by Jane Charles
Adam eyed the putsi, wondering if the emerald would glow for him, or if Charlotte was meant for another. Just the idea of another gentleman taking her as his wife knotted his stomach. “Why don’t you remove it now?” If it glowed, they could put an end to this. He’d arrange for a Special License and claim her at the earliest possible moment, thus ending all danger.
“No,” his grandmother hissed. “She will carry it with her at Castle Keyvnor. If he is not there, she will keep it with her until it does.”
“We might see if it glows now,” Adam offered in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner, looking into Charlotte’s eyes. The blush she’d been sporting since Grandmother first started discussing the delicacies of what needed to be done to keep her safe only deepened.
“Not here. Not outside, and certainly not in the sun.”
“Then we shall go inside your wagon,” Adam suggested. Why was his grandmother so afraid of seeing the emerald now? Did she not like Charlotte?
“There is no point in bringing it out when we are at the castle.” Charlotte shrugged. “Most of the guests are relatives.”
“Not all.” His grandmother leaned forward. “There are bachelors that are of no relation to you, and others, who are so distant it would not matter, and still some that are connected only through marriage.”
Adam frowned. “Who is there besides St. Giles?” Which was bad enough.
“Blackwater, Ashbooke, and Devon Lancaster,” Redgrave answered.
Bloody hell! Lotharios, each and every one, who would be quite happy to help relieve Charlotte of her maidenhead.
She was his, Adam wanted to shout but held his tongue.
The only comfort found with regard to those four was that none of them wished to be married, thus they would not risk seducing an innocent. Though, how they could not want Charlotte with her laughing hazel eyes, golden hair, and perfectly rounded form was beyond him.
“You shall encounter each gentleman today or this evening,” his grandmother continued.
“I will see it done.” Anthony nodded with assurance.
“Carry the emerald in your left hand, as it leads to the heart. Talk to each bachelor, and see if it begins to glow. The one it sparks for is your destined mate.”
“Very well.” Charlotte nodded and Adam frowned.
She was being a little too complacent. Why hadn’t she asked to see if it glowed here, as he had? Did she not feel as he did? Was she hoping it was someone else? “I’ll join you.”
“No!” his grandmother ordered. “You will stay here.”
“Why?”
“You will only interfere in Charlotte finding the truth, the match to her soul.” She narrowed her eyes on Adam. “Your passion is strong, as is hers. Your presence could confuse the truth. Charlotte must test it and learn for herself without you.”
Redgrave glared at him again.
“It is important that the two of you separate and Charlotte test the jewel. If it does not glow for any other, and still glows for you, then you will never question your future. If you rely just on what you feel at the moment, when passions are high, you may live to regret it.”
Adam refused to believe that one of them was meant for Charlotte when it was clearly him! “Since when do you know anything about glowing emeralds?” Adam asked. “You have the second sight and premonitions, but no magic.”
“My dear boy, it’s already been enchanted to reveal true love.”
“By whom?” he demanded.
“The witches, of course.”
Charlotte’s eyes grew wide, and the color drained from her skin. “Witches?”
“You arrived two days before Lady Charlotte. It is not possible that you visited them and knew what you needed.” For the first time, Adam doubted his grandmother. But why would she tell him a falsehood?
“It was done many years ago,” she answered. “That emerald belonged to your mother.”
Adam sat back, and his heart skipped a beat. “My mother?”
“Yes. She was very beautiful, and many men visited to see her dance and have their fortunes told. They also wanted more than she was willing to give, often making impossible promises without honorable intentions,” she said with disgust and spat on the ground beside her. “There came a time when she wasn’t sure who she could believe, so we visited the witches. They enchanted the emerald, and she waited until it glowed before she gave her heart.”
“It glowed for my father.”
“Almost as soon as they saw one another.” The old woman smiled. “He was a good man. Not like your grandfather.” With that she spat again, cursing the man who’d caused so much hardship.
Grandmother focused back on Charlotte. “When you are through with the emerald and Tyrell is no longer a threat, you must return it to me.”
“Of course.”
Grandmother stood and dusted off her hands as if she was finished with this topic, or possibly them, for the time being. “I shall see you tomorrow when you reveal his name.”
“What if he is not there?”
His grandmother smiled. “He is, my dear. You need only to open your heart and mind to the impossible.”
“And hold the emerald,” Adam grumbled. It had better not glow for anyone but him.
“You do not believe any more than I that Charlotte needs to test the jewel on others,” Adam said as soon as Charlotte and Redgrave had left the camp.
“No. Nor do I doubt that it glows brightly when you are near.”
“So why have her go through this madness? We should be planning our nuptials, not sending her back to the castle where her very life is in danger.”
Grandmother sighed. “When Lady Charlotte first came to me, she did not believe in anything she could not see.”
“I’m certain her opinion has been changed.” Given she’d nearly died twice at the hands of a ghost.
