Read Online The Redemption of a Dissolute Earl by Julie Johnstone - Free Book Online Page B

gave Drew a cheeky grin. “When
you’re dirt poor, you may still call me cousin.”
    “How charitable of you,” Drew said with a
chuckle and the firm realization that the prospect of being poor
did not scare him at all.
     

     
    After a hot meal―where she insisted Lord
Edgeworth sit between her and Drew―and a freezing cold sponge bath,
Charlotte crawled into her bed and pulled the covers up to the tip
of her chin. Even dressed in her thickest winter bed-gown and
snuggled under the heavy coverlet, her teeth still chattered from
the cold. The room held a definite chill, but at least she had a
place to lay her head.
    A reluctant smile pulled at her lips. She
could still see Lord Edgeworth’s astonished face when Drew had
refused to tell the innkeeper they were the Duke of Danby’s
grandchildren and had threatened Lord Edgeworth with bodily harm if
he did so. She had to admit that she had also been astonished that
Drew had kept his promise. Especially since Drew’s denial of his
rightful title meant he and Lord Edgeworth received no special
treatment and therefore no bed.
    Charlotte turned over and fluffed her
pillow. The small tingle of satisfaction she had experienced
earlier when she realized that Drew would spend his night sitting
in a cold, drafty tap room without even a blanket or pillow had
disappeared. When the innkeeper had told them there were no spare
blankets or pillows to be had, Charlotte had gleefully given all
the blankets in the carriage to Perkins and Lord Edgeworth’s
coachman to use. A petty sense of vengeance had spurred her to do
it. Now, though…She groaned at the guilt setting in. In the quiet
darkness of her room with her anger ebbed, she felt churlish and
mean to deny Drew and Lord Edgeworth the most basic comforts. She
fingered the soft, fuzzy blanket next to her body.
    Decision made, she sighed, threw back the
covers and rolled off the bed. After exchanging her robe for her
travelling gown, she shoved her feet into her slippers, grabbed the
extra pillow on her bed and pulled on the top coverlet until it
released. She rolled the coverlet around her arm to make carrying
it easier. But the softest blanket she would keep for herself.
    Though she had tried to forget Drew’s claim
that he was now more than willing to give up everything for her, it
lingered in her head as she padded down the hall towards the
stairs. She would probably find him downstairs, miserable and cold,
and bandying his title about in order to now attain a room. She
hoped she would find him thus. Then she would know for certain he
was still exactly the same person he had been and not some new
Drew, a reliable Drew, a Drew who would give up everything for her
just as she would have given up everything for him. Perhaps she
wouldn’t find him at all because he was already ensconced in the
best room under the warmest blanket. That was the most likely
scenario.
    “Silly fool!” she muttered as she entered
the common room. Quickly scanning the faces, she spotted Lord
Edgeworth at a table with a serving wench sitting on his lap and a
mug of ale raised to his lips. The woman pressed her lips to Lord
Edgeworth’s neck, and his hand slid discreetly underneath her
apron. Charlotte’s breath caught in her throat as memories of
Drew’s lips and hands on her flaming body flooded through her.
    Determined to quickly find Drew, give him
the blanket and pillow and make haste back to the safety of her
room, she weaved through two families sprawled near the fireplace
and made her way around the outskirts of the tables where several
people sat drinking and conversing, but she didn’t see Drew.
    She turned to make her way back towards Lord
Edgeworth, but Drew’s cousin appeared ready to quit the room, and
it seemed he had found a morsel to take with him. He had the
serving girl’s hand clasped in his. A heaviness settled in
Charlotte’s chest. Had Drew also found a willing woman to welcome
him into her bed? Propelled by dreadful