Keep No Secrets by Charlie Lane

Author:Charlie Lane
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-02-24T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Nathan raised the shovel and slammed it down into the earth. He stepped on it, cutting deeper, then raised it, tossing the soil aside. He’d been at the back-breaking work for two months now, hoping each menial task—each shovelful of soil, each tree planted and boulder moved—would reveal the answer to his question. How could he make it right for Lola? He worked for her, yet every day he stayed away, he owed her more. Her frustration with him mounted, and so did his frustration with himself.

“Darby?” he called to the head gardener he’d hired a month and a half ago. “When you fight with the estimable Mrs. Darby, how do you make it up?”

Mr. Darby chuckled. “Between the sheets, my lord.”

Yes, a good way, and one he’d used successfully in the past. But this time was different. He’d accused her of being unfaithful, yelled at her, reanimated her unfulfilled desire for a child. She deserved more.

“But, my lord, my nephew dicked-up his marriage once. Don’t know what he did, but he lived with me and Mrs. Darby a good many days after that.”

“And did he win her back over?”

“Sure enough.” Mr. Darby nodded sagely, inspecting the leaves of a nearby rosebush. “He groveled mostly, I suspect. In the end, he saved every penny he had, didn’t eat nothin’ but one meal a day and wore the soles out of his shoes, and bought her somethin’.”

“Jewelry?”

“Nah.” The older man stood and scratched his head, contemplating the clouds above. “Don’t remember exactly. Was something she’d been wanting for ages. Something they’d always planned to get or do or somethin’ together.”

“And it worked? She forgave him?”

“Aye. He stopped sleepin’ on our sofa, at least, and we still see her around with him.”

“You’re very helpful, Mr. Darby.”

Darby grunted.

Nathan attacked the earth once more. He could buy her something she’d always wanted. But Lola already had everything she desired. Except a child, and he could not give her that. A dark cloud moved over him, though the sky remained blue, the sun bright. Jewelry? He’d considered it a dozen times, but it would take a sultan’s treasure to make up for his actions and words, and it still would not be enough. Besides, Lola rarely wore jewels. Only the Beckingham jewels when necessary. She preferred her funds to go to her charitable projects.

Her orphans. Her former prostitutes.

He could give to her charities. But he already did. A portion of the fee his clients paid him always went to one or another of her projects.

“Damn.”

What else did she care for? The Scandalous London Ladies. He could, perhaps, find them all husbands, the ones that weren’t already married, of course. He stood with a frustrated curse. How the hell would finding them husbands help? His body ached with the work, and his heart ached for Lola, yet he would not, could not, return to her until he’d figured out the answer! He leaned against his shovel and stared into the distance.

A woman walked across the lawn toward the gardens.

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