Free The Redemption of a Dissolute Earl by Julie Johnstone

curiosity, Charlotte flew
across the room as Lord Edgeworth made his way towards the stairs.
Huffing, she reached him just as his hand touched the stairwell
banister.
    “Lord Edgeworth.”
    He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Miss
Milne, what are you doing down here? Is something wrong?”
    “I—” She shifted from foot to foot, suddenly
extremely embarrassed to ask where Drew was. She shouldn’t care.
She shouldn’t want to know. Her fingers curled tightly around the
blanket and pillow in her arms. It hadn’t been two days since she’d
encountered Drew, and already she felt like the foolish girl who
had given her heart and innocence so willingly to him, only to have
her heart crushed underneath his expensive boot. No doubt Drew
didn’t need or want her pitiful offering of a blanket and
pillow.
    She shook her head, her throat clogging with
tears. “Nothing’s wrong. I—” She cleared the tremor out of her
throat and shoved the blanket and pillow towards Lord Edgeworth. “I
thought you might have need of these.”
    Before he could respond, she released the
blankets and pushed past him, determined to reach the privacy of
her room before the tears came. She ascended three stairs before a
hand gripped her arm. “Miss Milne?”
    She swiped her hand across her moist eyes
before facing Lord Edgeworth. “Yes?”
    Lord Edgeworth extended the blanket and
pillow towards her. “I’ve no need of this kindness.” Lord
Edgeworth’s gaze went to the woman beside him but quickly came back
to Charlotte’s face. “I’m sure Drew would appreciate it,
though.”
    Charlotte gulped as hope filled her. “Drew’s
not—I meant to say he hasn’t—?” Heat flooded her face, and her gaze
settled on Lord Edgeworth’s rather irritated looking companion
before Charlotte quickly averted it back to Drew’s cousin.
    A small smile lit his face, and he shook his
head. “No, Drew’s alone in the taproom.”
    “He is?” Charlotte couldn’t keep the burst
of happiness that filled her out of her voice.
    Lord Edgeworth nodded. “He said he wanted to
be alone to think. Do you know what I believe, Miss Milne?”
    “What?” she asked, before she could think
better of it.
    “You should go to him. You do not seem the
type of person to believe no one can ever change.”
    Normally she wasn’t, except that’s exactly
how she was being with Drew. She caught Lord Edgeworth
surreptitiously studying her as she pondered what to do. She could
go and give Drew a pillow and blanket. Certainly, that didn’t mean
she’d fall on her back and allow him to seduce her again.
    “Pondering my suggestion, Miss Milne?”
    She nodded.
    “Scat.” Lord Edgeworth actually waved her
away. “It’s not as if Drew is going to ravish you in the taproom,
and I feel certain you can scream quite loudly when needed.”
    There was something in Lord Edgeworth’s eyes
she had never seen before, or maybe she had simply never bothered
to notice. Perhaps she had been a bit of a snob too. Assuming all
lords were the same. “And who would come to the rescue of an
actress against a lord? Not that Drew would ever force himself on
me. I don’t mean to imply that.”
    Lord Edgeworth stepped onto the stair
directly below her and motioned her forward. She leaned down until
their heads were side by side. “I would come to your rescue, Miss
Milne. You may always count on me.”
    Charlotte pulled back just a bit and met his
gaze. “As a friend?” She did not assume he wanted more. She prayed
he didn’t, but in her experience men only offered to help a woman
when they wanted something in return―something of the intimate
variety.
    “Nothing more. Not even if you begged me.
Drew loves you, you know.”
    That little spark of hope she had thought
she’d successfully stamped out flared within her chest once again.
She refused to allow hope where she knew none existed. Drew may
love her, but not enough to give up his money. He’d proven that.
His words now meant