by Fiona Miers
As the day wore on, Charlotte found herself dreaming about dancing with Archie at the ball that night. A fantasy indeed, as it would be a miracle for Archie to do such a thing.
That evening, Charlotte stood at the entrance to the ballroom to welcome her guests. Her parents stood beside her until most of the guests had arrived, and the excused themselves to retire to their own domains. Her mother, to her group of friends and her father, the library.
The room was comfortably full and now that she had fulfilled some of her duties, she walked through the ballroom speaking to people and accepting their congratulations. She had been talking to Sarah when her skin prickled and she turned to see him.
Archie had been making his way to Oliver’s side without seeing her and the shock on his face when he realized she was within speaking distance was almost comical. He bowed politely, wished her happy birthday and then stood as far away from her, but still within their circle, as possible.
“What about you, little sister? You’re getting closer to being labeled as ‘on the shelf.” John teased her with a smile.
“I don’t believe I’ll ever marry.” Charlotte answered with an airy wave of her hand, making an announcement of the plan on which she had only recently decided.
“Pardon?” The almost uniform reply of the five people surrounding her, with their accompanying horrified faces and wide eyes, was enough to make her giggle.
“Why ever not?” Oliver asked, his eyebrows so high on his forehead they looked closer to being part of his brow line.
“What else would you do?” John shook his head, obviously baffled by the idea that a woman would choose to remain unmarried.
Charlotte laughed again, enjoying the attention and general silence surrounding her.
“I don’t need the money or a home and I don’t necessarily think I want children. There isn’t any other reason to marry.”
Charlotte had actually spent several years thinking this through and now that she listed the reasons out loud, she had the clear realisation that it was all true. Her conversation with her mother the week before had merely solidified the idea. She also had a yearly annuity on which she could live without her father’s help should the need arise. It was also true that she would have no objection to marrying a man if she actually cared for one, but she wouldn’t be admitting to that. Not openly at least.
“What about love? Companionship?” Oliver wrapped his hand possessively around his wife’s waist and pulled her into his side.
Envy ripped through Charlotte and the feeling wasn’t at all pleasant. If she remained a single lady, would this become a frequent occurrence?
“I am blessed with family and friends for that. Besides, from what I understand from most of my married friends, I’d be giving up a lot more than I could ever gain. If I do still feel a lack of something in my life, there are plenty of orphanages and charities on which I may expend my time and generosity.”
Charlotte looked towards a group of young women standing together in a corner of the ballroom. It was well known that all three had husbands who rarely spent a night at home.
“Whatever do you mean that you would be giving up more than you gained?” Sarah asked, her voice raising into a squeak. Sarah was a vicar’s daughter who had married a duke. She had gained a lot when she married Oliver, not just emotionally but financially. Charlotte laughed out loud and covered her mouth with her fan. Surely Sarah could see the humor in her question?
“I mean, legally my husband would own me. I would no longer have any control over my own money or assets and he, to make matters even worse, would have complete physical access.”
Charlotte shuddered and grimaced, then she heard her brother mutter under his breath.
“And you wonder why men keep mistresses?”
It was well known to both of them that their father spent time with his mistress every week and when the London Season was over, he was completely hers. Charlotte had told John her opinion on that.
“What do you mean?” Charlotte glared at her brother, wanting to stamp her foot on the polished floor boards.
She didn’t wonder why men kept mistresses, she already knew. Men were beasts, unable to contain their base urges, but she wasn’t going to be the wife waiting at home for her husband to return.
“I mean, if a lady like you dreads going to her husband’s bed, why would you assume a husband would want to bed you? He’d prefer the arms of a woman who would welcome him.” Although it was in no way appropriate for Lord John Dunford to be discussing such a thing with his unmarried sister, Charlotte smiled at her brother. She had never been an ordinary lady.
“I’m sure I have no idea what you mean, dear brother. What I meant to say was that he would even have the right to beat me,” she replied.
****
Archie cringed at the turn the conversation had almost taken. Why could his friends never stick to socially acceptable topics? The weather? The gossip? The fashion? He wanted to scream at them. The weather? The ball? Fashion? He wanted to scream at them all. Pick one of those!
Staring at the birthday girl with an uncomfortable knot in his belly, Archie wondered why she was the only woman who ever made him feel like this? And a woman she definitely was. Tonight was her twenty-second birthday and Archie had never seen her look so lovely. She was dressed in an evening gown of golden silk, with her lovely shoulders bare and the upper swells of her breasts visible. Although he didn’t like it when her temper was directed at him, he had to admit that she did look amazing when she was flushed with indignation. He suppressed the uncharacteristic urge to chuckle, the ripples of his belly almost uncomfortable. It had been so long since he’d felt it.
“Well, dear brother, since you have raised the topic, from what my mother and my friends have said, I don’t know how any lady could possibly enjoy the bedding business.” Charlotte’s nose wrinkled in disfavor.
