by Olivia Kane
“Yes, Lizzie, that is right. I am sure I am more miserable than Jane because she still has hope for a happy life, whereas all my hopes have died tonight.”
“But Charlotte! You are favored by the Earl. He asked you for three dances tonight! That is wonderful.”
“See, I knew the word would spread like a skirt on fire.”
“What?”
“Never mind.”
“Whatever has happened to you? I do not understand your mood, for you were more than pleased with the Earl’s attention the last time I saw you. Everyone says such kind things about the Earl. Has he offended you?”
“No, I mean yes. Oh, it is hard to explain Lizzie!”
“Then don’t upset yourself, Charlotte. It is natural to be a little nervous with so much attention focused on you.”
Charlotte sighed. “Maybe you are right,” she said as a means to end the conversation. “Perhaps it is the placement of the moon that has me feeling down,” she lied. Even Lizzie did not understand her. No one did.
As there was no way out of her predicament. Charlotte resigned herself to her fate. The Earl was oblivious to her mood—as he was to most everything about her—as he led her to the dance floor for the first of his three dances.
“You are the toast of the evening tonight, Lady Charlotte,” he said, glancing around the dance floor.
“Why do you say that?”
“Is it not obvious that everyone’s eyes are upon us? And that the assembled company are pleased to see our obvious happiness in each other?”
“I did not know our delight in each other was so obvious.”
“Nonsense. Everyone knows we are the perfect match.”
“How can they be so sure?” Charlotte demurred.
“What?”
“Yes, it is nice to be so sure.”
The Earl tightened his grip upon her hand for the remainder of the dance. For her part, Charlotte did her best to step on his feet often, but her foot was light and even its full weight upon his boot caused him no pain. He took no notice of her lack of grace. After the dance, he excused himself perfunctorily, the way he handled all his interactions with her and made off for the gaming room. That suited her fine.
She took a seat in a hard chair against the wall as desperation sank in.
For the first time in her life, she understood the definition of misery.
I cannot endure a life with the Earl, she cried to herself, berating herself for her cowardice. She began to plan a last-minute escape to London. Young girls got lost in that city all the time. There was always loose money in her father’s desk drawer; surely she could borrow twenty pounds to tide her over. She had no idea what a room or a meal cost in London. Where did a respectable young woman like her hide? The city was a maze and she did not know the good streets from the bad—she only knew Hertfordshire.
Perhaps, Bath was the better choice. Her great auntie Ann Pembroke was always in Bath with her pretty cousin Lucy. Her auntie would take her in; perhaps hide her in the attic until this trouble with the Earl blew over. She only had to make it through the present evening and then she would definitely make her escape.
Guy and Hugh were not quite drunk when they arrived at the assembly, for they had balanced their drink with mountains of food at the Meryton Arms, and thus were quite sated and both a little drowsy. They stood at the doorway to the ballroom, happy to lean against the doorframe and watch while their stomachs settled.
Guy could not help but focus on the Earl. He died inside as he watched the stiff indifference with which the Earl handled Charlotte during their dance. It seemed as if the Earl was more interested in collecting admiring glances from the assembled company than in paying polite attention to his partner. If only Lord Radcliffe could have seen this moment between Charlotte and the Earl. The smug look on Buckland’s face disgusted Guy and his anger grew.
Charlotte was a beautiful, respectable girl, accomplished in the arts and with a cutting sense of humor, and that scoundrel was not worthy of her. How dare the Earl, with his taste for the gutter and capacity for cold-blooded murder, think himself worthy of a girl so untainted and pure?
How he hated everyone in that assembly room. They were mercenary and shallow, and cared only for keeping their money amongst themselves. They threw their daughters at the biggest pigs around. He hated all of them, even the Lord Radcliffe, in that moment. He would never, ever adopt their way of life, he vowed. If he could shoot the Earl dead, he would do it in a minute. Thank goodness his future lie in Bedfordshire, with sweet Cecelia. After tonight, he would wash his hands of the Radcliffes and their business.
