Page 52 of Lady of Charade
“I know you care for me, David, yes,” she said. “I hope that I am more to you than other women you have… been with.”
“Of course you are,” he said, surging across the bed, groping in the dim light until he found her hands, then clasping them to him. “I do care about you, very much so.”
Had they been words of love, then perhaps she would have considered telling him that if he wanted her to, she would stay. But he was the son of an earl, and she was… well, she was simply Miss Jones. She could never ask him to leave everything for her.
“I care about you as well,” she said carefully. “And I will remember my time with you for the rest of my life.”
She sensed rather than saw him recoil from her, and she immediately regretted her words. But her heart was already breaking, and she couldn’t allow it to be affected by him any more than it already was.
“David—”
“It’s fine. I understand,” he said, his words short as he stood from the bed. Sarah could hear him pacing around the room.
“You do not have to stay here anymore.”
The footfalls of his boots stopped, but he didn’t respond to her words. Instead, he completely shocked her.
“I think I have found your father.”
Sarah’s heart, which had before seemed to be so sore within her chest, now felt as though it had completely stopped.
“You… what?”
“I am about as certain as can be without outright asking him. Your suspicions were correct. It is Lord Torrington.”
Sarah could hear loud, rapid breathing, and she wondered why David was so affected — until she realized that she was hearing herself.
“But how… why…?”
She hardly knew what she was asking, but David seemed to understand her question.
“It was the ring. I had it with me at Berkley’s, and Francis recognized it from his days of riding for Torrington.”
“But it’s not the Torrington crest. I’ve seen that.”
“No, it isn’t. It’s Torrington’s mother’s family’s. They were the horse fanatics. Francis recalled seeing it on some of the tack in Torrington’s stable.”
She took in the information, silent for a moment as she reflected on all David had just told her. She hardly knew a thing about Lord Torrington and had spoken to his wife only a few times in the past. She was a rather cold woman, but then, the same could be said for Lady Alexander.
A thought then occurred to her.
“How long have you known of this? When did Eddie tell you?”
“The day of the hunt.”
And at the end of that day, he had come to her chamber.
“Why did you not tell me?”
He sighed. “I could not be completely sure he was the man, and I did not want to raise your expectations. As it is, I… I have no idea how he might welcome the news.”
“I have been aware of that since the moment I embarked upon this journey,” she said, frustrated at the fact he would suppose he could make the decision for her, despite the fact she knew he was doing what he thought was best in looking out for her. She took a breath to release her impatience, recalling that he was doing far more than she had ever requested of him. “What has changed since that time?”
“I went to see Torrington.”
“You did what?”
Sarah forgot her intention to not be upset with David, for the thought of anyone else speaking to the man about his potential to be her father irked her no end. “David, I appreciate all you have done, but I very much wanted to—”