Archie knew that she was spouting a widely known belief that ladies hated the marriage bed and fallen women, or women of a lower class, found a little pleasure in it. However, he didn’t want to add to this conversation in any way so he kept his mouth firmly shut.
“What has mother said?” John’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.
He was obviously shocked that ‘the conversation’ had already come about as Charlotte had never even been engaged. Archie was surprised himself.
“That I must lay still and try to think of something pleasant so that the time will go quickly. That it will hurt, but it is my wifely duty.” Charlotte spat the words out as though they tasted foul. She shuddered and Archie wanted to groan. He hoped that wasn’t what was in store for him.
“Tell me of a lady who enjoys marital relations with her husband so much she would willingly give up everything that I have?” Charlotte boldly asked their group.
They heard a stifled laugh and everyone looked towards Rupert. Archie knew that some married lady’s enjoyed Rupert’s bed, but that was a different story.
Slowly a small white hand raised and Archie felt his own mouth fall open.
“You couldn’t possibly be serious.”
Charlotte’s look of disbelief would have been funny, if Archie hadn’t been so shocked himself.
Sarah blushed furiously, but refused to be cowed by Charlotte.
“My mother told me that marital relations came down to the husband. If he loves his wife, then he will take the care and the time to make sure that she finds pleasure as well. Maybe that’s why so many of your friends hate their marriage beds. They married for reasons other than affection and their husbands do not care for them.” Sarah explained with an apologetic look at her now blushing husband.
Rupert and John looked at Oliver with a surprised but envious expression and he blushed even brighter.
Archie found himself again thinking that Oliver was one lucky sod.
“Well, although I am glad that some ladies enjoy their husband’s bed I am still convinced I will never marry.” Charlotte looked side
ways at her friend with lowered brows. She obviously wasn’t happy with what Sarah was saying.
“Please tell us why now, sister dearest.” John persisted, his voice now seeming harder, almost angry.
“Because I want things in a man that just don’t exist.” Charlotte announced to their group, a victorious grin spreading across her face.
“Such as?” Oliver asked her before her brother could.
“I want everything in a husband, that a man of my class looks for in a wife.” Charlotte announced, with a raised eyebrow and a flutter of her fan.
“Interesting, a touch backward, but please tell us how that is so impossible.”
Oliver rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Charlotte held up her hands and started ticking off the list.
“He must, of course, be a gentleman. He must be of the right age, fair of face, intelligent and preferably someone who has at least as much financially to bring to the marriage as I have.” Archie knew that these criteria were difficult but not unachievable.
“A tough list, but not impossible. What age is the right age?” Oliver asked again, obviously going through the invisible list in his head of eligible gentlemen.
“Within fifteen years of mine,” Charlotte answered.
“I don’t see anything in that list that we can’t overcome. What about a title, if you need that then we might indeed have a problem...” John was speaking now. He had obviously been listening as he wore a look of intense concentration as he also went through an internal list of eligible men.
“No, I don’t care a whit about a title. I can continue with my title if need be,” Charlotte announced again, with a flick of her dainty wrists.
Charlotte, being a duke’s daughter was entitled to be addressed as Lady Charlotte for the rest of her life, even if she married someone below her rank, or someone with no title.
Archie cleared his throat and leaned forward a little.
“Then what is it that you find to be so insurmountable?” Archie asked her quietly, joining the conversation for the first time. He could only think of two or three men that would suit her list, but indeed, it wasn’t impossible.
“Because I want a husband to stay faithful and I can think of only one way to ensure that. This particular attribute that I want is the one thing all gentlemen want in a spouse but you’ll never find in a man.”
Everyone else in their small circle was so riveted by every word Charlotte spoke that they didn’t see the danger. Archie, however, knew her too well and he knew that this particular glint in her eye indicated that she was about to drop an unexpected bombshell.
“I want a virgin.”
Chapter Three
“No!” Archie exploded opposite her, his heart racing as fear set in. He had been expecting something interesting to come out of her mouth, but not something that shocking.
Everyone else in their circle burst out laughing, including Sarah, the sound grating on Archie’s nerves so hard he had to bite down on the inside of his cheek so he didn’t scream.
He glared at the men who were now looking at him expectantly, their eyebrows raised. Only Rupert wouldn’t return his gaze.
Once the laughter died down, Charlotte smiled coolly, fluttering her fan in front of her beautiful face. She looked supremely confident that she had won her argument and Archie’s stomach sank.
“Now you know why I will never marry. My ideal husband just doesn’t exist.”
Archie knew what was coming and continued to glare at his friends, silently forbidding them from speaking. He saw Oliver open his mouth but Archie’s look soon had him shutting it. Archie ran through the rest of her list, hoping there would be somewhere he was deficient. He was considered handsome, he was only five years older than her, he was a gentleman and his finances were better than most. He couldn’t be sure what Charlotte’s exact monetary worth was, but her dowry alone would add considerably to any bank balance. Archie glared at his friends again as the realization began to settle.
