She smiled, her dark eyes flashing. “I see you still have not learnt how not to interrupt a lady’s walk, my lord,” she said slowly. “Even if it is only from a bookstore to the pavement.”
He laughed suddenly, feeling so happy that he could barely contain the emotion. “At least I have not caused another lump on your head this time, Lady Charlotte.”
Suddenly, her dark eyes clouded over, looking behind him. He turned. It was Miss Drake, approaching them swiftly. Her lovely face was grim.
“Lady Charlotte.” Her voice was bright. “What a pleasure. I must say, I hardly expected to see you out on the street shopping today. You have been hiding away, have you not?”
Charlotte stared at her evenly.
“I do hope everything has been well with you, Lady Charlotte,” she continued crisply.
At that moment, Charlotte’s brother George emerged from the bookstore, staring hard at Miss Drake.
“My lord.” He inclined his head. “Miss Drake.” He turned to her. “It is fortuitous that we have met you. I must ask why your maid was at our establishment this morning?” His eyes never left hers for a moment.
Alicia smiled sweetly, batting her eyelashes at him. “Why, Martha is a silly thing. She wished to speak to an old friend of hers, I do believe, who is a maid at Acton House.” Her smile widened. “But she obviously forgot to deliver the invitation as well. Did you not receive it, Lord Castlereagh?”
“Invitation?” George kept staring at her, unblinking. “No, we received no invitation.”
Alicia laughed. “I shall have to reprimand the silly girl. She can be a dunce, there is no denying it.” She paused. “To our masquerade ball, my lord. It shall be the ball to end the season. I shall send an invitation to Acton House directly.” She turned to Sebastian. “I find that I am quite exhausted, my lord. Would you be so kind as to accompany me back to my home?”
Sebastian jumped slightly, staring at her. What was going on here? There was a strange tension between Alicia and Castlereagh, who were eying each other like they were prize contenders in a cock fight. Charlotte had turned pale and looked slightly sick, leaning on her brother’s arm.
He stared at Alicia, who was standing there innocently, looking as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. What had she been saying to Charlotte? Something about hiding away. Why was George looking so thunderous and asking about her maid? None of it made sense.
But there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. Alicia was gazing at him expectantly, and he had accompanied her here. It would be rude not to escort her home. But all he wanted to do was stay here and continue speaking to Charlotte. For a moment he violently wished them all away. Why couldn’t it just be the two of them? Why were there always other people, pressing in on them, trying to hook them and drag them away from each other?
He had only just found her again, after so long. He didn’t want to leave her. But time was stretching on awkwardly, and Miss Drake was waiting. He sighed, taking her arm.
“Lady Charlotte.” He bowed crisply. “Lord Castlereagh.” He hesitated, staring at her. “I hope that we shall run into each other again. Very soon.”
She smiled faintly but didn’t reply.
“Goodbye,” said Alicia, staring at them. “I do so hope that you can come to the ball.”
Sebastian walked slowly away with Alicia on his arm. The maid was waiting for them beside the carriage.
“Martha!” called Alicia, staring at the girl. “Can you not get anything right? I have just been told that you forgot to give the Lumleys their invitation to the ball when you went there this morning!” She took a deep breath. “You must do better, Martha. You are my personal maid, and everything you do reflects on me.”
The girl looked confused. “I am sorry, madam. I shall try to do better.”
“Make sure you do,” she said crisply, climbing into the carriage, blue eyes flashing.
The carriage slowly pulled out onto the street. Sebastian stared out of the window, lost in thought.
They were still there. Charlotte and her brother. Huddled outside the bookstore. He looked like he was entreating her, and she kept leaning into him, as if for support. Then the carriage picked up speed and they were gone.
Chapter 20
Charlotte leaned against the carriage door, hearing the slow rumble of the wheels underneath as it travelled down Bond Street. She stared desolately out of the window. It was a fine clear day. The gentlemen and ladies all looked happy and carefree as they paraded, staring into shop windows. They navigated a few more streets and then the coach turned left, trotting past Hyde Park. She could see the river winding in the distance, remembering her own joy at being there just a few short days ago.
“Lottie,” said George, gazing at her with a frown on his face. “Do not take it to heart. Miss Drake will say anything to make herself look good in the marquis’s eyes. Surely you must realise that by now?”
Charlotte felt tears stinging behind her eyes. “I wish that I had never gone out today. Why did I have to run into them? It is as if fate is pushing me towards them, and I do not understand why.”
George sighed. “Lottie, I thought that you had resolved to put his lordship out of your mind entirely. You even claimed that you were now indifferent to him.” He paused. “You are not acting like a woman who is indifferent. Not in the least.”