Scanning the room, his eye fell on a solitary female, barely visible behind the swirl of dancers. Was that Charlotte, sitting unattended? Indeed it was. Suddenly, he felt wide-awake and bursting with energy. He started toward her, instinctively.
The gods had given him one more chance.
Charlotte was busy mentally calculating the length of a carriage ride to Bath when she heard her name and looked up.
Standing in front of her was the one person in the world she was absolutely certain would never take the Earl’s side against her. She gasped in surprise.
“Guy! What are you doing here?”
“Charlotte! I was dining with Hugh. “
He sensed a perceptible softening of her manner towards him. Not only had she called him by his first name, but she had also failed to rebuff him when he did the same to her, as she had on the staircase at Ludlow Lodge. This small act of warmth and familiarity emboldened him. The music began, and impulsively he grabbed her hand. He abandoned his vow to never dance with her again.
“Dance with me, Charlotte.”
Her face lit up in delight and she clung to his hand and followed him gladly to the dance floor. He wrapped his arm around her waist and gave her a look of such kindness that Charlotte lost all her inhibitions and spilled her heart out.
“Guy, I am in such a pickle,” she whispered as they went through the motions of the dance.
“My lady, how can I help?”
“I need to escape from the Earl. Do I need to spell out why?”
“No. Indeed, I think that is a smart move,” he said, hoping with all his heart that he had heard her correctly. He twirled her around.
“Can you drive me to Bath in the morning? “
“Bath?” His mind began to whirl at the implications of ferrying Charlotte out of Hertfordshire.
“Yes, I want to hide far away.”
“The Earl can travel to Bath easily, and hiding never works.”
“Oh, crumpets,” she said. “You are right. You are always right, Guy.”
The old Charlotte would never have admitted that to him. He could not contain his grin or shove the love he felt for her back down inside again.
Over Guy’s shoulder, Charlotte saw the Earl enter the dance room, scanning the crowd. Guy saw fear in Charlotte’s eyes and followed her glance. The Earl’s eyes were fixed on her, following her movements. The dance ended and Guy held on tight to her hand during the brief interlude until the music for the second dance began and they returned to the dance floor. Charlotte held his hand equally tight, in order to keep her only friend from getting away.
“Guy, the Earl has the next dance. My third with him.”
“Your third? But ...”
“Yes, I know. It is horrible. Everyone is waiting to see us. I cannot say no to the man; he intimidates me so.”
The Earl stood still against the perimeter of the dance floor. He was not a man who waited patiently. He was cognizant of the assembly’s eyes upon him; the women especially were watching his every move. And, no doubt, every move of the Lady Charlotte, who seemed to be passionately dancing with her current partner, a young man he had seen circling her at a previous ball. He had not yet been able to catch her eye.
As their second dance progressed so did Charlotte’s anxiety. She kept her eyes focused only on Guy’s, knowing the Earl was watching her.
Guy’s heart was beating faster than hers. As the music died down, Guy could not let her go.
He didn’t want to ever let her go.
Holding tight to Charlotte’s hand, he stalled for time, drawing her deeper into the crowd, away from the Earl. Buckland would have to pry Charlotte’s hand out of his by force, he decided. He was not giving her back. He headed towards the door, pushing through the throng with Charlotte in tow.
His carriage was at Bennington Park. He could take her to Bath, or better, home with him to Bedfordshire. Yet, the extremeness of the scheme stopped him in his tracks. Charlotte had done nothing wrong. Why should she hide?
The Earl scanned the crowd for Charlotte. She had disappeared. Outwardly, he appeared unruffled by her disappearance, but secretly he began to curse the girl. He would not run after her. She would come back to him, eventually. There was no place to hide; he knew where she lived.
The music began again and still Charlotte did not reappear. He stepped back ready to quit the room in a dignified manner when he saw the top of her head bobbing amongst the other dancers, clinging tight to the same man as they began their third dance with each other.
