In the Wake of the Wind (36 page)

He bowed and released her at the end of the dance as if she were a perfect stranger and
Serafina
wanted to die in mortification, for she knew what people must be thinking.

She danced a polka and another two waltzes and the quadrille again with gentlemen whose names she barely remembered, all the while keeping an eye out for Raphael’s signal, but hardly missing all the charming women that Aiden found to dance with.

And finally, when she was nearly ready to drop from exhaustion, Raphael quietly disappeared through one of the side doors onto the terrace with an almost indiscernible nod of his head in her direction, and
Serafina
followed as soon as she could disengage herself.

Charlotte saw Raphael slip out alone onto the terrace, and chose that moment to make her move. She’d been waiting in an agony of anticipation for the last three hours. Tonight was her big night, the biggest of her
life,
and she’d planned it so carefully. She would find a private moment, a magic moment, and she couldn’t have asked for a more perfect one.

She positioned herself near the door, then wheeled her chair outside when no one was watching. But to her disappointment, Raphael was nowhere to be seen. She wheeled herself over to the balcony and looked down.

He was there, for she saw his silhouette below, standing quietly in the shadows.

Her heart pounding with excitement, she decided the best approach was to call his name. He would naturally come up one side of the double stairs in response, and when he did, she would stand and walk into his arms.

She was just about to open her mouth when his voice floated up to her through the dark and for one bewildered moment she thought he was speaking to her. But she immediately realized her mistake. Now that her eyes had adjusted she could make out the figure of someone else who had joined him. A woman. She wanted to scream with frustration.

“All right, what is all this about?” he said. “You and Aiden are glaring at each other like cats and dogs, and this isn’t the first time.”

With a jolt of alarm, Charlotte realized he addressed
Serafina.

“Oh, Rafe,” Serafina
said, using his familiar name. “It’s awful! I think that Aiden’s somehow discovered about the three weeks I spent with you, and he’s very, very angry. You didn’t say anything, did you?”

“Me? Good God, no—I swore to you I wouldn’t. What makes you think he knows anything?”

Charlotte’s hands gripped the arms of her chair as a cold sweat broke out over her body.

“It’s just something he said about our being good friends,”
Serafina
said. “And—and I can’t explain why, but he knows, I’m sure of it, and I think he feels we’ve kept a secret from him. He says I let him down.” She covered her face with her hands. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Serafina
… you might be making more of this than is necessary. I’ll speak to Aiden if you like, but—”

“No. No, don’t say anything to him. He’s upset enough as it is and I don’t want him to be angry with you as well, especially when it was all my idea.”

“Not entirely,” he said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “If you remember correctly, I approached you first.”

Charlotte thought she might be sick. She pressed her hands so hard against her mouth that she tasted blood. It was all she could do not to cry out.
No, Raphael
! she screamed silently.
Not you. You would never do such a thing, never. You are chaste, a Christian man who loves me. Not her, me!

“Yes, yes, that’s true,” Serafina said, dabbing at her eyes with her handkerchief. “But that shouldn’t matter. I’m the one who betrayed him.”

To Charlotte’s horror, Raphael straightened and took
Serafina
in his arms. “Shh,” he said against her hair. “I think betrayal is too strong a word. You only wanted to learn how to be a good wife.”

“I did,” she said with a hiccup. “I really and truly did.”

“Then that’s what is important. It will all blow over soon enough, you’ll see. Aiden’s temper never lasts for long.” He released her. “I have to admit I felt guilty as hell about going behind Aiden’s back, but Aiden will come around to understanding, I’m sure of it. The way I look at it, I did him a favor.”

Charlotte’s eyes bulged. A favor? Raphael had cuckolded her brother and he thought he’d done him a
favor
? It was the most disgusting thing she’d ever heard, but she should have expected no less from
Serafina.
Raphael was another matter entirely. How could he be so dissolute as to give Aiden’s wife lessons in lovemaking? Oh, it was beyond conscience.

“You did do him a favor. Until recently he was pleased enough with everything you taught me.”

Raphael laughed. “That’s a relief, thank God. I would hate to think I’d misled you in such an important responsibility.”

“You were everything that was kind. You really should find yourself a wife,
Rafe.
You’ll make some lucky woman a good husband.”

“Pray God matters never come to that. I don’t think I’m cut out for marriage,
Serafina.”
He sighed. “To tell you the truth, I’m hoping Hugo will work his wildness out of his system and settle down. He can provide my mother with the grandchildren she wants and take care of heirs for the dukedom at the same time.”

“You don’t want to marry?”
Serafina
said, her astonishment carrying clearly to Charlotte. “But why not?”

Charlotte could have told the silly strumpet exactly why not, but she held her silence with an effort. It wouldn’t do for Raphael to know she’d overheard them.

“Because I don’t want to marry for less than love, and I’ve never found a woman who inspired that emotion in me. I doubt I will at this late date.”

“Oh, Raphael … that’s so sad. I hate to think of you going through
life
all alone. Maybe if poor Charlotte hadn’t been crippled you could have married her.”

“
Charlotte
? Are you mad?” he said, staring at her. “I wouldn’t marry Charlotte if she were the last able-bodied woman on earth. I don’t mean to sound uncharitable, but the woman’s a harridan. She’d make my life a living hell,
Serafina,
with her constant blather about position and duty, never mind her religious drivel.”

Charlotte’s hands dropped from the arms of her chair, her entire world disintegrating around her. It couldn’t be true. Raphael loved her. He’d always loved her, forsaken other women because of that love. He’d never given her any other indication. But to hear he thought her a harridan … that she blathered, spoke religious drivel?

