Blake scowled. “You expect she’d change her mind? If that’s what you imagine, you’re deranged.”
“She can’t behave this way, and you can’t either. You’d best prepare yourself, for I’m mortally afraid you’re about to be a husband—whether you like it or not.”
Caroline was in bed when there was a knock on the door. It was very late, and she and Janet were snuggled on Janet’s bed, but Janet wasn’t roused by the noise. She’d expended so much energy weeping and fretting that she was worn out.
Caroline slipped off the mattress and tiptoed to the front room as Blake Ralston murmured, “Janet, are you in there?” There was a pause, then he said, “Janet! I have to talk to you. Open up.”
Caroline bit down on all the caustic remarks that were yearning to spill out. She was attired in one of Janet’s nightgowns, so she wasn’t dressed, but that wasn’t the reason she didn’t respond.
He could converse with them in the light of day, and she was in no mood to argue about it. She would muster the courage to confer with Caleb or with officials at the navy. She would have Janet wed to the bounder shortly, but she wouldn’t debate the issue with him in the middle of the night.
A pair of footsteps pounded up the stairs, and her pulse raced as Caleb said, “Is she there?”
“No one’s answering,” Blake replied. “They’re probably asleep or they might have departed.”
Caleb wasn’t as reticent as Blake about being too loud. He banged on the wood very hard and called, “Caroline! I know you’re in there. Open the bloody door!”
She steadied her breathing so she didn’t march out and punch him in the nose. As with Blake harassing Janet, she was in no mood to bicker with Caleb, and she wouldn’t let the brothers in. They’d caused enough trouble for ten lifetimes, and she was so furious she was practically dizzy with offense.
Caleb knocked more vehemently. “I can feel you hovering, so it’s clear you’re listening to me. Stop being ridiculous. I’m here to take you home.”
A neighbor’s patience must have been exhausted. From down the hall, a man hissed, “Do you mind? Some of us have to work in the morning!”
Blake mumbled, “Sorry.”
The brothers whispered heatedly, then they crept away.
She waited until it was silent again, then she walked to the window and peeked down into the street, watching as they climbed into their carriage and drove away.
She received some solace from Caleb’s arrival. She told herself to be glad about it. It was an indication that he regretted their quarrel, so they would likely be able to resolve their differences, but it wouldn’t transpire right away.
She was still in love with him, and they needed to wed—it was the only proper outcome—but she would have to extract some guarantees prior to it occurring. He would have to clean up his wicked ways and become a better man. He couldn’t continue to wallow in the gutter with fiends. Not if he wanted her to be his bride.
He would have to make some promises, and she would have to believe he would keep them.
Their carriage vanished around a corner, and she went back to bed. As she crawled under the blankets, Janet stirred and asked, “Why are you up?”
“I’m anxious, and I couldn’t rest, but I’m fine now. Go to sleep.”
Janet was so fatigued that she complied immediately. Caroline stared at the ceiling, wondering what would happen next. She couldn’t imagine a good ending for them. Not with the Ralston brothers being the ones who would have to supply a viable conclusion.
It would be a very long night.
Caroline stood in front of the theater where Libby Carstairs was supposed to be performing. There was a poster by the door that listed the actors in the current show, but Libby wasn’t on it.
The news was inordinately depressing, and it exacerbated Caroline’s perception of being adrift. By her finding Janet, she should have shucked off her sense of gloom and dread, but they’d been worsened by her cousin’s insane attachment to Blake Ralston.
When Caroline had been out of the apartment, the dashing scoundrel had visited Janet. He’d sweet-talked her until she didn’t know up from down. She was merrily eager to delay awhile in order to discover if she was increasing.
Blake had spewed a few magic words, and she’d lost her ability to judge her predicament with a jaundiced eye. If she was with child, and Blake sailed away, what was her plan? It wasn’t as if they could cast a spell and force him to reappear in England.
In the meantime, Blake was packing his bags and, like the most despicable cad, he was preparing to flee the country. Janet had forbidden Caroline to speak with Caleb or the navy, and apparently, Janet would engage in any deranged behavior if she thought it would make him happy.
Janet had told Blake about her father emptying her bank account, and the dastardly cur had given her money sufficient to pay six months of rent. With the funds stuffed in a drawer, she’d persuaded herself that she was no longer in a dicey situation, so she didn’t need to do anything about Blake.
Caroline couldn’t convince her otherwise. Despite Janet’s plea that Caroline remain silent about Blake, she should have tattled to Caleb, but she hadn’t seen him. Blake had instructed Caleb—at Janet’s urging—to leave Caroline alone, that she would contact him if and when she felt like discussing their issues.
He’d heeded Caroline’s request, and she was relieved that he’d stayed away, but she was incensed too. Why hadn’t he ignored her edict? Could he be so easily dissuaded? His lack of interest had her suspecting he didn’t really care if they wed or not.
His proposal had been voiced in the heat
