The Lady’s Christmas Secret by Ella Edon
CHAPTERFIVE
As the daunting figure of George White took a few steps forward out of the mist and started approaching them, Adam felt like a child again. He was frozen in place as if not a day had passed since that fateful night he had shared with Caroline in the snowy forest.
This cannot be good! Adam’s thought was for Caroline as much as it was for himself
Now, as he stood, only a few feet away, the oil lamp held at head hight, Adam could see that the years had not been particularly kind to the baron.
Although Adam guessed he was around his own father's age, he could see that the lines on his hardened face ran deeper, while his grey hair, tied with a black ribbon at the base of his neck, was gradually thinning. His face was a mask of fury, and when he spoke, Adam felt the hair at the back of his neck rising.
“Well, if it isn’t the prodigal daughter,” he sneered.
His absurd statement took Caroline and Adam aback, and neither spoke for a few seconds.
“Caroline, I hope you are prepared to explain yourself!” he spat out, somehow managing to sound even angrier than before.
Adam felt Caroline stiffening tensely next to him as she turned to face her father.
Her father’s harsh words and rude manner did not sit well with him at all, and his first instinct was to protect her – to step between her and her father right that instant – but he thought it best to remain in his place. He knew he would only make matters worse.
“Father – ” Caroline started.
“I demand to know where you have been,” Baron Oakham interrupted.
Caroline held her head up high as she explained, keeping a stance of dignity and her voice steady.
“I was visiting Emily. After you told me not to, I took the carriage, becuase I thought you wouldn’t notice.”
“A foolish notion! I didn’t raise a sneak and a thief,” her father continued, and Adam felt his blood starting to boil.
“I am sorry, Father,” Caroline said simply.
Adam marvelled at her calm demeanor and wondered what it must have taken to build such a resolve against the hail of insults her father unleashed at her. With a pang of pity in his heart, he realized that she must have had to endure this for years.
Around that point, George White realised the carriage in question was nowhere in sight. His face turned red with a new wave of rage, and Adam prepared for the worst.
“The carriage. Where is it?!” the baron shouted.
Caroline held his gaze, holding her ground.
“Have you gone deaf now too, girl? I said, where is it?!”
She winced for only a second before answering, “I can explain everything if you would just stop yelling and listen to me for one moment, please,” she said coolly.
Her father did not lose the icy look as he said, “Let’s hear it, then.”
Caroline took a deep breath, her slight frame shaking even though it was still wrapped up in his coat.
“We were on our way back from Emily's house, and it was already getting late, so I asked Mr. Adderton to get us home as fast as he could. We hit a hole on the road, and the front wheel of the carriage broke. He tried his best, but he couldn't salvage it, and…”
Caroline stopped and turned to look at Adam, who felt frozen in his tracks as if he was observing a personal scene he had no place in.
“We would still be standing in the middle of the road if it were not for Lord Derby’s kindness,” she continued.
Adam could swear he saw flares of absolute fury in the baron’s eyes at the sound of his name.
“I asked him to drive us home, and he kindly agreed,” she said, and Adam could hear the hope in her voice.
Her father did not speak for a few moments.
“So he did. You expect me to believe your lies?” he asked coldly.
“It pains me to see, Father, that you think I would dare offend Lord Derby’s honor and the respect I hold for you by lying about such a dire situation,” she snapped.
The gravitas of her voice as she spat out the carefully selected words left Adam dumbfounded once again. He had met many women in his life but never before had he laid eyes upon such an innocent yet fiery presence.
He felt like he had had enough, and he could hardly stand by as a spectator while the baron spoke to her in this manner. He stepped right into the eye of the storm.
“Lord Oakham, allow me to apologise for the interruption, but everything Miss White has told you is true. I can attest to that,” Adam made sure to put on his most reassuring smile, even though he was reasonably sure that it would be wasted in an effort to win George White over.
The baron scoffed. “And I am supposed to trust the word of a Seton?”
