He paused. “I’ve done some inquiries. It sounds like all of the information is against him. Yet I believe your father is innocent. The only way we’re going to prove it, though, is if we can figure out what really transpired. I believe your father is the only person who can help us to clear his name.”
Charlene felt tears prick her eyes, and she looked hastily out the window, before Eric could see the telling dampness.
All this time, she had been wracking her brain trying to figure out some way to prove her father’s innocence, and Eric had been two steps ahead of her, trying to help her the whole while. It was touching to realize that maybe he really did care about her.
Or perhaps it was simply that once upon a time, Charlene and her father had saved his life, and now he felt obligated to help.
Charlene realized, in that moment, that she didn’t care what his motives were, as long as he was helping her out.
Of course, she would have loved for him to be helping her because he cared about her, because he was worried for her father, because he wanted to see justice done and an innocent man let free.
But as long as her father was freed, what did it matter what Eric’s motives were? If he helped her while meanwhile he was courting Lady Annabelle, then that was just the way that things were meant to be.
Would he be able to help her, though? She was glad that he at least seemed to believe that her father was innocent, but from the sounds of it, things were truly dire.
It sounded like from everything that Eric had uncovered thus far, there was no judge in the world who would hesitate to convict the doctor.
It was an alarming prospect. All this time, Charlene had been operating under the idea that justice would prevail and that her father would certainly be found innocent. To hear that Eric felt he needed to talk to Dr. Ellington to even attempt to find a way to clear him?
That was frightening. What if the doctor had no idea who had framed him?
What if he hadn’t actually been framed, and he had actually either misdiagnosed Lord Henrich or else actually prescribed him the incorrect medication? What could they do to help him, in either of those cases?
Charlene couldn’t worry any longer, though, as they pulled up in front of Newgate. It was a jail of sorts, albeit much more comfortable than any ordinary prison.
Her father, she learned from Eric, had been allowed here because his manners and conduct had proven that he had received a good education. He had been allowed to rent one of the twelve rooms, paying extra for a single bed and better food.
It was the best situation that Charlene could have hoped for, given the circumstances, but she still noticed immediately upon seeing her father that he was looking thinner than she remembered, his face a lot more gaunt, the shadows darker beneath his eyes.
That didn’t stop him from giving her a tight hug when he saw her, though. Charlene clung bonelessly to the man, numb with the realization that this was truly happening.
She understood then that no matter how worried she’d been since Helene had told her about the accusations against her father, there had been part of her that clung to the belief that this wasn’t truly happening.
That her father was actually safe back in Bath, as she had left him. That either Helene had misheard the gossip, or that someone was merely trying to frighten the two women with misinformation.
But no, here was her father – her wonderful, kind, and caring father – trapped in a prison with the accusation of murder hanging over him, and the possibility of a brutal execution. And there might be no way of proving the man’s innocence.
Dr. Ellington eventually pulled away, patting her lightly on the shoulder. “I’m all right,” he assured his daughter.
“Oh Father,” Charlene said, shaking her head, a few stray tears making their way down her porcelain cheeks. “You’re in prison.” As though he might have forgotten that fact…
Dr. Ellington smiled tightly at her. “But I’m yet alive,” he reminded her in an undertone. He raised his voice and spread his arms to indicate his room. “Besides, this is hardly a terrible place to be.”
Charlene shook her head. Her father had always been optimistic. She wondered if he truly was unworried now or if he just couldn’t contemplate his future otherwise. Or perhaps he was simply trying to put on a brave face for her, so as not to worry her. She couldn’t help but to worry, though.
The doctor noticed Eric standing just past Charlene’s shoulder, and he cocked his head to the side, frowning as he tried to place the man’s face. He had only truly seen the man once before, back when Eric was a decade younger, but suddenly, the man’s eyes widened with recognition. He bowed hastily. “Duke,” he said.
Eric grimaced. “You don’t have to call me that,” he told the doctor. He glanced uncomfortably at Charlene. “I’ll give the two of you a minute alone, shall I?”
There was a certain amount of meaning behind the words. Charlene was sure that Eric was trusting her to figure out what information he needed from the doctor. The way to proving the man’s innocence.
Charlene was surprised that Eric would trust her to do the questioning here, but perhaps the duke thought that Charlene stood a better chance of figuring out the information that they needed from her father.
After all, in spite of the fact that Dr. Ellington had once saved Eric’s life, the young duke was still a stranger to the man. The doctor would be much more inclined to trust his daughter with the information that could be crucial to clearing his name.
As Eric turned to leave, though, the doctor caught his hand. “I’m innocent,” he said in a low, urgent voice. “Whatever they are saying about me, about Lord Henrich’s death, I didn’t do it. You must believe me.”
