The From Paris With Love And Regency Season Of Secrets Ultimate Collection. Кэрол Мортимер

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      Whatever had happened had killed her personal confidence. Her hopes for a future outside her work ambitions. Had she been brutally dismissed by a man she’d been deeply in love with?

      How could the man have been such an idiot to pass up a woman like Charlotte?

      And why did the thought of her being passionately in love with another man stir up a nasty sensation in his gut that he couldn’t identify? Was it jealousy? No. That was absurd. He had never felt jealous in his life.

      ‘I saw her out with that man,’ he told Jendi. ‘At a very exclusive London club. I think we were even introduced. Was he a prince?’

      Lady Geraldine made a dismissive sound. ‘That’s what he called himself. He was a long way down the tree of some obscure European royal family. He was certainly a very charming young man. And very sure of himself.’

      ‘So what happened?’

      ‘Charlotte will never talk about it. I didn’t see her for a few weeks. She said she had flu and didn’t want to pass it on. And then she always had an excuse of being too busy at work to come to see me and when she finally did I was…shocked.’

      ‘Why?’ Nico leaned forward, unconsciously holding his breath.

      ‘She looked…ill. So thin. And…’ Lady Geraldine shook her head very slowly and when she raised her gaze to Nico’s he could see tears in her eyes. ‘You hit the nail right on the head, my dear. Her sparkle had gone. It was like it had been when she first arrived in my care as an orphaned child. When she was so lost and unhappy that she wouldn’t even speak. For months.’

      ‘She wouldn’t speak to you?’

      ‘Oh, no. She wasn’t a tiny child any more. She would talk but only if we didn’t talk about him. Siegfried. All she would say was that the relationship was over and it wasn’t important. The only thing that mattered was her work.’

      Lady Geraldine looked away. ‘I thought if I gave her enough space that she would eventually talk to me about it, but it’s been nearly six years and after the first attempt or two I had to give up. It’s the one thing that’s never discussed but is always there. The elephant in the room, you know?’

      ‘The elephant?’ How many odd English phrases were going to test him today?

      ‘The huge thing. You can’t ignore it because you always have to walk around it to get anywhere. But you’re not allowed to mention it because, if you do, the door gets slammed shut and you can’t get anywhere at all.’

      ‘Hmm…’ Nico was digesting the information. He was silent for a long time and when he spoke, his voice was uncharacteristically grim. ‘He hurt her,’ he said softly. ‘He hurt Charlotte badly, this Siegfried.’

      ‘Yes.’ Lady Geraldine dabbed at the corner of her eyes with her napkin.

      ‘Physically?’

      The gasp was shocked. ‘Oh, no… If he’d done that, she would have gone to the police, surely?’

      ‘But you said she looked unwell.’

      ‘She’d had flu. There was a very bad flu going around that year. One of those bird varieties, I think.’

      Nico wasn’t listening. How could anyone have wanted to hurt Charlotte? She had been so beautiful. A girl testing the wings of womanhood. In love and totally trusting. What kind of bastard had he been and what had he done to her? Nico didn’t believe the ‘flu’ excuse for a moment. And something was telling him that the pain of the broken relationship had not been simply emotional.

      ‘I need to talk to Charlotte,’ he said, his chair scraping on the stone-flagged floor as he pushed it back.

      Lady Geraldine caught his arm as he turned to leave. Her age and state of health disappeared from Nico’s awareness as he read her expression. It was the look of a mother as well as a grandmother. Ageless. She needed to protect her child and she wasn’t sure if she should have spoken about her concerns. There was a plea in her eyes that Nico could read only too well.

      ‘I’m not going to hurt her.’ The words came out like a vow and Nico meant every one of them. ‘I never would. That I can promise you.’

      Charlotte was freezing.

      An evening dress was entirely inadequate for a winter’s night in Venice but she couldn’t go back inside. She could see that the evening was winding up now and people were leaving.

      Good. If she waited a little longer, there would be no audience for when she had to go back in and face her grandmother after Nico had explained why he couldn’t accompany them on the Orient Express.

      She could see them through the tall, arched window. Their body language was intense as they leaned towards each other, oblivious to anyone else in the room. The fairy lights made the room seem like another world and Charlotte could see the Christmas images still scrolling against the far wall. Snowmen and sleighs. Christmas trees and prettily wrapped parcels. Happy people. Families. Parents with excited children.

      Parents who had once been lovers. Engaged couples.

      Charlotte was twisting the ring on her finger without realising it. She gave it a tug. Good grief…it was a tight fit. She was going to need soap to get it off. Maybe she should go into the bathroom and find some.

      But then she saw Nico get to his feet abruptly and she saw the way her grandmother caught his arm. For a moment that seemed suspended in time she saw the way they looked at each other and the light was enough for her to see the expression on Nico’s face. Such a kind expression. Loving. Intense. The kind of look someone might have if they were making a promise they intended to keep.

      Or maybe he’d been apologising. Was he coming out to tell her it was safe to go back in now?

      Charlotte’s heart picked up as Nico came out onto the balcony. He moved with such grace, this man. A calm assurance that he could command his environment and protect anyone within it. Powerful but not intimidating because there was a softness about him. That slow, easy smile. The glint in those dark eyes that advertised the ability to find joy in life. To play.

      That’s what they’d been doing tonight and Charlotte couldn’t deny that, for a while, it had been…fun. No. Fun wasn’t the word. What had drawn her in had been the illusion. The need to taste something that was so seductive it was irresistible. The illusion of being in love.

      With Nico.

      She had to turn her head and stop staring at him as if the charade was still continuing.

      ‘Did you talk to Gran?’

      ‘I did.’ Nico was close to her now.

      ‘Did you tell her the truth? Does she understand why you can’t come on the train with us?’ Charlotte couldn’t repress a shiver. Was it the cold or the disappointment of failure?

      ‘Not exactly.’ Nico was shrugging off his jacket. He stepped closer and draped it over Charlotte’s shoulders.

      Her first instinct was to shrug the garment off with a dismissive shake. She wasn’t СКАЧАТЬ