Seducing Charlotte Read Online Free PDF Page B

distance.

Chapter Three
    “You’ve suffered a brain commotion,” Doctor Guelph said to Charlotte. She lay in bed battling another wave of nausea, one arm draped over her eyes to block out the painful light.
    “How serious is it?” asked her brother, Hugh.
    “Miss Livingston will be right as rain provided she follows my orders.” The doctor turned back to Charlotte. “You must remain abed for a fortnight. Rest and sleep as much as possible to allow your brain to recover from the trauma it has suffered.”
    “Two weeks?” she whispered, trying to still the clanging in her head. “That sounds interminable. And the house party ends well before that.”
    “Nonsense,” she heard Willa say. “You’ll stay until Doctor Guelph says you are completely recovered. You cannot travel all the way back to Leicestershire in this condition. Besides, I shall delight in your company.”
    “What is that racket?” Charlotte groaned. “Who is ringing that infernal bell?”
    “The ringing in your ears is quite normal and will clear up with time,” Doctor Guelph assured her. After giving her maid a few more instructions in regards to her care, the doctor announced he’d return in a sennight to check on the patient. Willa and Hugh saw the doctor out, leaving Charlotte alone in the darkened room.
    Her head drummed as though a hundred people rioted inside of it, but thoughts of Camryn helped distract her from the pain. Her belly twinged at the memory of those golden-green eyes crinkling with concern for her. Even the scent of him lingered in her senses, that purely masculine combination of musk, leather, and sweat. She’d felt the marquess’s heart clamoring beneath his chest when she’d laid her head against him. Despite her fog, she’d been aware of Camryn’s embrace and the feel of his taut body against hers.
    She twisted in the bed trying to ease her discomfort. Her thoughts became a confusing jumble as the laudanum took effect. The medicine lulled her into a fitful sleep where impressions of Camryn floated among the edges of her consciousness until everything finally went black.
    …
    Anxious for word of Charlotte’s condition, Cam paced in one of public reception rooms. His brothers, Sebastian and Basil, looked up from their chess game.
    “It’s hard to concentrate with you moving about like that,” complained Basil. “What’s got you looking like you’re ready to tap the claret?” At two-and-twenty, Cam’s youngest brother was a hellion who did well with the ladies. He had his older brother’s lean build and golden coloring, but Basil could easily be considered the most classically handsome of his brothers. Cam had often heard ladies ramble on about his brother’s large blue eyes, perfectly structured nose, and chiseled jawline.
    “Miss Livingston has taken a fall from her mount,” Cam mumbled. “I’m awaiting word of her condition.”
    “Miss Livingston?” One side of Basil’s mouth shot up in confusion. “Oh, Shellborne’s sister,” he said with obvious disinterest.
    Sebastian moved his queen. “Check.”
    “Bollocks!” Basil turned his attention back to the board looking for a way to save his king from his brother’s predatory advance.
    “Was it a serious fall?” Sebastian asked.
    “I cannot say. She hit her head while we were out riding this morning.”
    “While you were out riding?” Sebastian steepled his fingers beneath his chin. His dusky good looks were a marked contrast to his sun-sprinkled brothers, his powerful build unlike their lean, lithe forms. “Alone.”
    “Leave off,” Cam retorted sharply, reacting to the unspoken censure in his brother’s question. “We met quite by accident and proceeded to ride together.”
    Basil tapped his knight as he studied the chessboard. “Besides, isn’t Miss Livingston as good as on the shelf?” he asked without looking up. “She’s a little long in the tooth to worry about such proprieties.”
    Cam quashed an immediate urge to