All About Seduction(117)

Her door opened and her maid tiptoed in.

Caroline gave up on getting more sleep. She needed to go into the mill office anyway. She pushed up to a sitting position.

“I brought you some weak tea and toast, ma’am.”

Caroline frowned.

“Just in case you’re feeling queasy.” The maid set the tray on the bed.

Caroline met the young woman’s eyes. They both suspected.

She supposed she had been waiting for one sure sign, a day when she knew for certain, but she wasn’t sure now. “It could just be the strain of having guests has upset my natural rhythms.”

Her maid pressed her lips together and removed linens from the clothes press. Her rigid posture spoke volumes. She knew, and Caroline couldn’t deny it any longer. She was with child.

Caroline waited for the joy to overwhelm her, but instead a keening loss at the idea of never again being with Jack took over.

“You been with your husband enough, he’ll think it is his.”

A jolt of dismay rocked through her, and Caroline jerked. “Of course it is—if I am with child—it is Mr. Broadhurst’s.”

Her maid flapped out a petticoat. “Mum’s the word, ma’am, but you ain’t slept in that bed but in the last fourteen days.”

Dear God, if her maid knew exactly when she’d started sleeping in her own bed, would she put it together with Jack’s leaving? Servants were always the bane of any secret.

“Mr. Broadhurst prefers his own bed. And that is the end of it,” said Caroline. Her stomach turned and she pressed a hand to her flat midsection.

“Never fear. My loyalty is to you. Now, eat the toast. It will help.”

Caroline nibbled on the toast and then found herself devouring the remaining crust. She was with child. Jack’s child. What they shared had been so perfect, a baby seemed the inevitable miracle to spring from their union.

She only wished she knew Jack was safe. She’d wanted to give him the direction and letters of introduction to the caretakers at her sisters’ London houses. But the expression on his face when she broached the subject suggested that he thought her offer implied a lack of confidence in him. So she held back, just as she’d held back the declarations of love that sprang to her lips with increasing frequency.

But she regretted her reticence. She might never see him again, and she’d failed to pour out what was in her heart. More than anything, successful or not, she wanted him to come back to her when it was safe for him to do so.





Chapter 23



Caroline looked up from her desk and stared at Jack in the doorway of the mill office. Her breath caught and her heart raced. He looked so good she wanted to spring off the chair and race to hold him.

He smiled, and memories of every tender touch poured through her with molten heat. Her bones melted under the onslaught.

Slowly, she became aware that the scratching of pens had stopped and all the clerks in the office were staring at Jack. He wore a business suit and looked more like a man of moderate means then a mere laborer.

Swallowing hard, she drew back her chair and stood. “Mr. Applegate.”

What on earth was he doing here?

Leaning heavily on a cane, Jack limped across the floor toward her. “Mrs. Broadhurst.”

Her mouth dropped open.

His forehead veed and his lips pressed together each time his weight landed on his right leg. The below-the-knee plaster cast interfered with the smooth lay of his trousers. But he was walking.

Tears sprang to her eyes. Her emotions seemed to have gone wayward lately. One day she missed him so much it was all she could do not to sob all through the day, the next she was glad the temptation was removed, and other days she prayed fervently for his success so there was a chance they could have a future.

Jack’s gaze shifted behind her. “I’ve come for the job you promised me.”

Caroline turned as Mr. Broadhurst came out of his office. Since she’d told him of her suspected condition, the gentlemen had gone home and Mr. Broadhurst resumed control of the mill, as if her interlude in charge meant nothing.

“Step inside my office and we’ll discuss terms of your employment, Mr. Applegate.” Mr. Broadhurst returned to his chair behind his desk.

Questions burned in her mind, but she couldn’t ask them for fear she would give away her feelings. Instead she ducked her head as Jack moved past her. Was he back because he too found every minute of every day apart an eternity?