Seduced At Sunset (23 page)

The wailing stopped instantly and he waited, tensely, for
her to respond.

The door opened and she stood before him with tear-stained
cheeks, a red nose, and tousled hair.

“Good God. Are you all right?” Drake asked.

“No!” she sobbed and returned to the bed. She climbed onto
it, curled up on her side, and blew her nose.

“You must tell me what happened.” Drake followed her
inside and circled around the bed. He pulled up a chair. “What can I do?”

“Nothing!” she cried. “No one can do anything. It is a
lost cause.”

“What is?”

“My happiness. Dr. Thomas came to escort me to the theater
tonight, but then he walked into the parlor and told me that it would be best
if we did not go after all, for he did not wish to toy with my affections any
longer.”

“I beg your pardon?”

Dorothea sat up and threw her handkerchief over the foot
of the bed. “He ended our courtship! I will never see him again!”

“Why?” Drake asked. He was under the impression they would
soon be engaged. It was one of the reasons he had come home—to secure his
mother’s finances and to meet Doctor Thomas and assure himself that the man was
not a fortune hunter. That he was a decent and honorable fellow. Drake had met
him on three separate occasions and had satisfied himself that the doctor was
all of those things. He then made sure his mother would continue to maintain
control of her own money, which Drake had placed in trust for her.

He had thought very highly of Dr. Thomas and had no reason
to suspect he would behave in such an ungentlemanly manner.

Drake stood up and squeezed his hands into fists. “This
happened tonight?”

“Yes. An hour ago.”

“Did he give you any explanation? Did he not realize there
was an understanding between you?”

“No! Yes! I don’t know! I was so shocked, I cannot even
remember what he said!”

Drake’s blood began to boil. How could he have misjudged
Dr. Thomas and taken him for a man of honor? To lead his mother down a merry
path all Season long, and to encourage her affections... It went beyond the
pale.

Drake strode toward the door.

“Where are you going?” his mother cried.

“Out.”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Drake pounded on the door to Dr. Thomas’s medical offices,
knowing full well that the man was not there, for all the windows were dark. He
continued to pound because it took the edge off.

Next Drake tried the doctor’s private residence in
Mayfair, but was told he was at the theater with Mrs. Torrington. The servants
had no idea when he might return and were baffled to learn that Dr. Thomas was
not, in fact, at the theater with Drake’s mother. Which was exactly why Drake
was so insistent upon seeing him.

With growing frustration, Drake returned to his coach,
climbed inside, and tapped his fingers upon his thigh. He had come home from
the jeweler with high hopes for a pleasant trip to Pembroke Palace in the
morning, but this disagreeable business had cast a large, dark shadow over his
mood. His mother was in tears and heartbroken. How could he board a train in
the morning and leave her behind, while he went to propose to a woman she did
not approve of?

But did his mother’s lack of approval even matter? Did he
owe her anything? She had done nothing all those years ago when his father
drank too much and beat Drake to a pulp.

But bloody hell, she was his mother, and she had suffered
too.

Perhaps Drake could hold off going to Pembroke Palace for
a day or two, at least until she stopped weeping. Then she might be able to
accept his news and be happy for him.

The coach lurched forward, but since they were in Mayfair
already, he lowered the glass and shouted out the window, “Drive past Pembroke
House, if you please.”

“Yes, sir,” his coachman replied.

It was a silly thing to do, for Charlotte was still in the
country, but Drake needed to feel some connection to her. He wanted to remember
those promising moments of anticipation when she walked out the front door to
join him for an early morning row on the Thames.

This turmoil with his mother and her broken dreams had knocked
him off kilter. What if his own dreams were at risk as well? What if Charlotte
did not share his feelings and refused his proposal? What would he do then?

Good God. None of this emotional drama was the least bit
familiar to him. He had been living a reclusive life and had expected to remain
a bachelor until he drew his last breath. What had changed? What had happened
to him? He was The Iron Fist, after all. Why was he feeling so bloody
sentimental? And so damned vulnerable?

The coach pulled into the square where he had come to
collect Charlotte at dawn on those two previous occasions. Just the memory of
those mornings made his heart skip a beat. Clearly, he had tumbled over the
edge, well beyond sexual attraction and infatuation, into a full-blown love
affair that made him feel as if he walked on a cloud.

Then, when he saw the house all lit up, his hopes soared
and his heart began to beat wildly. Was she here? Had she returned to London
without telling him? Had she not been able to stay away?

He stood up in the coach and rapped a fist on the ceiling.
“Stop here!”

The coach pulled to a halt and Drake opened the door.

Chapter Twenty

One hour earlier...

Adelaide, Charlotte, and Garrett had retired to the
drawing room after dinner and were just about to begin a game of cards when the
butler walked in.

“There is a gentleman here to see you, Your Grace. I took
the liberty of showing him into the library.”

“Who is it?” Adelaide asked.

“Dr. William Thomas.”

A swarm of butterflies invaded Adelaide’s belly, and her
gaze met Charlotte’s. “What is he doing here at this hour?”

“Wasn’t he supposed to be at the theater tonight?”
Charlotte asked.

Garrett sat back in his chair. “What is going on? You are
both behaving as if William is here to catch you robbing a bank.”

Adelaide struggled to regain her composure and smiled at
her son. “Forgive me, Garrett. I didn’t expect him. That is all. I will go
downstairs and see what he wants.”

Garrett began to shuffle and deal the cards onto the
table. “Invite him up. We could use a fourth player.”

