Free Tenacious Trents 03 - A Reluctant Rake by Jane Charles Page A

Trent
again?
    “Well, not you, just anyone who could
help break up the tedium of strolling in the park at such an
unfashionable hour.”
    Audrey fought the need to roll her
eyes. “If you don’t wish to be out, why are you?”
    Millicent groaned. “Lydell said that I
take the baby for a walk.” She gestured toward the carriage. “It is
uncivilized to be out so early. That is why we employ a nurse, but
Lydell insisted.”
    She had not yet seen the child and
Audrey walked around to peer into the stroller. The round-faced
cherub with light blue eyes stared up at her. Audrey felt a hitch
in her heart. Would she ever have a child?
    “Isn’t she the image of her
father?”
    As much as Audrey had tried in the
past, and today, she could never recognize a parent in the features
of an infant. People saw what they wanted. To Audrey, they were
adorable little creatures who looked like themselves. “I suppose
so,” she answered instead of offering her true thoughts.
    “So you understand why you can’t have
Jordan.”
    Audrey stifled a sigh and looked at
Millicent.
    “We have a bond.” Millicent gestured to
the baby. “Nothing ties two people together more than sharing a
child.”
    Audrey had rarely seen such evidence
but she wasn’t about to argue with Millicent. She had come to the
park to think and not be bothered.
    “Well, I will leave you to your
walk.”
    She took a step forward but Millicent
grabbed her arm. “Don’t leave me. I can’t very well carry on a
conversation with the maid and it is so boring simply
walking.”
    Was it too rude to inform the woman
that she wished to be alone?
    “Let’s see who is riding today?” No
doubt she was hoping Mr. Trent was out. Audrey dearly hoped he was
not because those were the two people she did not want to be
around. Yet, if he were riding, it would give her an opportunity to
see them interact. If her suspicions were correct, then she had
made a ghastly mistake last Season. But, she shouldn’t jump to
conclusions. She needed facts.
    “Millicent, did you know Mr. Trent was
going to come to your room that evening at the house
party?”
    “Oh no,” she brightened, her face
becoming flushed. “It was a surprise.”
    “What did you say when he walked in?
You must have been shocked that he would do something so
scandalous.”
    A dreamy look came over Millicent’s
face. “I was sound asleep. It had been raining all night, and dark
as ink, so I was able to sleep like a baby, until…”
    “Until,” Audrey prompted.
    “He slid into bed beside me.” Millicent
sighed.
    Maybe she didn’t want to know the
details but unfortunately, they were important.
    “You didn’t see him.”
    “I didn’t need to.”
    “Yet you are certain it was Jordan
Trent.”
    Millicent’s face lost all happiness and
she wheeled on Audrey and shook her finger at her. “Don’t start in
on me like my parents.”
    Audrey took a step back.
“Pardon?”
    “I will tell you what happened and
nobody can tell me differently.”
    “Very well,” Audrey said slowly. “What
happened?”
    “When he came to my bed of course I was
frightened.”
    Audrey would have jumped out of bed and
screamed loud enough to wake the household but that was neither
here nor there.
    “How did you know it was Mr. Trent if
you couldn’t see him?”
    Her bright smile returned again. “He
told me.”
    “And you believed him?”
    “Of course, how couldn’t I, after what
he said to me.”
    Audrey’s stomach tightened, but she
ignored the discomfort. “What did he say?”
    “That he was aware of my wanting his
attention in London but it was too difficult to court me with so
many people watching.” She sighed and the dreamy look returned.
“His voice was low and quiet, not at all like he normally sounds.
It sent shivers down my spine. He insisted that what we could share
was special.” She turned and smiled. “He apologized for arriving
late to the party,” Millicent added as an afterthought.
    “He arrived