The Earl stood frozen in anger, memorizing every detail of the face of the young man that had humiliated him so.
The third dance was mine, he fumed as he visibly struggled to control his rage.
Charlotte could not ignore the fact that all the eyes of the assembly were on her as Guy defied the Earl and stole the dance that was meant to be his. Nor could she ignore the fact that she loved Guy so very much for doing so. In the whole of Hertfordshire, there was not a better man than Guy Lancaster; of this she was convinced. In fact, she knew it to be true for a long time now.
Guy had not imagined that he possessed the courage to defy the Earl as he did that night; but in truth holding tight to Charlotte was the easiest thing he had ever done. He should have done it long ago.
“Charlotte.”
“Yes?”
“Do you remember that day in the library, in the rain?”
“I do.”
“I wanted to say something to you then, but Belmont ... ”
“I thought that might be the case.”
“You did?”
“Yes. I was disappointed that you did not ...”
“Me too.”
“You were?”
“Yes.”
The dance continued but Charlotte could not remember putting one foot in front of the other. She was reliving that afternoon in the library, with the rain pelting against the windows, just the two of them, in the dark. Reliving it with a different outcome, as she always did.
As the last note died away, Guy finally dared to take his eyes off of Charlotte to survey the damage. As he suspected, the Earl was advancing rapidly toward Charlotte, through the crowd that parted willingly for him.
Guy held tight to both of Charlotte’s hands and drew her close. His heart was beating fast but he knew how to save her from the Earl. Even if she hated him for it afterward, he vowed not to regret what he was about to do. Silence fell on the company. He summoned his courage in front of everybody and spoke quickly before his nerve left him.
“Charlotte, what I was going to say that day in the rain was that I love you. You are not going to marry the Earl. You are going to marry me instead,” he ordered, and before she could say, “yes” or “I won’t,” he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and drew her face towards his.
“May I?”
Charlotte felt as if she was in a dream. She did not care about lists, or being rational, or where Guy lived or even about her mother’s tears. All she could do was whisper, “Yes, Guy. I thought you would never ask.”
At that, he put his lips to hers and kissed her.
Guy’s kiss made Charlotte’s head spin. Her will was gone; she was entirely under his spell and she could not stop herself from kissing him back.
The Earl stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of his Charlotte kissing another man in full sight of the fascinated assembly. His face turned an even deeper shade of red.
Finally regaining his senses, Guy pulled away and took a deep breath as a combination of relief, joy and a sense of victory flooded his veins. He did not look at the startled, grinning faces surrounding him; he could only concentrate on saving Charlotte.
“Now, my love, I am going to escort you back to Bennington Park.”
“Right now? Why?” Charlotte felt as if she would faint with joy and was not sure her legs would carry her anywhere. Guy motioned over her shoulder and she glanced backwards at the Earl. A series of curse words began spewing from his angry, twisted mouth.
“Because I think the Earl might murder me right here if we don’t.”
“I think you are right.”
Guy turned on his heel and quickly dragged Charlotte toward the door. Several men put their hands on the Earl to hold him back, but he shook them off and stomped away to the games tables.
Hugh stopped the young couple on their way out.
“Take my carriage, Guy. I will stay here with my mother and father, although I do not think we will all be far behind you. The gossip is spreading throughout the assembly and I expect mother will be breaking down in tears directly at the thought of another child leaving the Hertfordshire nest.”
“Thank you, Hugh. And yes, I would prefer to be out of earshot quickly, lest the Earl challenge me to a duel.”
“Thank you brother,“ Charlotte said, and she and Guy bent their heads down low and ran out to flag down their carriage.
Guy held Charlotte’s hand and loaded her inside, then alighted and sat beside her as the carriage jolted away. He put his arm around her and drew her close. He wanted to tell her what he had overheard in the club and what a terrible man the Earl was, but as he opened his mouth to speak, he thought better of it. Here he was, alone in a carriage with his Charlotte. Why would he waste these precious moments together on the stupid Earl?
Charlotte grabbed his hand and held it tight.
