Page 26 of Lady of Charade
“I did. My mother had it much more difficult, however, finding her way there as an expectant mother, giving birth in a cabin in the woods.”
“You are not from one of the cities there, then?”
“No,” Sarah shook her head. “Mother had never lived in a city before, and she had no wish to begin to do so in America. We were close enough to Baltimore that we could travel there when needed, but for the most part, we lived in a small village within nature.” She smiled softly in memory. “I loved it.”
“And now you are in the midst of London,” he mused.
“Yes,” she said tersely. “It is… different.”
“You hate it,” he observed, causing her to laugh slightly.
“I do,” she said. “I really do. Thankfully I have found people I am close with, who feel like family.”
“Your friends.”
“Yes,” she confirmed. “They truly are wonderful. Though they have families of their own now.”
“They would still miss you if you left,” he said, and only then did she notice he was softly stroking her arm, his bare fingertips upon her skin.
Suddenly the intimacy of the two of them here together came rushing in. The fact that he cared enough to comfort her, to hold her, to allow her emotions to come to the surface caused the connection between them to feel closer than any physical act ever could. Though now she could hardly deny her yearning to act upon all that she was feeling toward him.
She had already kissed him once, however, and he had pulled back, more interested in her knife than anything else. The next time they came together, it would have to be of his choosing. For she had doubted he felt much toward her besides gratitude, and she had no wish to be rejected or, even worse, pitied.
And the fact he had promised to help her… she didn’t want to get her hopes up, but then, she also wasn’t going to turn away his offer, that was for certain.
Sarah reluctantly pushed herself off of his lap and stood in front of him.
“I find myself rather tired tonight,” she said, though she forced a smile on her face. “I’m going to prepare to retire. I’ll fetch some blankets for you.”
She hated to end this moment between the two of them, but she also needed the space.
But as she removed her wrapper behind the privacy screen between them and lay down for the night, having David just steps away, beyond the screen, allowed her to feel safe, secure, and cared for. She slept better that night than she had ever since arriving in London.
* * *
It was interesting,David mused as his carriage came to a stop in front of his parents’ Mayfair home, how one could become so used to such routine. And surprising how it could begin to feel so natural, particularly for a man who had always rather enjoyed the newness each day could bring.
He would have thought that he would miss the carousing each night, but in fact, he began to look forward to darkness because it meant that he had the opportunity to see Sarah once more. Familiar with one another now, there was an unspoken intimacy between them after the night she had shared all with him, but one that they had made an unspoken agreement to ignore. For his part, he was too worried that if he took another step toward thephysicalintimacy that he knew they could share, it would break everything else that had been growing between them.
For while he had known many women in a sexual way, he had never before experienced such an intense emotional connection.
And it scared him.
He had no idea how to react to it, what it could mean for the future, or how he could protect himself from becoming hurt. One thing Sarah seemed adamant on was leaving. To return to America. He wasn’t sure how he could handle never seeing her again, particularly if the relationship they currently held developed any further.
Now and again he would arrive at her rooms to find that she was out with a patient, though she always left him a note so that he wouldn’t worry. The odd time when she was summoned to an emergency while he was there, he insisted on accompanying her, watching her while she tended to those who required her attention. Typically they were minor ailments, and he found he enjoyed watching her work, seeing the way she interacted with everyone from children to the elderly. She took payment when her patients could afford it, waived it when they couldn’t. He had tried to pay her a few times himself, but she had refused, saying that his protection, as unwanted as it was, was payment enough.
His daylight hours were spent helping her in the search for her father. He questioned her as much as he could to help him in his quest. So far he had determined that her mother had grown up in a village where there were nearby church bells and fields of bluebells. Because that could be so many places in England, it would be difficult to pinpoint a location simply with that information.
He had attempted to put off tonight’s dinner for as long as possible. His parents had been pushing for him to join them for some time now, and finally, he had run out of excuses. That, and Sarah continued to gently remind him that he was lucky to have family. He tried not to balk at her words. He knew she didn’t have family of her own, and he couldn’t help that he didn’t like the guilt she unknowingly poured upon him at the fact that his parents were alive and well, yet he hardly ever saw them.
His parents’ butler greeted him with the slightest bit of a smile, and David continued into the drawing room, where his parents, his brother, and his sister-in-law awaited.
In addition to three other people he had never seen before.
“Ah, David, I am so glad you arrived on time,” his mother said, all smiles as she came over to greet him. She leaned in to kiss his cheek, pausing for a moment before pulling away as she whispered in his ear, “Be cordial if you please.”
“Come, son,” his father said, beckoning him over. “There are a few people we would like you to meet.”
