Harlequin Historical March 2015 - Box Set 1 of 2: The Rake to Rescue Her\The Soldier's Dark Secret\Reunited with the Major by Julia Justiss

Author:Julia Justiss
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Harlequin Historical
Publisher: Harlequin

Chapter Eight

‘Why did you say that he was not stable?’ Celeste turned furiously on Sir Charles. ‘You could not have said anything more damaging had you tried. Jack has not lost his mind, but a part of him is afraid he might. Eh, bien, he asks his only brother for a little reassurance and what does he get?’

Sir Charles looked shocked to the core. ‘I did not intend— I would never— With respect, Mademoiselle, you have been here a matter of days. Eleanor and I have been living with this situation for months. We have tried ignoring him, we have tried pretending nothing is wrong, and now we have tried confronting him. You saw the effect. I am most—most— I am extremely concerned about my brother.’

Lady Eleanor put a comforting hand on her husband’s arm. ‘Sir Charles has only his brother’s best interests at heart. This has been a terrible strain for all of us. I am as shaken as my husband by Jack’s decline. We have the advantage over you, Mademoiselle, of knowing Jack before this—this change. You must believe me when I tell you it is drastic. And then there is our son.’

‘Jack loves Robert, Madame—Lady Eleanor. That is precisely why he doesn’t want to fill his head with the barbarity of war. You asked me how I found Jack. Well, I will tell you, for what it is worth. I think he is a deeply unhappy man, and also a very brave one. I think that he has seen and done things that none of us can even imagine. Things so horrific he cannot sleep for thinking of it. All this, he has done unquestioningly in the name of you and your country and your little boy. I think he deserves better than to be told by his own flesh and blood that he is mad. That is what I think. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to find him.’

‘But, Mademoiselle, Jack made it very clear he wanted to be left alone, I don’t think...’

Ignoring Sir Charles, Celeste made her way out of the French window, and quickly across the stretch of lawn. She wondered if she had managed for the first time ever to get herself dismissed from a commission, but she could not, at this moment, bring herself to care. She did not know where Jack had gone but she had a pretty good idea where to start looking.

* * *

He was sitting on a rock, casting pebbles into the lake, his expression forbidding. Celeste was tempted, for a moment, to turn tail. Perhaps Sir Charles was right, and it would be best to leave him alone. She had no idea what to say. She had no idea what was wrong with Jack, but she had missed the chance once before, to try to comfort a person in torment, and she was not going to repeat the mistake by running away from a similar situation.

‘Did Charlie send you to check on me?’ he demanded as she sat down cautiously on the boulder beside him.

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