Adam ground his teeth and clenched his hand into a fist, trying to mimic Caroline in her resolve to remain calm and swallow the insult for her sake. “All I'm asking is that you do not speak to her in such an unfair manner.”
The baron eyed him slowly from top to toe.
“And all I'm asking is that you learn your place, Seton. But I suppose this is too much to ask when it comes to you people.”
Before Adam could even think, Caroline took a step forward.
“Father.” Her cheeks had turned the irresistible rosy hue a few shades darker.
“Let us leave Lord Derby out of this. I would hate for our quarrels to tarnish the good deed that kept us out of trouble today,” she continued.
George White wrinkled his nose in a mocking grimace, and even though he was much shorter than Adam, Adam noticed how he tried to stand as straight as his old frame would allow, perhaps in a pathetic attempt to intimidate him.
“Listen here, Seton. I do not want you going near my daughter ever again, do you hear me? You and your father may not care about your filthy reputation. But I will not have you disparaging my daughter’s name and reputation by any association with you, do you understand?”
“Allow me to – ” Adam tried to explain once again but was rudely interrupted
“I will allow you nothing! You have done enough already. Consider this your first and last warning,” the baron concluded.
Adam looked at Caroline, but she had dropped her eyes to the ground. He hated this, although he could not deny that he found the whole ordeal a tad tragically comical. Caroline was a grown woman now, and he, a grown man, so she should be allowed to make her own choices. But Adam decided it was not his fight to undertake.
Resigning, he gave a nod and curt bow and turned to leave.
“Come along now, Caroline,” he heard her father say as he started walking back with her. Her maid silently watched their exchange with her eyes stuck to the ground and her face twisted into a mask of fear, before following close behind.
It wasn’t until Adam had reached the door of his carriage that he heard soft steps following him close behind. He turned to face Caroline. He wanted to tell her that she had been fearless, that she deserved better, that he was sorry.
“Caroline – ”
“Your coat,” she said and handed it to him. “Thank you for everything.”
Their gloved hands met for a brief second, and Adam wished time could freeze so that he could hold her fingers entwined with his. He imagined removing her gloves and bringing her hands to his lips, placing soft kisses over her knuckles. But they were still under the watchful eye of her father, thus, Caroline couldn’t say what her eyes revealed behind her simple words, and all Adam could do was nod in acknowledgment.
“Caroline White, now!” yelled the baron.
With that, she left as swiftly as she had arrived, and Adam stood there as the rain grew louder and heavier and whispered, “You’re welcome.”
Adam held his coat still soft from the warmth of her body close to his face. He inhaled her intoxicating scent, wondering for the first time in his life if he had been a fool to believe that love at first sight was such an impossible notion.
Unable to wipe the smile of unexpected joy and bewilderment from his face, he stepped into his carriage and signalled his man to go.
As the horses kicked the carriage into motion and they left the White estate behind, Adam sat there in the dark, loosening the collar of his shirt and trying to relax. His cravat fell to the floor of the coach, and he bent down to retrieve it, still lost in thought.
As he began to wonder how he would ever manage to see the magnificent woman – who had stolen his mind and his heart so quickly – again, he caught a glimpse of something shiny on the floor of the coach. Eyes widening, Adam realised good fortune had smiled upon him.
In the corner of his seat, small, delicate, and perfectly round, laid one of Caroline's pearl earrings.
* * *
The moment Caroline stepped into the well-lit parlor of her home, she felt grateful for how warm and dry it was after having spent so long out in the cold. A fire was already crackling in the drawing room, and she wanted nothing more than a hot cup of tea to alleviate the tension of the day.
She was about to ask Miss Grant to draw her bath when she heard her father entering directly behind her.
“If you think you may avoid this conversation, you are mistaken,” he said as their butler closed the front door. “I will see you in my study. Immediately.” He scowled at her before leaving the room.
Realizing that the matter was far from over, Caroline removed her gloves and turned to look at her maid.