“You saved me, Guy.”
“I did, didn’t I?” He had surprised himself. The full effect of the scene he had caused was just starting to sink in.
“Now before you kiss me again, and you shall kiss me again, I absolutely must speak to you. Do you remember that afternoon when you and Hugh laughed at my list of suitable suitors, and I was spitting mad at you for saying my heart was dead?”
“I’m sorry for that. It was so presumptuous of me.”
‘No, you were right and I was wrong. I’m not too proud to admit it. I was stupid and naïve and I got myself in too deep with a man I didn’t know anything about. So I am sorry, and that is all the talking we are going to do for the rest of the night.”
Guy laughed. “Is it now?”
She nodded and pulled his face close but he smiled instead. “Well, Miss Charlotte, I have one more thing to say. I do remember that afternoon with the list very clearly. It is an afternoon quite dear to my heart, for it was the moment I first realized I was in love with you.
“The truth is: I argued with you about the list and told you your heart was dead merely because I hated the fact that my name wasn’t on it. It was envy, pure and simple, because I wanted you for myself. And now I have you, so that is enough talking,” he declared, and he pulled her face towards his and kissed her again and again, for the remainder of the nine minute carriage ride back Bennington Park.
Chapter Fourteen
The first snowflakes of winter were falling steadily onto the broad lawns of Bennington Park. Having thoroughly disgraced herself by her public embrace with Guy, and having completely humiliated one of the most powerful, albeit broke, men in the county, Charlotte was more than happy to accept Guy’s offer of marriage and leave Hertfordshire for the peace and anonymity of the county of Bedfordshire.
“Mamma, I can’t bear to go to town! The nasty looks! The gossiping! The people in Hertfordshire are horrible!” Charlotte exclaimed after enduring a particularly cold receptio
n by the staff and customers of the Meryton Millinery Shop.
“You made your own bed by kissing Mr. Lancaster in full view of the company Charlotte! I will never get over the humiliation. Thank goodness, Ludlow Lodge is far, far away. I need somewhere safe where I can escape from the horrible gossip of these nasty Hertfordshire people, who I did not realize could turn on old neighbors so quickly!” the Lady Radcliffe cried, wiping her tears on her handkerchief.
“A situation for which I happily take all the blame,” Guy said.
He wrapped his arms around Charlotte’s waist possessively, while keeping a sharp lookout through the drawing room window for the Earl. He kept expecting him to show up on the property waving his shotgun around like a lunatic, gunning for him.
“You will have to get over the gossip, dear wife,” the Lord Radcliffe admonished her. “We must be eternally thankful to Guy, for he was onto the Earl’s true nature before any of us. And besides, I knew from the first time they looked at each other that there would be no keeping Guy and our Charlotte apart. It was quite obvious to me, if not to anyone else.
“And you can stop looking out the window, Guy. I guarantee you are quite safe from the Earl’s revenge. I hear he is already on his way to Rosings to throw his cap at the Lady Catherine deBourgh’s daughter, who is even richer than my Charlotte.”
“Lizzie tells me that the Reverend Collins told her that the chimney-piece at Rosings cost over 800 pounds,” Charlotte added.
“I heard that as well. As the Lady Catherine deBourgh is not in the neighborhood, she has not been made aware of the Earl’s public disgrace, or of his gambling debts. I have a mind to write to her myself to warn her of his duplicity, but ...” A sudden hacking sound rocked the Lord Radcliffe, and he was unable to continue for the coughing.
Charlotte and Guy and the Lady Radcliffe started toward him in concern, but the Lord waved them off.
“ ‘Tis nothing! ‘Tis a bit of biscuit that did not go down right.” He took a sip of tea and cleared his throat.
“All better! Now Charlotte, your match with Guy has made me the happiest father in town for he has always been like a son to me, and I have no doubt he will offer you the security and love that rivals my own for you. I dare say I will sleep soundly this winter, for I have no worries to beset me, and good sleep and good health do go hand in hand.”
