A Secret Affair by Valerie Bowman

much of it at the time, but he supposed it might have looked quite bad, especially when one’s sister-in-law had speculated upon the matter. And if Lady Lenora had started rumors to that effect as well, even more evidence.
    He’d have to put a stop to it all immediately, of course. Men could be thrown in jail for such offenses. But more than any worry over his own neck was his mortification that Frances thought he didn’t want her. She must have believed he was playing with her. Or simply trying to ruin her chances with Sir Stuart. She had to think he was a complete ass. Oh hell, he didn’t know what she thought of him and his bid on her tonight, but she must be damned confused. He’d tell her, explain himself, explain it all. As soon as possible.
    Annie stood and slinked toward the door.
    “Not so fast, Miss,” Jordan said. “What exactly do you plan to do to make things right?”
    “Charlie, I am sorry. Truly I am,” Annie said, her fingers resting on the door handle. “I’ll tell Frances the truth, I promise.”
    “ I’ll tell Frances the truth,” Charlie thundered.
    Not only would he tell her, he’d show her.

CHAPTER 22
    Frances couldn’t sleep. She lay in bed in the guest room of Lord Colton’s house, her white shift stifling her, tossing and turning. What had Charlie been about, bidding on her tonight? Wouldn’t she like to believe he actually cared for her? In the way she wanted him to? In the way a man could care for a woman if he was not … wholly uninterested in women.
    Was he just being spiteful? Or did he really think Sir Stuart was that unsuitable for her? It made no sense.
    She barely heard the quiet knock on her door.
    “Come in,” Frances called softly, grabbing her spectacles off the bedside table and settling them on her nose.
    The door creaked open, and Annie stood there in the shadow from the corridor, biting her lip. She held a lit candle on a stick in her hand. “Did I wake you?”
    Frances pushed herself up against the pillows. “No, not at all. I couldn’t sleep. Come in.”
    Annie padded over and set the candlestick on the bedside table. Frances moved to make room for her, and Annie took a seat on the edge of the mattress.
    “What is it, Annie?” Frances asked. “That look on your face worries me.”
    Annie plucked at the coverlet. “I came to … confess.”
    “Confess what?”
    Annie took a deep breath. “Jordan and Charlie don’t know I’m here. In fact, Charlie told me not to tell you, but I just couldn’t sleep without setting things right.”
    “Setting things right?” Frances furrowed her brow. “What things?”
    Annie reached over and squeezed Frances’s hand. “It’s about Charlie. He’s not … well, that is to say. It seems he does indeed prefer women.”
    Frances pressed a hand against her chest. Why was it difficult to breathe all of a sudden? “He … He does? Are you quite certain?”
    “Quite. I asked him. He confirmed it and so did Jordan and Devon. They were very emphatic. It appears I made a terrible mistake implying—”
    Frances shook her head. “But it wasn’t just you. What about Lord Avery?”
    “What exactly did you see?” Annie asked.
    Frances searched her memory. “Not much to be honest. But at the time, with the rumors and the conjecture, it had seemed like … well, it had all seemed quite probable.”
    “He was just meeting with Lord Avery,” Annie replied.
    “But what about Lady Lenora?” Frances asked.
    “Seems Charlie rebuffed her advances, and she was none too pleased. She can’t imagine a man who wouldn’t want her. You know that.”
    “But … But…” Frances dropped her hand in her lap, a hundred thoughts swirling through her mind. Blast it. Her flighty imagination had conjured up an entire tale about what Charlie and Lord Avery had been up to in the study. The truth was she actually hadn’t seen anything indecent whatsoever.
    “It seems we’ve made a terrible mistake.” Annie sighed.
    “You’re