Charlotte felt as if he’d driven a stake through her heart.

“Oh,” Serafina
said. “I suppose that’s true. But I thought you were fond of her.”

“I am fond of her, in the way one is fond of an irritating sister. You can’t tell me you find her an easy companion.”

“No, but she does try to be kind.”

“Yes, she does, but do me a favor and forget about trying to marry me off. I hear enough of it from my mother. I’m perfectly content as I am.” He smiled down at her. “The closest I’ve ever come to domestic tranquility was the three weeks we had at Southwell, and when that ended I was happy to go back to behaving like a bachelor. Come, we should go back inside. Our guests will wonder what’s become of us.”

“Thank you for listening,”
Serafina
said, tucking her handkerchief away. “I might not have solved anything, but I do feel a little better.”

“That’s good. You can always come to me with anything,
Serafina.
That’s what friends are for.”

Charlotte hastily wheeled her chair away from the balcony and deep into the shadows as they came up the stairs and disappeared into the ballroom.

A black fury took hold of her, a hatred unlike any she had ever felt before, coiling in her gut like a poisonous snake, constricting her until she could hardly breathe.

How dare they? How dare they take away everything she had ever wanted, how dare they talk about her as if she were a troublesome nuisance only to be tolerated? They were nothing more than Godless adulterers who had deceived everyone around them with their innocent behavior, all the while wickedly fornicating right under Charlotte’s nose.

Her entire body shook with rage. Betrayed. Betrayed by the man she loved, had always loved so selflessly. Betrayed by her sister-in-law, who wanted nothing more than to humiliate Charlotte, make her inconsequential in her own home. Betrayed by her brother who had brought the witch into their lives and hadn’t even been able to keep her faithful to him for more than one night.

Betrayed. Betrayed. Betrayed.

The words echoed over and over in her head, pounding like a hammer pounding nails into a coffin. And that was where her future lay now, as good as buried. Her moment of glory had been snatched away, her bright dream of being a duchess with power and money and influence forever crushed.

But she would find a way to make them suffer as they’d made her suffer. She would not rest until they paid for their sins, she swore it on her soul.

She would keep her secret to herself, use it to her own advantage when the time was right. No one needed to know she could walk as well as she once had. She would give them no reason to think anything was different, not until she’d found a way to exact her revenge.

It took her another ten minutes, but she managed to school her face into a calm smile and wheel herself back through the door, thinking all the while of how to make the best use of her newfound information.

“Charlotte, I am so sorry for ignoring you all this time,”
Serafina
said, taking a chair next to Charlotte, longing to kick off her slippers and rub her aching feet. “But I think I have done my duty for the time being and no one will fault me for sitting by your side for a few minutes.”

“Do not trouble yourself in the slightest, dear sister,” Charlotte said, patting her hand affectionately. “I have been entertained nearly all of the evening—and the things I have learned. La! You would be amazed by how informative an evening like this can be.”

“Really? I’m afraid I’ve learned nothing at all except a lot of names I will shortly forget again. I’m not very good at this sort of thing,” she said ruefully. “You are much more adept at social conversation than I.”

“Ah well, I was brought up to it, wasn’t I?”

Serafina
didn’t know what to say to that, since Charlotte had been a recluse from the age of twelve with a father who scarcely conversed at all and a brother who was largely away. But it was true that Charlotte had shone all week, dazzling people with her witty repartee.

Serafina
on the other hand had felt a complete dullard, her tongue twisting into knots when it came to making clever conversation. “I’m so happy it will all be over after tonight and we can finally return home to some peace and quiet.”

“I imagine Raphael feels the same way,” Charlotte said, looking at her sideways from under lowered lids.

“He’s been very generous, hasn’t he? I’m sure he thought the week perfectly tedious. Although his mother seemed to enjoy herself enormously.”

“The duchess has always been a social creature. She never did like rusticating, unlike Raphael. But he seems to find all sorts of amusing things to do in the country, doesn’t he?”

“If you call farming amusing, I suppose so.”
Serafina
didn’t really want to talk about Raphael. The subject reminded her of her troubles with Aiden, which she was doing her best to forget. Aiden had been studiously ignoring her since their one and only dance together, behaving as if he didn’t have a care in the world, which only upset
Serafina
more.

Aiden was the most unfeeling man she’d ever had the misfortune to meet, a man with an icicle for a heart. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became that he would take such exception to a few lessons to improve herself for his sake, even if she hadn’t told him about them. She’d hardly committed a crime, after all, only an error of omission.

“Lady Aubrey, Lady Charlotte?”

Serafina
looked up to see one of the most beautiful women she’d ever laid eyes on addressing them. Her hair, arranged in the height of fashion, was the color of autumn leaves, her complexion a perfect peach, her eyes a sultry brown. She was dressed in an exquisite gown of pale blue silver lame over a blue satin slip. She took Serafina’s breath away.

“Forgive me for introducing myself, but since I am an old acquaintance of Aubrey’s I hoped you wouldn’t mind. I am Lady Harriet Munro.”

“How do you do,”
Serafina
said, rising, wondering why Charlotte’s eyes had sharpened with such acute interest.

“Lady Munro,” Charlotte said, her face breaking into a welcoming smile. “Of course. I have often heard my brother speak of you.”

“Has he? How gratifying. I had to see for myself the bride Aubrey took.” She looked
Serafina
up and down, amusement lighting her face. “What a charming dress, Lady Aubrey, and how well it suits you. I believe it is one of Mme. Bernard’s? And yours as well, Lady Charlotte.”