She cleared her throat nervously and lifted her eyebrows
at Charlotte, who was equally flustered.

“I will be back shortly,” she said.

Adelaide descended the stairs slowly, for her heart was
all aflutter and she was a bouncing ball of nerves. Why was William here, and
for pity’s sake... how did she look? Was her hair all right? Perhaps she should
go to her room first and check her appearance in the cheval glass, and take a
moment to collect herself.

Then all at once Adelaide found herself standing outside
the library door. She felt a strange mixture of euphoria and emotional agony,
for the thought of him loving another woman was worse than death.

She paused outside the door, swallowed hard, then entered
cheerfully with a warm smile. “William, what a lovely surprise.”

He was facing the fire, but turned quickly when she spoke.
Still dressed in formal black and white theater attire, he looked as frazzled
as she felt. She had never seen such an anxious expression on his face before.
There was something happy in his eyes, however... though he looked shaken, as
if he’d nearly been run over by a turnip cart.

“Please accept my apologies for the intrusion,” he said.
“I hope I am not interrupting anything.”

“Not at all,” she replied, crossing the room to stand
before him. “You are always welcome. You know that. Especially when Charlotte
and Garrett are here.”
Our beautiful children
. “They
asked me to invite you upstairs for cards. Will you join us?”

A calmness spread over her suddenly as William removed his
spectacles, folded them, and slipped them into the breast pocket of his jacket.

“You know I love a good card game as much as the next
man,” he said, “but I came here to see
you
, Adelaide.
In private. There is something I wish to ask you.”

She tried to breathe steadily. She did not know what to
expect.

Then suddenly he dropped down on one knee and clasped both
her hands in his. Bright, shimmering hope, precious and thrilling, exploded
within her like a burst of starlight.

“Adelaide,” he said, his voice soft and low as he looked
up at her. “I have known you all my life, and I have loved you all that time.
There has never been any woman for me but you, and that is why I could never
leave your side, even when you belonged to another. I have waited a long time,
and I would have waited forever if I had to, but the time for waiting is over.”
And he paused.

“You are the other half of my soul,” he continued at last,
“and I want you now, for myself, utterly and completely. I want to hold you in
my arms, worship you every day for the rest of my life, and give you all the
happiness and pleasure I am capable of giving. I want to grow old with you,
Adelaide, and never be without you.”

He pulled her hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles,
and her whole being filled with a joy she had not imagined could exist.

“Will you marry me, Adelaide,” he asked, “and end my
lifelong yearning? Will you make me the happiest man alive?”

“Oh, William,” she sighed, as he reached into his pocket
and withdrew a stunning square-cut ruby ring surrounded by diamonds.

“May I put this on you?” he asked.

Her hand trembled as she held it out. “Yes. Yes!”

His eyes glimmered with something that resembled
flirtatious amusement, and he slid the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly.

“I am so happy,” she cried laughingly as he rose to his
full height before her. She stood up on her toes and wrapped her arms around
his neck. “I love you so very much, my darling! I thought I would die if you
married another, because I always believed you were mine. All I want is to be
yours at last, for I am tired of waiting, too.” She drew back to hold his face
in her hands. “We were dutiful and good, and patient, were we not?”

“Yes,” he replied. “I have admired and respected your
integrity, Adelaide. You were a magnificent duchess and the best mother in the
world.”

“But now I am free to be with you,” she said. “There is a
new, very capable duchess at Pembroke now—lovely Rebecca, who has taken
hold of the reins admirably—and all my children are grown. It is time I took
something for myself, and that something is
you
, the
man I have always adored. Dreamed of. Do you mean it, William? Are we finally
going to be together?”

“I will never let anyone or anything tear us apart again,”
he replied.

He pulled her close and held her for a perfect shuddering
moment of elation before he pressed his lips to hers.

All at once, Adelaide was swept back in time to that
profound moment years ago, on the eve of her wedding, when he kissed her in the
maze beneath the light of the moon and convinced her that they were destined to
be together. She had believed it and was willing to give up everything for him
that night, but that was not to be. Not then.

Everything was different now, however. Here he was,
kissing her again, as if not a single moment, or hour, or year had been lost.

He drew back and smiled at her in the golden glow of the
firelight. “You are to be mine, at last,” he whispered.

She blinked up at him in awe, nodded, and remembered her
tears from earlier that day.

“But what about your lady friend?” she asked. “I thought
you had plans with her this evening.”

“I spoke to her and explained I could not escort her to
the theater tonight, or any other night for that matter—for my affections
were engaged elsewhere.”

“Oh dear,” Adelaide replied. “She must have been
devastated. I am so sorry.”

“I was sorry, too,” he said, “but she will recover. It was
only a summer courtship, and we really didn’t know each other very well. It was
not like it is between you and me.”

“Sometimes I feel as if you are living inside my own
heart,” Adelaide said.

“I feel it, too,” he replied.

A knock sounded at the front door. Adelaide turned to see
the butler pass by the library to answer it.

“Who could that be?” she said.

They listened as the caller was greeted, then the butler
passed by the library door again to head upstairs.

“Someone must be here to see Charlotte or Garrett,”
Adelaide said, wondering—hoping—that it might be Mr. Torrington,
here to apologize for his mother’s unseemly conduct.

Sure enough, Charlotte passed by the library door next,
and there was some hushed conversation in the entrance hall before she appeared
on the threshold. “Look, Mother,” she said. “We have a guest. Mr. Torrington is
here.”