Seduced at Sunset (Love at Pembroke Palace Book 6) by Julianne MacLean

Author:Julianne MacLean [MacLean, Julianne]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Julianne MacLean Publishing Inc.
Published: 2020-09-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Charlotte gripped the sides of the boat and fought to keep the evidence of her shock to a minimum. Mr. Torrington—her perfect fantasy lover—had killed a man?

Swallowing uneasily, she said, “There was a mystery surrounding your disappearance when you left. Was it because of this? Did anyone know what happened?”

“Very few people,” he explained. “One close friend whom I trusted with my life—the man who owns this property. He was my trainer. My mother knew as well, and Mrs. March, the housekeeper.”

“Why did you leave?” Charlotte asked. “Was there a warrant out for your arrest?”

Was it murder? She was curious but couldn’t bring herself to ask such a question.

“They questioned me at the time,” he explained, “and it was deemed an accidental death. No charges were laid. I believe my connections as nephew to Earl Lidstone played a part in that, though I certainly didn’t try to use them. My mother did, however, which buried the scandal, but also deepened the rift between us, because I didn’t want her help. I specifically asked her to stay out of it.”

“You felt you should have paid a price for what you did?” Charlotte asked, “even though it was deemed accidental?”

“The definition of accidental can be murky sometimes.”

Charlotte tilted her head to the side. She studied Mr. Torrington’s expression in the early morning light and wanted very much to understand him better. “What exactly did happen?”

He continued to row steadily to recover their position, while every muscle strained with the long strokes. “I was drunk one night after a prize fight and had pockets full of coin to spend. I was mixing with a seedy bunch back then and making my way through Whitechapel when I heard a man and a woman shouting at each other. I looked up at a veranda on a second floor where the man was shoving the woman around. She had a baby in her arms. I climbed up on a barrel and somehow found myself on the landing. There were two smaller children inside the flat, hiding under a table, trembling and looking terrified. The woman had obviously taken a few beatings already. Other than that, I don’t remember much. The details are foggy, but I do recall how I loathed that man for not cherishing what he had—a wife and children—while I had lost mine.”

“Oh, dear.”

Mr. Torrington nodded and continued. “He may have swung a punch at me. I don’t remember, so I cannot say whether it was self-defence or not. All I know is that I hit him and killed him, right there in front of his children. Then his wife nearly scratched my eyes out. ‘He may have been a brute,’ she said to me, ‘but he brought home a good wage from the dockyards.’ I gave her all the money I had in my pockets that night, then gave her more afterwards when no charges were laid. I still send her money to this day, all the way from America. And I will continue to do so.

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