better than I should, given that we haven’t seen each other in years.”
“It will take some time for you to settle in here,” Pierce encouraged. “We all need to find a way to come together and get to know each other again.” He glanced down at her feet hidden under her long skirts. “Perhaps you could wear shoes,” he suggested with a grin.
Charlaine cocked her head, a daring look coming to her eyes. “Perhaps you could take them off,” she suggested in return, her tone teasing.
Pierce laughed. “Albert would drop dead if I did!”
Charlaine clasped her hands together. “Oh, he’s such a sweet man!” Her brows knotted together. “But so very serious…and sad.” Her brown eyes rose to meet his, a question there that needed no words.
Pierce nodded. “He lost his daughter a few years back. I don’t think that is something anyone can ever fully recover from.”
Deepest empathy glistened in Charlaine’s eyes. “I’ll speak to him. I’m certain there is a way to make him laugh again.” Eagerness came to her face, and Pierce wondered if perhaps—as different as they were—Albert and Charlaine would be good for each other.
They’d both suffered and lost, and they’d both found a way to continue on.
“But gently,” Pierce urged as she all but skipped from the room like a fairy dancing from flower to flower. “Or you’ll be the death of him,” he muttered quietly to himself when she was already out the door and halfway down the hall.
Still, Pierce could not help but smile for Charlaine had an utterly pure heart, and it felt wonderful to be reminded that there was still some good in this world.
Now more than ever.
Chapter Thirty
A Stroll in the Park
It was truly a beautiful day.
The sun shone warmly on the green lawns of Hyde Park, its bright light glistening in the waters of the Serpentine as a soft breeze swirled around the many visitors that afternoon. Smiles and laughter were everywhere, and children ran back and forth between the water’s edge and the many picnic blankets spread across the seemingly endless green.
Caroline could have smiled at the beautiful scene before her if it weren’t for the man by her side.
He, too, bore a striking smile, his manners impeccable and his expression one of deepest enjoyment. However, he was the devil incarnate.
Only no one knew it. No one saw it. No one had even the slightest idea what this man was capable of.
Except for Caroline.
And Sarah, walking a few steps behind them, her eyes shooting daggers at the back of Lord Coleridge’s head.
Never would Caroline have accepted the man’s invitation for a stroll through Hyde Park but her parents had insisted.
“Have you spoken to your cousin since her return?” Lord Coleridge inquired, the look on his face portraying not the slightest emotion, as though he’d not just lost the woman he’d intended to marry to another.
“Yes, I’ve spoken to her and her new husband,” Caroline exclaimed joyfully, remembering the glow in Rebecca’s eyes. She’d seemed overwhelmingly happy, and Lord Pembroke had stood by her side like a watchful guard when she’d faced her uncle’s anger and her aunt’s disappointment.
The expression on the young earl’s face had looked strained, and Caroline had seen that he’d had to hold himself back at her father’s condescending tone. Still, he had done what he could to placate her parents, no doubt on Rebecca’s request so that the two cousins would not be barred from seeing one another in the future.
For that alone, Caroline loved him.
At her joyous words, Caroline felt Lord Coleridge’s arm under her hand tense ever so slightly, the first sign that he was not as content and relaxed as his expression would suggest. “I do hope she is well.”
“She is very well, my lord,” Caroline stressed, unwilling to spare him the slight sting Rebecca’s good fortune brought him. After all, why on earth should she? He deserved worse than a needling sting of envy. Far worse.
“I’m relieved to hear it,” her companion pushed out through slightly gritted teeth. “I know how worried your parents were about her.”
“As was I,” Caroline rushed to point out. “However, Lord Pembroke promised to hold a festive celebration at Pembroke Hall within a fortnight, and my parents were overjoyed to hear it. I do believe all will be well.” With a joyous smile, she looked up at him, the look in her eyes all but daring him to contradict her, to say something unpleasant, to reveal how he truly felt about this news.
His green