“Yes, but who is to say she won’t doubt the emerald one day? Insist it was an oddity, easily explained away, once the two of you are away from all the danger and as you live out your years.”
“She’d start to doubt our love? That we are meant to be together?” It was the one thing he would never doubt.
“Perhaps no, and highly unlikely, however we do not know the future of your marriage.” Her dark eyes bore into his. “Seeing the evidence that it glows only for you will convince Lady Charlotte today, tomorrow, and when you’ve been wed decades, that your souls are to be as one.”
“How can you be so sure she’d ever doubt it?”
“As sure as I am that the first time you argue, she will question the madness of this week.”
“We will not argue,” Adam insisted.
His grandmother chuckled. “You most certainly will. She is headstrong, stubborn, and adventurous. You are entirely too protective for your own good. The two of you will have many arguments, but as long as Charlotte remembers that the emerald glowed only for you, she will never doubt that rightness of marrying you within a week of meeting.”
It was if the wind had been sucked from his lungs. “She’d wish we’d not married?” Even though they weren’t even betrothed, the very idea was painful.
Grandmother chuckled some more. “It is the way of love and of passion. Your parents shared a great love, but that didn’t mean she didn’t march here many times ready to be done with your father.”
Adams eyes grew wide. His parents had argued, but he had no idea his mother had actually left.
“Short lived, Adam. The longest she could stay away from your father was six hours, and never the night. You are much like your father, and I daresay, Lady Charlotte is much like your mother.” A smile blossomed on his grandmother’s face. “The two of you are going to have a grand, passionate love but not without a few bumps along the way.”
Chapter 15
Anthony had not left her side all day. She couldn’t even have privacy for personal needs without a maid practically beside her. To think she thought Anthony and Michael were protective before. Their int
erference was nothing compared to what she’d experienced today. If only Harry were here and given the task of watching her. At least he wouldn’t hover but would trust that she could take care of herself.
They knew. Her entire immediate family knew what the Gypsy had told her, and they all watched and waited for either Tyrell to strike or the emerald to glow. Father had already sent word that he needed a Special License post-haste.
As much as she didn’t have the slightest interest in any of the bachelors currently in residence at Castle Keyvnor, Charlotte almost hoped whoever it happened to be would be revealed sooner than later so Anthony could quit hovering over her.
Hovering!
“There is St. Giles. Go talk to him.” Anthony nudged her toward the lord.
“I need the emerald first,” Charlotte whispered under her breath.
“Where the blazes is it?”
“One moment,” she bit out and turned her back before slipping the pouch from between her breasts.
“Good God, is there nowhere else to keep that thing?”
“Unless you can magically make pockets appear in my dresses, then no.”
“It has strings,” he pointed out. “Wear it around your neck.”
Charlotte pulled the emerald from the bag and returned the rest of the putsi to its hiding place. “So everyone can ask me about it?” She straightened her gown and turned. “Do you really wish for me to tell them it’s for protection so a ghost doesn’t strangle me?”
“Lower your voice,” he hissed.
“I’m not the one being a vexation.”
Actually, this situation would be laughable if her situation wasn’t so precarious. Had it been the season, and there wasn’t a ghost trying to kill her, St. Giles was the exact type of gentleman both Michael and Anthony would discourage, even remove her from his presence if St. Giles dared in her direction with any more warmth than one shared with a friend.
Michael glared at Anthony from across the room. “He is not the one.”
“Which one?” St. Giles asked, looking from one brother to the next.
“Never mind them,” Charlotte said sweetly as she approached. “Would you care to stroll with me?”
His grey eyes widened as a look of near panic flashed in his features. Since when was St. Giles afraid of any female? Then again, she’d never tried to flirt with him before.
“Just for a moment.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “This won’t take long.” She linked her arm in his and practically dragged him away from the others as he looked helplessly back at Anthony and Michael.
“Go!” they both ordered.
“So tell me, are you still charming maids and dogs?”
“Lady Charlotte?”
She opened her left hand and looked at the emerald. It looked just the same as it had before.
“Dogs and maids,” she repeated.
“What exactly is this about, my lady?”
The emerald remained a dull green. It didn’t even shine. “Nothing, my lord.” Then she glanced back up at him. “I am sorry to have bothered you.
Relief washed through her as she returned to Anthony. It would have been terribly awkward had the stone glowed for St. Giles when he clearly had more interest in her cousin.
“What was that about?” she heard St. Giles say to Michael as she exited into the corridor.
“That, my friend, is a story best saved for when we are free of this place and have plenty of ale.”
“Well, that is one out of the way,” Charlotte said to Anthony. “Who next?”
Anthony rubbed his chin. “Devon Lancaster is in need of an heiress, I’m told, which you happen to be. It would solve both of your problems.
“How romantic!” she retorted. “Where is he?”
“I don’t keep everyone’s schedule.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes and tried to think of where she’d seen him since he arrived at the castle.
“He’s been spending time with Jane Hawkins,” Anthony said after a moment.
“Lady Marjorie’s friend?” she asked. “Is she an heiress?”