Oh God, he was the only man in London who had every trait she wanted in a husband. The idea sent rapid panic racing through his body, his palms sweating as he clasped his hands behind his back.
Rupert was pointedly ignoring Archie’s pleading look, taking Charlotte’s elbow and shifting her slightly so she could look directly at him, Archie’s breath caught on a breath, his heart pounding in his ears as he waited for the explosion. He was about to be unmasked.
“No, your impossible and perfect husband does exist, but you’re just going to have to marry Archie,” Rupert announced with great aplomb and a flourish of his left hand.
The bottom of his world fell away. Without bowing, without a word, without even a thought other than the overwhelming urge to escape, he pivoted on his shining black heels and headed for the balcony.
Charlotte, who was a Duke’s daughter to her very bones did the most unladylike thing he had ever seen her do. She ran after him and grabbed him by the elbow, pulling Archie to the side of the ballroom, away from all prying ears.
“What did Rupert mean by that?” She hissed at him, gripping his forearm tighter and staring up at him with intense blue eyes.
Archie stood straighter, trying to ignore the heat of her body pressed up against his.
“This is not an appropriate place to have this conversation.” He side stepped the question and tried to pull away from her grasp, but she sunk her hands deeper into the muscles of his arm.
“Well, where is then?”
Archie looked at her determined face and angry blue eyes and seriously debated telling her to go to hell. It was none of her business. His hot and hard body had other ideas.
“The garden.”
Charlotte’s eyes widened instantly.
“When?” she asked breathlessly, her throat working as she swallowed hard.
Archie’s eyes narrowed. Lady Charlotte Dunford couldn’t be seriously considering meeting him in the garden unchaperoned. He may have been reckless enough to suggest a private meeting, but she wouldn’t be silly enough to agree to it surely?
“You want to know about my private life that much?” He had spent the last six years keeping his distance from her and rightly so. Now that she seemed determined to know him better he felt those long held shackles falling rapidly under his feet.
“When?” She repeated, straightening and stepping back from him as was proper.
They were being watched and Archie felt the disapproval raining down upon them.
“Ten minutes in the arbor to the right of the garden.” Archie dipped his eyes as though he were not really interested in what he was saying but the heat in his cheeks he was sure would give him away.
Charlotte pasted on one of her society smiles that always made him wince and curtsied as though she was saying goodbye.
“See you soon, my lord.” She whispered as she came back up from her curtsy, Archie had to strain his ears to hear her words.
Bowing to her automatically, he watched her move past him, back to his group of watching friends.
He strode off as though he was leaving, heading for the front door to ascertain his coat. He knew that this was going to change everything, but after being restricted for so long, he was excited to know his life may get better.
****
“What did he say?” Rupert asked Charlotte as she returned to their group. He was obviously trying not to laugh, his mouth strangely wide.
“He said that it was none of my business knowing anything about his personal life. What did you mean by what you said, Rupert?” Charlotte spoke to the known rake of her brother's group sternly. If Archie really did have that sort of secret, it wasn’t Rupert’s place to announce it.
“I...” Rupert began, before being cut off by John
“He shouldn’t have said anything. Archie’s going to be furious.” John looked at Oliver and they both shared a worried glance.
“But Rupert wasn’t actually serious, was he? I know what you are like with women John, I ass
umed all your friends were the same,” Charlotte said, addressing her brother.
Again Rupert went to open his mouth and Oliver froze him out with his best ducal stare.
“Archie’s a bit different to the average gentleman. But that’s his business and certainly not a subject for ladies to be discussing. If you’ll excuse us, I think we should be getting home to our son.” He announced, effectively cutting off Charlotte’s questions and any further discussion.
“Yes, and Charlotte, please think about what I said.” Sarah pleaded, reaching out to grip hands with Charlotte.
Charlotte smiled at her friend and squeezed her fingers back. Sarah lowered her voice when she came close and added,
“And we can discuss this another time, if you’d like more information.”
A pretty blush stained Sarah’s cheek and she looked up at her husband with transparent adoration.
He flushed slightly in embarrassment again and nodded to Charlotte.
“See you tomorrow night, most likely.”
Charlotte excused herself as well, saying that she needed to find refreshment but instead made her way slowly out the balcony doors and down the stairs that led to the garden.
Her breathing was irregular and her heart was beating as heavily as though she had made a mad dash to the gardens, not walked in as leisurely a manner as she could so as not to raise suspicion. She had never before been alone with a man to whom she was not related. What had possessed her to agree to meet Archie in the dark, all alone?
She grimaced at herself. Yes, she knew exactly why she had agreed. because she was intrigued by him. A gentleman who was the very last man she would ever have assumed would ensnare her curiosity.