Pamela entered the room, shrugging into her coat. “I am going for a walk. The fresh air will do me good.” She winked at Lottie and left.
“Would you like some tea?” Lottie asked after the front door closed.
“Tea? I need a nice strong, large glass of brandy. You scared me to death.”
Lottie took his hand and led him to the sofa in the drawing room. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, but I have to make plans and I would not be able to do that with you there.”
“Plans?” He cupped her chin and kissed her, taking complete possession of her mouth. Tears rushed to her closed eyes, knowing in her heart this was to be one of the last kisses she would ever share with Carter.
Lottie pulled back first and placed her hand on his chest. “Please let me have my say.”
Carter crossed his arms over his chest, certainly not in a way that suggested he was ready to listen to her. “Go on. Then I will have my say.”
Lottie stood and backed away, not wanting to be too near him. Already her resolve was fading with him merely kissing her once and sitting there watching her. How her heart ached. If only she had used her common sense and refused to marry him.
“Please don’t blame your brother for this.”
Carter snorted. “Yes. That seems like something I would consider. He’s dead to me, Lottie.”
She shook her head furiously. “No! That’s precisely why I want to have this talk. He’s your brother.”
“Half-brother.”
She frowned. “What?”
Carter uncrossed his arms and stood, but when she backed up, he stayed where he was. He rotated his neck, placed his hands on his hips, and then said, “You were not the only one with secrets, my dear. Many years ago, my mother and father were separated for a short while. I never learned what the cause was for the separation, but during that time my mother had a very brief affair.”
If Carter had told her his mother had been an opera singer in her youth, she would not have been more surprised. “An affair?”
“As I said. Very brief. But during that time she became pregnant. With me.”
Lottie collapsed onto the sofa, her mouth agape. “You are not the Earl of Huntingdon’s son?”
“As far as the world is concerned, I am the Earl of Huntingdon’s third son. But in reality, you could almost say I was a bastard since my parents were not married to each other.”
She shook her head as if to clear it. “Does your father—er, the Earl—know?”
“Yes. Once I became old enough to understand, my mother told me. She and my father—the Earl—sat side by side on the sofa and told me this. He had forgiven her when she returned to him and always considered me his son.”
“So, Charles—”
“—Is my half-brother.”
Lottie was stunned. Here she thought she brought disgrace to his family, and yet his mother had made one mistake and her husband took her back. “How do they ge
t along now?”
Carter laughed. “They are devoted to each other. In fact, one time Father told me that what happened between them, and his acceptance of her mistake and my arrival, put their marriage on stronger ground.”
“Your father is an amazing man.” She thought for a minute. “Did your mother ever tell you who your real father is?”
“Lord Huntingdon is my real father.”
“I apologize. Your blood father, then?”
“No. I got the impression that they were happy to share the story with me but did not want to go further with it. That was fine with me because my father never treated me any differently than my brothers.”
Lottie sat and pondered that information. Then she said, “Do your brothers know?”