“Not that I believe. Her father is a vicar.”
Charlotte sighed. “Let’s find him, shall we?”
How long would it take for Charlotte to encounter each bachelor and learn if the emerald glowed?
The waiting was driving Adam mad, and by the late afternoon, he headed to the castle. What if something happened to Charlotte, and he wasn’t there to protect her? What if Tyrell somehow got to her? What if that blasted emerald glowed for someone who wasn’t him?
A footman left him to cool his heels in the foyer while he went to see if Lady Charlotte was in.
“Just what we need around here, another bachelor for Lady Charlotte,” Mrs. Bray said as she came through an open door.
Adam blinked at her. “Pardon.”
“That one’s been flirting with every bachelor in the household today.” She leaned in. “It isn’t right.”
Adam’s stomach knotted. Even though he knew what Charlotte was about, it didn’t mean he liked it. “Where might she be?”
“In the solarium with her family, but I wouldn’t disturb them if I were you.”
“Why?”
“I suspect they are taking her to task for her behavior today.” She nodded, all-knowing.
“Then perhaps I should rescue her.” Adam headed for the solarium as quickly as his feet could carry him. Surely they weren’t chastising Charlotte for her behavior. They had to know how necessary it was.
“We need her wedded and bedded,” Adam heard the Marquess of Halesworth proclaim as he drew near.
“Donald!” Lady Halesworth reprimanded.
“No need to be sensitive, Gwen. Would you rather we ignored the warning and bury her in the morning?”
“There is still no need to be crude.”
For a moment Adam hesitated, reluctant to walk in on their private conversation.
“Why don’t you arrange for the mares to be studded as well, while we’re at it?”
Adam bit back a grin and held in a chuckle at Charlotte’s words. He would never tire of her.
“I assume there has been no luck?” he asked hopefully as he stepped into the solar.
They all turned to look at him in surprise.
“No. Not a one.” Charlotte sighed. “Your grandmother was wrong.”
For the first time since his grandmother had sent Charlotte away to find her mate, Adam relaxed. “Grandmother is never wrong,” he insisted, though he’d had a few doubts recently.
“Then how can you explain why that stone hasn’t glowed or whatever it’s supposed to do?” Halesworth demanded.
Adam had no answer except that Charlotte hadn’t found her life mate.
Charlotte stood and stared at her hand.
“What is it?” Anthony asked.
“It’s warm,” Charlotte answered.
“You have been holding it all day,” Michael reminded her.
Charlotte took a step in Adam’s direction, then another, and another, and with each one, her smile grew brighter.
“What is it?” her mother demanded.
“I do believe Mr. Vail is my future.”
Charlotte held up her hand and in the palm was the precious emerald, no longer dull like he remembered, but bright, sparkling from within.
Adam closed his hand over hers. “Lady Charlotte, will you do me the honor of becoming my bride?”
Her eyes met his. “We hardly know one another.”
“We have a lifetime to learn.”
Chapter 16
“Oh, Charlotte,” her mother cried, coming to her feet. “I’m so happy for you. We shall start planning the wedding straight away!”
“This will not be a grand affair,” her father insisted.
“Of course it will be. She’s our only daughter, and it must be done right.”
“The longer she remains unwed, the longer she remains in danger. A Special License has been requested. As soon as it ar
rives, we’ll see the deed done,” Father sternly informed Mother.
Special License? This was all happening so fast, and panic rushed through Charlotte as she watched her parents bicker. Then, Adam squeezed her hand, and the moment she looked into his light blue eyes, everything calmed and settled. Even waiting on a Special License would seem to take forever.
“We could always head off to Scotland,” Adam offered.
“My daughter will not be one of those chits who runs off to be married over the anvil,” her mother argued. “Even if we must rush, it will be a respectable marriage. I will not have the ton gossiping about my daughter.” She wagged a finger at them in warning.
“Yes, Mother,” Charlotte answered dutifully while planning her escape. Racing for the border with only Adam at her side sounded delightfully adventurous. And one should begin as one wished to continue. One adventure with him after another.
“She needs to be married as quickly as possible and—”
“Do not finish that sentence,” her mother reprimanded Michael, and Charlotte’s face flamed again. Apparently the wedding wasn’t as important as the bedding.
“When will the Special License arrive?” Adam asked Charlotte’s father.
“A sennight, possibly fortnight.”
“We might as well wait for the banns if it’s going to take that long,” Anthony grumbled.
“That is far too long to leave Charlotte in danger,” Adam argued.
“She’ll just keep that thing around her neck,” Mother insisted.
Did she not understand how important and dangerous this was? Charlotte took the scarf from around her neck. The bruises were deep.
Mother gasped. “That is what he did to you?”
“Why do you think we’ve been so concerned?” Charlotte cried.
“Honestly, I thought you were being a bit melodramatic, dear,” her mother said, not taking her focus from Charlotte’s neck. “You must be married immediately. Gossips be damned.”