“I do,” Eric said, his tone soothing. “I do believe you.” He paused, glancing at Charlene again. “Any chance you know what happened? Because I have to tell you, the information that they’ve gathered against you is…pretty damning.”
Charlene felt lightheaded at his frank acceptance of the fact that her father’s case was impossible. She knew that Eric didn’t mean for things to sound so hopeless.
No doubt, he was trying to make sure that the doctor simply understood how precarious his position was. But to Charlene the words made it sound like failure was the only option.
“I don’t have any idea,” Dr. Ellington said, shaking his head. “Lord Henrich came to me and was diagnosed with gout. I prescribed him the correct medicine, I’m sure of it. And I would have noticed if the apothecary’s assistant had made some mistake in the medicine. Stomach medication is not at all the same.”
He turned to face his daughter, catching both of her hands. “Charlene, you know me. You know that I would never have made a mistake like that.”
“Of course not, Father,” Charlene said, choking on her tears. “Eric knows that too. But we need evidence.” She tried to be brave, squaring her shoulders. “I’m sure that there’s something that we’re missing.”
There was a knock on the door. “All right, time’s up,” the warden said.
“We’re not finished here,” Eric snapped, giving the man an annoyed look.
The warden return his gaze coolly. “Prisoners at Newgate are only allowed a certain amount of visitation time,” he informed the young duke. “If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with the peerage.”
Eric drew himself up to his full height, towering over the warden. “I am a member of the peerage,” he informed the warden in a sneering tone of voice the like of which Charlene had never heard before.
Ordinarily, Eric seemed so down-to-earth that she could almost forget that he was raised the son of the duke. That he was titled. But now, she heard him use every ounce of that privilege to override the warden.
The warden grumbled under his breath and shot Charlene a dirty look, like he thought that she was behind Eric’s snooty attitude. Then, he slunk off.
“Thank you,” Charlene breathed, looking shyly over at Eric.
Eric waved her thanks aside. He turned back to Dr. Ellington. “If you’re sure that you have no idea what went wrong with Lord Henrich, then why don’t I leave the two of you alone for a moment?” he suggested.
He looked at Charlene. “This might be the only time that I can get for the two of you,” he said ruefully. “The warden probably won’t let me within a dozen paces of this place again.”
Charlene couldn’t help but giggle quietly. “Thank you,” she said gratefully to the young duke. Again, he waved her thanks away, stepping out of the room and leaving the two of them alone.
Dr. Ellington immediately took his daughter’s hands, holding them tightly in his own. “Charlene, I promise you, everything is going to be all right,” he insisted. “This is simply a misunderstanding. I’m not entirely sure what went wrong, but you know that they would never sentence an innocent man to death.”
“Eric doesn’t seem sure,” Charlene reminded him. “I don’t know what sort of information he has collected, but he seems to think that they’ll find you guilty.”
“Eric is a member of the peerage, but he isn’t much trained in law,” the doctor said firmly. He cocked his head to the side. “How did the young duke get involved in this anyway?”
Charlene ducked her own head, embarrassed. Of course her father would ask that. “All those years ago, remember we saved his life?” she said quietly.
“Oh, I remember,” the doctor said. “Still, I wasn’t aware that there was any sort of…loyalty there.” From the way that he said it, he was clearly implying that he believed Charlene had had relations of a sort with the man.
Charlene felt her cheeks flame. “It’s nothing like that,” she chided her father. There was no reason to hide the truth from him, though.
“He’s sent me some letters over the years,” she continued, “and he promised me back when we saved him that if I ever needed anything from him, he would do his best to help me. I’ve held him to that promise, that’s all.”
Her father looked interested, but he didn’t say anything more than, “Just be careful, Charlene.”
“He’s a good man,” Charlene said quietly, staring down at their still-joined hands. “He would never do anything to threaten my relationship or…anything else.”
“I believe that,” Dr. Ellington said frankly. “But you must know by now that sometimes, even when one does not mean for such things, there are other words whispered around by society.”
Charlene nodded unhappily. She knew that her father was right, of course. It was part of why she had hesitated to come to meet Eric today. But look where meeting him had led them, though. She had gotten to see her father, however briefly.
Eric knocked on the door before he entered, looking apologetic. “That’s all the time that I can buy you, I’m afraid,” he said quietly. He looked back and forth between the father and daughter. Charlene immediately threw her arms around her father again.
“I’ll do whatever I can to help you,” she promised him.
“I will as well,” Eric promised as the two broke apart. “We will do whatever we can to prove your innocence, Doctor.”
