her. “She’s his ward.”
“What?”
“An old friend of his died recently,” her cousin went on, “and he begged Markham to look after his sister-in-law. A terrible sickness took all of her family, and now she’s alone in the world.”
“B-But…” Caroline stammered, feeling torn between relief, doubt and a horrible feeling of guilt for thinking ill of a young woman who’d suffered such heartache.
“He’s known her since she was a child,” Rebecca went on. “I’ve seen the way he looks at her as well as the way she looks at him. There’s nothing romantic between them. Believe me. If he loves her, he loves her the same way I love you.” Rebecca’s hands wrapped tightly around hers. “Like a sister.”
For a long moment, Caroline simply stared at her cousin, tears brimming in her eyes. “I love you, too.”
“I know,” Rebecca replied, a deep smile on her face and wetness glistening in her eyes. “But do you love him?”
A large tear spilled over and ran down her cheek. “I’m afraid so.”
Rebecca laughed. “Don’t be afraid. Be happy. And please, talk to him. I swear you will not regret it.”
Caroline didn’t know what to think. She trusted her cousin, but she was afraid to hope especially when the thought of him with Charlaine Palmer had already felt utterly crushing. Could Pierce truly care for her? A grey wallflower?
Little mouse.
His rather unflattering, but deeply endearing nickname for her brought an involuntary smile to her face.
“Now, that’s more like it,” Rebecca remarked with utter joy in her voice. “Listen, I’ve already spoken to Zach. We’ll postpone our honeymoon and help you—”
“No!” Caroline interrupted. “You’ve always wanted to see the world and, now, you have the perfect man to show it to you by your side. Go. I’ll be fine.”
Rebecca frowned, indecision marking her features.
“I promise I’ll speak to Pierce,” Caroline vowed, unwilling to stand in the way of her cousin’s happiness. “But I need to do so alone. I cannot do it with you…watching me.”
Rebecca sighed. “But you’ll keep me informed? I’ll expect a letter daily.”
“Weekly,” Caroline offered instead, enjoying the ease that came with knowing each other’s secrets. “I’m a busy woman, you know.”
Rebecca returned her cousin’s smile, nodding knowingly. “I’ve come to realize a lot about you, and I’m glad I finally know. We should never keep secrets from each other again. Promise?”
Caroline nodded. “Promise.”
As the two women embraced each other, Caroline felt a new lightness come to her heart. Indeed, it felt good to confide in another, someone who cared and understood. Still, despite Rebecca’s words, Caroline knew she could not be certain how Pierce would react to a confession of love. Never had he spoken to her about it. Of course, neither had she. However, it had not been until the moment she’d seen him with Miss Palmer that Caroline’s heart had begun to entertain doubts.
What if she hadn’t seen them together? What would have happened then?
What would happen now? What was she to do? Simply seek him out and tell him she loved him?
The thought made her feel sick as what-ifs began swirling in her mind.
If only she possessed Rebecca’s certainty.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Off to a Masquerade
The week following the wedding celebration at Pembroke Hall kept Pierce busy as the Bow Street Runners seemed to have uncovered more than one witness to Coleridge’s whereabouts the day Daphne’s parents had been murdered. Although reluctant at first, many could be convinced to offer up their testimony, which placed Coleridge in the direct vicinity of the deserted road leading into London.
Apparently, he’d
spent the day with a group of friends at a house party at a nearby estate. The theme had been Venetian Nights and the guests had worn a variety of masks. As far as those present remembered, Coleridge and his friends had caused some stir by insulting the hostess—most likely they had been deeper into their cups than recommended—and then left to seek alternative entertainment. Some time later, two gentlemen on horseback traveling in the opposite direction had seen them on the road. After that, their trail had gone cold until around midnight when they’d shown up in London, retreating into Coleridge’s townhouse—according to a footman of a neighboring household. The butler on duty at Coleridge’s home that night had been fired from the man’s employ since. Pierce’s unconventional family was working to discover his whereabouts.
Perhaps the man had heard or seen something that would further incriminate Coleridge and his companions, one of whom had been Kearsley, a lord Pierce had robbed the previous year. He should have shot the man then and there!
With his thoughts occupied, Pierce almost forgot the promise he’d given to Pembroke and found himself in a rush to dress for that night’s masquerade. Pembroke himself and his darling wife had embarked on a journey that would take them around the world to numerous places he had visited before and now wished to share with his wife. Therefore, he’d been grateful to have received Pierce’s assurance that he would keep an eye on his brother as the man seemed reluctant to return to Boston where the aftermath of the scandal around his broken engagement awaited him.
Upon Pembroke’s suggestion, Pierce had not yet informed Mr. Caswell where they were going, but would leave that revelation for the last minute. He could only hope Mr. Caswell would find some distraction. Otherwise, that evening would no doubt be a complete waste of time for Pierce did not expect to find any entertainment himself for whenever his thoughts were not drawn to Coleridge and the evidence he was gathering toward the man’s guilt, they lingered on Caroline.