Alice’s Shameless Spinster’s Society by Charlotte Stone

Author:Charlotte Stone [Stone, Charlotte]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: A Regency Romance Book
Published: 2017-09-10T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

* * *

.

.

.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

.

Alice and Calvin were both inside the carriage before she said, “How dare he blame me for two men almost raping me!” She placed her hands in her skirts and prayed her body to relax soon.

“It’s Covent Garden,” Calvin said dryly before shutting the door behind him.

Her heart rocked in her chest. “A courtesan can still be raped! I said no!”

He turned to her. “You had no business being down here. I meant to meet you at the carriage simply to avoid people believing that I was purchasing your service. I simply should have forgone propriety and seen you to the carriage myself.”

Alice felt the carriage jerk and asked, “Where is Sophia?” She wanted Sophia. She’d never been so scared in her life. There had been a few occasions when men had propositioned her while she’d been at the club but never had two men cornered her in such a way. She’d shouted to the street and no one had come to her aid.

If Jane hadn’t been there…

She covered her face with her hands and caught the first sob.

Her body was engulfed in Calvin’s hold before the second broke. She sank into him as her body shook with fear and anger. He handed her a handkerchief and through it all she heard him whisper calming words but it wasn’t until he shocked her that she truly stopped crying.

“This is my fault.”

She lifted her head and looked at him. His expression was pained.

Sniffing, she asked, “How is this your fault?”

“I shouldn’t have let you walk alone. Covent Garden is unsafe.”

“I wasn’t alone,” she said. “Sophia was with me.”

Calvin shook his head. “I should have been there with you.”

Alice put aside all the many things she’d planned on saying to him after meeting with her father and instead allowed her body to concentrate on how he was holding her. She leaned into him and listened to the strong pounding of his heart.

His hand stroked her arm. “Thank God Jane was there. I might have been too late.”

She lifted her hand and placed it on his chest, wishing they were not wearing gloves and that their hands were bare, and she could feel his warm skin against hers. He felt like the sun. She moved closer to him. “You were there.”

“It could have been too late,” he said again.

She hated that he was blaming himself. “You can’t be everywhere, Calvin.”

He grunted and said, “I suppose you also believe me not capable of saving everyone either. They are words I’ve heard before.”

“By whom?”

“My brother.”

Her hand had been rubbing against the soft fabric of his shirt but stilled. “Who did you try to save?”

“My mother.”

Alice pulled away and stared at him. She’d known for years that his mother was dead, had gathered all the information she could on the man she’d managed to fall in love with at first sight. She’d heard that Mrs. Lockwood had died while her sons had been young but she’d never known how or that Calvin had tried to save her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.