room. Her little face seemed tense, the same mix of hope and dread on her face as she all but bounced on her feet, waiting for Caroline’s answer.
“Supper will be served soon,” Caroline pointed out. “Will another biscuit not spoil your appetite?”
Daphne’s eyes widened, and Pierce could see her hopes rising as she eagerly shook her head. “No, it won’t. I promise! I promise!”
Maintaining her earnest expression a moment longer, Caroline soon allowed a smile to break through. “Very well. But only one.”
Squealing, Daphne jumped up and down before throwing herself into Caroline’s arms. “Thank you! Thank you!” Then she darted off toward Susan. “She said yes! She said yes!” And off the girls went to seek out Mrs. Colden in the kitchen.
Laughing, Caroline sank into the chair beside him. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say no to her. She is such an adorable girl!”
Pierce nodded, grinning. “She’ll be a spoiled one as well if we don’t find a backbone soon.” Still, after everything Daphne had had to endure in her young life, neither one of them found it easy to deny her anything. Mercifully, the terror of that night was behind them now for Lord Coleridge had not only been arrested, he was now also being charged with murder. Mr. Ruthledge’s testimony had set an avalanche in motion, which had brought down three prominent members of the English peerage. Three prominent members who’d turned on each other after Mr. Ruthledge’s account of the happenings of that night. More crimes had come to light and were currently being investigated by Pierce’s childhood friend Lord Ashhaven.
“Oh, there you are!” Charlaine exclaimed as she rushed out onto the terrace, her hand rising to shield her from the sun until she joined them under the umbrella.
“Is there anything we can do for you?” Pierce inquired suspiciously, knowing that when Charlaine’s eyes glowed like that, trouble was generally not far off.
Seating herself, she looked from Caroline to him. “You wouldn’t mind if I invited a friend to stay with us until the next Season, would you?” An innocent smile rested on her lips as she folded her hands in her lap rather demurely.
“Until the next Season?” Pierce exclaimed, exchanging a look with his wife. “Why that long?”
Charlaine shrugged. “Oh, my friend could do with a bit of a distraction.”
“Why?” Caroline asked. Her gaze was gentle, but Pierce knew that the way she toyed with her bottom lip meant that she, too, had her suspicions about Charlaine’s request.
“Well,” Charlaine began, the tone in her voice suggesting that she was afraid to betray another’s confidence. “I cannot tell you much, but the past two years have been truly hard on him, and I believe that it would do him a world of good to—”
Momentarily distracted by the way his wife teased her lower lip with her teeth, Pierce felt his head snap up rather belatedly. “Him?”
His wayward ward frowned. “Did I say him? Mmh, odd.”
“Charlaine!” Pierce warned. “What are you up to? Is this about Mr. Caswell?” Ever since the night of the most scandalous ball of the Season as London had dubbed the evening he and Caroline had become engaged, Charlaine had insisted she and Mr. Caswell were friends. However, whenever she spoke of it, Pierce could not help but frown.
“Of course,” Charlaine replied with a slight roll of her eyes. “He’s the only friend I have, after all.”
Caroline’s features softened. “He’s not your only friend.”
“I know,” Charlaine replied, a warm smile on her face as she looked at Caroline. “But you’re family. That’s different.”
“Has he even agreed to visit us?” Pierce asked suspiciously, knowing how Charlaine liked to omit details.
As expected, his ward chuckled. “Of course not. How can he agree to something he has no knowledge of?”
“Then why would you ask us? Should you not rather ask him first?” With any luck, the man would have enough sense to refuse, saving them all from a no doubt painful experience.
“I cannot simply ask him,” Charlaine pointed out as though the reason should be obvious.
“Why?” Pierce asked nonetheless.
Looking at him rather indulgently, Charlaine shook her head, sighing theatrically, then turned to Caroline. “Why do men always insist they know better when the opposite is so obviously the case?”
“Pardon me?” Pierce croaked as Caroline laughed, trying to hide her reaction by turning her head toward the garden where nothing worth looking at could be seen at that moment. “Do you agree with her?” Pierce asked, secretly delighted with how close Charlaine and Caroline