Heart's Desire

Chapter Fourteen

The next few days were filled with teasing and surprisingly, even laughter. Ever since the trip to Belford, Lord and Lady Wrotham had shared her bed. It was an open secret. Charity still wasn't comfortable with that fact, but she didn't blush nearly as much now when meeting a servant's eye.

True to his word, Julian had shown her many ways to achieve pleasure without actually making love. Charity's heart sped, and a flush ran through her body as she thought of last night. He revealed that his mouth could bring her to release in quite a delectable way.

They'd shared their childhood memories, the good and the bad. Julian told Charity of London and had her in stitches at some of the nobility's antics. The local gentry was little better, in her estimation. Still, she sensed he was holding something back. Not wanting to potentially harm their newfound ease with one another, she didn't press.

This morning found Charity alone in her bed. Her husband - a thrill went through her as she thought of Julian as such. Before they'd only been words with no real meaning or feeling attached - had left just after dawn. This was becoming his custom, keeping up the pretense they slept separately to spare her embarrassment when Wilcott came in the morning.

With a hand to her stomach to still the butterflies, Charity realized she was developing an attachment to Julian. In such a short time, she became used to his presence - in bed and without. He was becoming a permanent fixture in her life, which was a little terrifying.

Fear that she was falling in love with the man, even after all Julian had done to hurt Charity in the past, welled. The need to guard her heart was even more paramount, for she was uncertain of his feelings toward her. He'd strayed before. Who was to say he wouldn't do so again?

These past few days weren't all sunshine and roses, of course. There were a few things that kept it from being a truly happy time in Charity's life. Upon their return, Julian and the coachman had inspected the faulty harness on the larger carriage. They concluded that it had been purposely cut. This troubled Charity more than she allowed to show. That the traces had been sabotaged meant there was a second attempt on her life within less than a week. Whether the target was Julian or not, she would have been in that carriage and could easily have died within its confines.

Thinking of that first attempt, Charity brought her fingertips up to the scab underneath her eye. It looked as if it might very well scar where the bullet had grazed the deepest. The permanent mark would be only about the size of a piece of rice, yet it'd still be noticeable. Although she wasn't vain, she didn't like the thought of having such a visible flaw for all to see and wonder at.

Another worry that marred the perfection of their time together was the thought of going to London during the Season. Would Charity make an acceptable political wife, a good hostess to Julian's friends and foes? She'd not been trained for such, and it worried her that she'd be found lacking and embarrass her husband.

A soft knock sounded on the door, then Wilcott came in before Charity bade her to enter. The lady's maid carried a tray laden with breakfast. Quickly donning her nightgown, she watched as Wilcott set her burden down on the dressing table to give her mistress a discreet moment. By the time Charity was back in bed as if nothing had transpired, her lady's maid had finished her unnecessary fussing. Picking the tray up once more, she brought it to her mistress.

"From his lordship," Wilcott said as she produced a single red rose from a hidden pocket in her skirt. With a grin, she placed it on the tray, in between a plate and a cup of tea.

Charity beamed, "I must remember to thank him."

Her lady's maid gave Charity a knowing wink. She took no offense at the gesture, but she did feel her cheeks grow warm and found it difficult to meet Wilcott's eye. Everyone at Shepridge End seemed to reflect their master and mistress' good mood. In but a few days, it'd become a happy household.