“Grant, please wait for me in my room and draw a bath for me if you will. I shall need to change shortly.”
“Yes, miss,” the woman said and gave her an inquisitive look, as if asking her if she would be alright facing her father on own.
Caroline replied to the unasked question with a curt nod. She had been doing this all her life, after all, and Miss Grant knew it well.
It came as no surprise to Caroline that her mother had not come to greet her at the door. As she walked into her father’s study, closing the door behind her, Caroline wondered whether her mother had noticed her absence at all.
“Sit down,” Baron Oakham commanded his daughter, already sitting behind his desk.
Caroline did as he said, settling into one of the two leather armchairs opposite his mahogany desk, hoping this would be over soon.
“I have been far too soft with you, Caroline,” he began.
She had to stifle a scoff from escaping her lips as she looked at him incredulously.
“With all due respect, Father, I beg to differ,” she said, avoiding his gaze.
“I do not recall asking for your opinion on the matter,” he replied sternly. “Now, you will listen, but you will not speak.
“I am deeply disappointed in your lapse of judgement today. Running off to God knows where may have seemed a trivial thing to you, but your little adventure proved to me that you require some regular rules and oversight…”
Caroline opened her mouth to speak, but her father lifted a hand to stop her.
“…now more than ever,” he concluded.
Caroline sighed and sunk further into the leather armchair.
“Look at you!” he exclaimed, startling her. “You cannot even sit properly in the presence of your father!” The look of disappointment in his eyes mingled with his disapproval from earlier caused Caroline to sit up straight.
“Father, all I asked was to make a short visit to Emily! I wouldn’t have left in secret if you had allowed me that simple visit.”
Caroline did not wish to make matters worse, thus, she avoided mentioning the broken carriage wheel.
“Now listen to me and understand, for I will not repeat it. Disobeying me and secretly leaving the house like a thief in the night is one thing but having a secret rendezvous with a Seton? Right under my nose? It’s intolerable, and I forbid it.”
The veins on his temples were popping out, and Caroline hated to see him in this state. If only there were a way to convince him she was telling the truth.
“Father, please, we did not meet in secret! I know the rules. He just happened upon us and – ” she tried once again to explain, but to no avail, as her father did not even allow her to finish her sentence.
“Silence!” he yelled. “For the foreseeable future, you are not allowed to leave this house unless it is to accompany us on social gatherings. You are officially confined to your room and this house. I shall not allow your reputation to go to ruin. You will continue to receive invitations and answer to calls of visitation, but you shall not go unless your mother and myself escort you.”
Caroline had expected no less. Her father had always restricted her social activities for one reason or another. She knew that today he thought she had given him plenty of reason; just for being caught in the presence of the son of his lifelong enemy.
She would not give him the satisfaction of scolding her again by protesting.
“Yes, Father.”
“You may go to your room,” was all he said in return.
Caroline exited his study as fast as her feet would carry her and flew up the stairs. Once again, she had allowed him to crush her spirit with his irrational demands and his irritable manners.
She felt better when she saw that Miss Grant had drawn her bath. The brass tub had been pulled in front of the fireplace, the steaming water inside so inviting that Caroline hardly noticed how quickly she managed to undress. Grant would usually assist her, but Caroline wanted to be alone tonight. She had a lot to think about.
Sinking into the fragrant water, Caroline closed her eyes and allowed her thoughts to drift to Adam. He had come back into her life so unexpectedly and so briefly, stirring something in her heart she did not even know existed. He was a known rake, and scandal followed him everywhere, but, unbelievable to Caroline, not in her eyes.
She thought of him as he was on that winter’s night long ago. However, she was still unable to get over how bold and daring he had been, how his eyes had trailed all over her body. She felt a warmth running through her blood as she thought of it.
Adam was dangerous, and their worlds could never align with each other. For all she knew, she would probably never see him again. Her father’s mind would have to be put to rest, and he would eventually forget that day ever happened. It would all be for the best.
Then why do I wish with all my heart for the opposite?