“I cannot thank you enough,” Dr. Ellington told the young duke. He glanced at his daughter, swallowing hard. “If nothing else, you’ve brought me the joy of seeing my daughter one more time.”
“Don’t talk like that, Father!” Charlene chided immediately, horror in her voice.
“Everything is going to be all right,” her father promised her again, but his eyes looked haunted.
Eric ushered Charlene out of the cell and down the long hallways. They hadn’t gone far before Charlene began to weep. But she kept up with Eric as he guided her gently but insistently along.
“Come, we shouldn’t linger here,” he said in an undertone. Charlene knew that he was right. These halls were no place for a woman such as herself, and especially not alone with a young bachelor such as Eric.
He had risked a lot to bring her here. Charlene couldn’t put words to her thanks, though.
Her tears subsided somewhat as they climbed back into the carriage and set off back to town. “Why?” Charlene heard herself ask again.
This time, it was Eric who turned away, to look out the window at the passing scenery. “Because,” he finally said. For a moment, Charlene thought that that was all that she would get from him. But then, he continued: “I kissed you, once. Do you remember that?”
Charlene’s gut twisted, and she couldn’t decide whether the feeling was unpleasant or not. “I remember,” she said softly.
Unbidden, her fingers crept towards her lips, as she remembered the feeling of his own mouth against hers. It had been just the briefest moment of contact, but she remembered how it had sent lust spilling through her body.
How she had hoped for more, regardless of how improper it was to want such as that.
“I care for you, in some way,” Eric said. “Not only because you saved my life. And I suppose that’s why I’m trying to help you save your father.”
Charlene wasn’t sure how to reply to that. Again, her heart was beating faster as the carriage moved down the road.
“The case against your father is pretty damning, but not impossible,” Eric continued, as though he hadn’t just been talking about how much he cared for Charlene. “I’m sure that we can find some way to prove his innocence. It’s going to take a little work, though.”
Charlene nodded mutely. She still wasn’t sure what to say. She felt as though they were balanced on some sort of precipice, about to tumble over the edge.
That was silly, though. Even if she admitted to Eric that she had feelings for him as well, that she cared for him, it would only make them hurt worse in the end. They couldn’t have one another. It was impossible.
Not only that, but admitting such feelings, she was sure, would only sour his feelings for her. He only liked her because she was wild and free, a doctor’s daughter, out there in Raven’s Hollow by herself.
He wouldn’t like her if he knew that she was just like every other woman in society, that she was head over heels for his looks and his gentle ways.
“Why did you never marry?” Eric asked suddenly, curiously.
Charlene was thrown by the question. Why would he ask her that? Did he suspect that he himself was part of that reason?
Oh, not because, as Charlene sometimes tried to convince herself, someone had found out about their kiss. Not because all of court knew that she was spoiled goods.
But all the same, Eric was part of the reason that she had never married. Of the few people who had shown the remotest interest in her, she had been quick to let them know that she just wasn’t interested in them in that way.
They had mostly been older, heavier, squatter, less attractive. Charlene had built up an image in her mind about the sort of man that she would end up with, and unfortunately that man looked a lot like Eric in her mind’s eye.
Tall. Handsome. Only a little older than herself. He was caring and curiously gentle even though he must know that he could break her if he wanted.
He was the kind of man who, without a thought, would promise his help to someone, at some point in the future, without any worries that what she would ask would be too big a task.
He was the kind of man who, once called upon, ignored the uncomfortable position that his help could put him in, the kind of man who would always, no matter what, follow through on his word.
That was the kind of man that Charlene pictured herself with. And the kind of man, she thought bitterly, that she could never hope to attract.
She could feel tears prick her eyes again, and she turned away to hide them. Eric seemed to sense them, though, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a gentle hug.
There was nothing there more than friendship, but she found herself leaning into him, suddenly sobbing uncontrollably. “I’m sorry,” she babbled. “It’s just all so much. My father…and you…”
“It’s all right,” Eric murmured soot
hingly, stroking her hair. “Charlene, it’s all right. It’s quite all right.”
Charlene sniffled, tears gone as quickly as they had started. She wanted the kind of man who would comfort her, even when it was anything but his job to do so, she thought. But of course, she couldn’t take advantage of Eric’s kindness in that way.
She pulled back, looking up at the man. She was suddenly aware of how close the two of them were, and she couldn’t help the way her gaze darted down to his lips. Those soft, pink lips, which had once pressed against her own…
She wasn’t sure who moved first, Eric or herself. The next thing she knew, though, their lips were sealed together again.
She wouldn’t let him keep things chaste this time, or perhaps it was more that he had more experience than he had the last time the two of them had kissed.
A Wicked Scandal For The Bluestocking (Steamy Historical Regency) Page 7