Charlotte pressed her lips together. What George said was true. She had tried, very hard. At night, when she was on her knees beside her bed praying, she had entreated God to help her cast him out of her heart. She thought she was succeeding somewhat, but all it had taken was one brief encounter with him again and she was back to square one.
Her heart started to hammer as she recalled him in vivid detail. Those green eyes that always unstitched her. He would gaze at her as though he could see right into the centre of her soul. He stood head and shoulders above anyone else on that street in his fine elegant clothes. But it wasn’t his appearance alone that made her heart beat faster.
Charlotte frowned, trying to put her finger on it. It was as though she could be truly herself when she was in his presence, as if just by being around him she could let out a breath she didn’t even realise she had been holding.
As if he completed her, she thought suddenly. She jumped, unnerved by the thought.
“George,” she said quickly. “Miss Drake knows something about my malady. You heard what she said, didn’t you?”
George’s frown deepened. “I heard her asking if everything was well with you, emphasising the word. And I saw her pointed look towards you as she delivered the comment.” He paused. “What else did she say?”
“She said that I have been hiding away.” She bit her lip. “I can tell she knows something and was trying to discredit me in the eyes of Lord Sebastian. You said that her maid was at our house this morning?”
George nodded. “Your maid told me. She caught their maid gossiping with one of our scullery maids in a back room of the kitchen.” He hesitated. “She told me because she didn’t want to alarm you. Dulcie was convinced that the maid was up to no good, and having just heard Miss Drake, I think that her concerns are valid.”
Charlotte sighed. Was it true? Had Miss Drake’s family sent her maid to their house to try to work out what was wrong with her? Anger started to simmer in her breast. What had she ever done to Miss Drake, apart from catch the eye of Lord Sebastian? If it was true, then it was calculating, and it was vicious. It also told her that Miss Drake was threatened by her.
The gates to Acton House opened and they pulled up to the door. Without a word, Charlotte pushed the carriage door open and ran into the house, leaving George behind. She didn’t want him to witness her anger. She stood in the foyer, chest heaving, tears threatening to fall.
Diana was gliding out of the library but stopped short when she saw her. “Lottie,” she called. “What is wrong? You look like you have seen a ghost.”
At the sound of her sister’s sweet voice, the tears
that had been threatening spilled out. Diana was at her side in an instant, taking her arm and guiding her into the library. “We can talk quietly in here,” her sister said in a soft voice.
She led Charlotte to an armchair, overlooking the grounds, then sat down opposite her. Charlotte wiped away her tears, trying to catch her breath. Diana just watched her, saying nothing, until she was more composed.
“I am sorry,” said Charlotte, taking another deep breath. “It seems that I am always burdening you with my sorrows, my sweet sister.”
Diana’s blue eyes flashed. “Do not be silly, dearest. You are my sister and I would do anything for you.” Her voice lowered. “What has upset you so, Lottie?”
Charlotte shook her head. “I am being stupid, as always.” She gazed at her sister. “It seems that fate wishes me to see Lord Sebastian. I ran into him on Bond Street today … again.”
Diana gasped. “Did you speak to him?”
Charlotte nodded. “It was wonderful,” she said, tentatively. “Oh, Di, I cannot even explain how happy I was to speak with him again. Even to be near him was a delight beyond anything else. I have tried so hard to cast him from my heart, but it was as if the resolve melted into nothing the second I laid eyes on him.”
Diana smiled. “It seems that your affection for Lord Sebastian has taken root in your heart, Lottie, and in the deepest soil. It cannot be plucked out so easily.”
Charlotte nodded again, sighing deeply. “It would appear so.” She hesitated. “But he was with her, Di. Miss Alicia Drake. They appeared to be … close. He had obviously accompanied her shopping.”
“Close?” Diana’s nose wrinkled slightly. “We have discerned that Miss Drake is trying to ensnare him, but Lord Sebastian always appeared indifferent to her.”
Charlotte sighed again. “There was just something different in her manner towards him,” she said slowly. “As if she had caught her prize or was close to it at least. A familiarity, a proprietary air. He was deferential to her as well.”
George walked into the library, sitting down beside Diana. He turned to her. “Is Charlotte filling you in on what happened today?”
Diana nodded. “We are talking about the encounter with Lord Sebastian Wharton and Miss Drake.”
George frowned, turning to Charlotte. “Have you told Di about what Miss Drake said?”
Charlotte shook her head. “Not yet.”
Diana raised her eyebrows enquiringly. George sighed, crossing his legs and staring out of the window. “It would seem that Miss Drake knows something about Charlotte’s condition.”
“What?” gasped Diana. “How?”
Charlotte sighed. “She made some pointed references,” she said crisply. “About how I was hiding away and asked if I had been well. Nothing obvious, but she made it clear that she knew something. It was as if she was warning me off.”
“It’s true,” said George. “I heard her. And I have a fair idea how she knows.” He paused. “Dulcie told me that Miss Drake’s maid was here this morning, talking to one of the scullery maids.”
Diana gasped again. “Why didn’t you tell me about it?”
George shrugged. “There was nothing to tell. Dulcie was suspicious but couldn’t prove anything. She didn’t hear them talking and Miss Drake’s maid claimed that the reason she was here was to deliver something to the maid.” He paused. “It is only now, with what just happened, that I suspect that Miss Drake’s maid did get some information about Charlotte’s condition.”
Diana shook her head in disbelief. “This is intolerable. To think that Miss Drake would stoop so low, to use her maid to gather information behind our backs …”
“It proves her character,” said George darkly. “I always knew she was trouble. Social climbers like that will stop at nothing if they think that something is in their way.” He paused. “Miss Alicia Drake has decided that Charlotte is an impediment to her goal.”
“It would seem so.” Diana frowned, turning to Charlotte. “Oh, my dear, it is no wonder that you were upset when you came home. To be attacked in such a way by the lady, and in front of Lord Sebastian …”
“Yes,” said Charlotte. “It was unpleasant. But she is clever, I will give her that. All was inferred. There is nothing I can accuse her of. If I confronted her she would deny it all and we cannot prove it.” She wrinkled her nose. “She is most disagreeable.”
“You are being charitable in your assessment of Miss Drake’s character,” said George. “I would say she is detestable.”
Charlotte took a deep breath. “I must admit I was jealous,” she said slowly. “When I saw them together, and the way she was so proprietorial towards him, as if she already owned him.” She paused, feeling sadness overwhelm her. “I think that he is courting her.”
Diana blinked. “You do?”
Charlotte nodded slowly. “It appears that way.” She bit her lip. “I do not blame him for it. After all, I made it perfectly clear when he arrived here to see me that I did not want to see him anymore. And we had no understanding anyway. We were not courting prior to my relapse. I have no hold over him. He is free to court whomever he chooses.”
George and Diana were silent. Charlotte took a deep breath. “Oh, why is it so difficult?” she burst out. “I know in my mind he is free to court who he wants. But my heart is heavy if he has chosen Miss Drake, knowing what she is like.” She paused. “I admit it is jealousy, which is not rational.”
“Matters of the heart are rarely rational,” said George slowly.
Charlotte smiled wryly. “Even if I cannot have Lord Sebastian, I do not want Miss Drake to have him.” She took a deep breath. “I fear that given the character of the lady, she will be a bigger disaster to him than my malady ever could be.”
George and Diana both burst out laughing. Charlotte slowly joined in, and soon they were all wiping away tears of mirth.
“Oh, Lottie,” said Diana, composing herself. “It is so wonderful to be sitting opposite you like this. I missed you when you were locked away in that bedroom of yours.”
“It’s true,” said George. “We all missed you. Promise us that you will not condemn yourself in such a way again, sister.”
Charlotte took a deep breath. “I cannot promise that I will always be well,” she said slowly. “But I promise that I shall try not to become so melancholy with it. I am trying, my dearest brother and sister, and with your love I am confident that I am on the right path.”
***
Charlotte gazed at the thin, brown-haired girl. Sally Church, one of the scullery maids at Acton House, was trembling like a leaf. Charlotte didn’t blame her in the least, not with Dulcie glaring at her as though she were the devil incarnate. She turned to George, who was standing beside her, and raised her shoulders helplessly. She had never been good at reprimanding servants.
“Go on, girl,” hissed Dulcie, pushing her forward slightly. “Tell my lord and lady everything that you said to that cunning baggage Martha Hall.”
The girl looked like she might burst into tears. “I am so sorry, my lady. I’ve known Martha since we were girls and she was always a mean one.” She took a long, shuddering breath. “She wanted to know about you, my lady.”
“And what did you tell her?” asked George, frowning.
“I told her you are delicate,” said Sally, in a small voice. “That you are often abed, and tremble so when you are about. I told her there were fears for you, and that you and your family try to keep it a secret.” The girl hung her head, then burst into tears, wailing loudly. “I am so sorry! She threatened me, said she would tell Mrs. Neville some things I had done before I was in service here.”
Dulcie kept glaring at her. “You are a disloyal girl, Sally Church! For shame!”
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