“Neither of us have come up with a way to end the engagement. He won’t publicly ruin me. I’ve practically asked that of him outright.”
Ariel gasped. “I cannot believe you were so frank with him and that he said no. He’s damaged so many other reputations.”
“Are you so sure about that? His name is tied to the scandals in the rags, but I can’t think of one woman he’s been associated with—not by name.”
Ariel tapped the pen against the edge of the table. “You know, you’re right. How odd that we didn’t realize that sooner.”
“Not so odd, he has children out of wedlock. They live with him.”
“My mother mentioned that not long ago to one of her friends.” Ariel turned in the seat and looked down at the letter. “You should move on from the name drivel and write ‘I long for your company, someone who understands me completely.’”
Charlotte cringed at the very thought of putting something of that nature in the letter. “Absolutely not. He would think someone had hit me over the head if I wrote in such a desperate tone. We must think our words through carefully.”
Ariel tapped the end of the pen against the table. “May I see his last letter to you?”
Charlotte’s first instinct was to hold it back, keep it private. It was addressed to her and not Ariel. And to share the correspondence she’d received to date felt like a betrayal to the marquess. Although why should it feel like that?
“You don’t want to share his letters, do you?” her friend said.
Charlotte pushed herself up on her elbows. “It’s not that.”
Ariel’s mouth dropped open in shock, as though something had suddenly dawned on her. “That is precisely it. You are interested in the marquess for more than just the plan we devised.”
Charlotte started to protest, but not much more than “I’m not—” made it past her lips.
“We’ve known each other practically our whole lives. You cannot finagle your way out of this. What precisely has happened since our visit to the zoo? You’re withholding some pertinent information.”
“Nothing has happened. I’ve merely grown to respect the marquess for his…”
His kindness? For the kisses she thought about far too often? For his refusal to ruin her even though he insisted it was to save his own head? She knew better than that; he wanted to protect her.
“Oh, my. He’s kissed you, hasn’t he?” Ariel threw down the pen in her excitement at discovering Charlotte’s secret. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”
“Am I so obvious?” Charlotte was horrified that she was so easily read. She covered her face with her hands, embarrassed.
Her friend sat next to her on the bed with a bounce. “What was it like?” Ariel’s voice was dreamy.
“I was taken by surprise.” She really had no desire to share details of her kiss with anyone, but this was her best friend. “It was wonderful, Ariel. It was so much more than I imagined.” She fell silent. She was giving away too much of her feelings.
Charlotte took a deep breath. She needed to stay detached, as though the kiss hadn’t mattered, because she didn’t want her friend overanalyzing the situation. It didn’t feel right to share something so private, especially when Charlotte was still sorting out her feelings about the kiss. Especially since he’d offered marriage—and his proposal was far more tempting than Mr. Warren’s.
She began to wonder whether or not she could marry the marquess. It would be a grand solution to her predicament, but she wanted to marry for more than necessity. She wanted to be swept off her feet and to fall madly in love with the man who offered for her hand. Realistically, though, that dream wasn’t likely to come true.
“When did this happen?” Ariel prompted her again.
Should she lie and say it happened at one of the two events where they’d met the marquess or tell her friend what she’d been up to in the evenings, sneaking out of her house in a cloak to disguise her? The truth was better, because she realized the impossibility of lying to her dearest friend.
“He was testing me. I think he wanted to see if I would back down if he treated me more intimately. I did ask him outright to ruin me.” She looked away from her friend, unable to meet her gaze.
“Yet he’s told you he won’t put you in a compromising position,” her friend mused. “We put him on the list because he’s smart and known to be kind. I think he has more morals than my mother can imagine.”
“You can’t say a thing, not even hint at this secret, Ariel.”
“Do you trust me so little? Is that why you didn’t tell me?” Ariel frowned.
“No, it’s not that. I was just surprised by the kiss and I wanted to sort out my feelings before telling you. I wouldn’t have kept that information a secret indefinitely.”
“Your feelings?”
Charlotte was revealing far too much. But now that she’d said that, she’d have to explain what she meant. “Before your imagination runs wild, I think I need to clarify what happened.”
They both lay back on the bed and turned to face each other. “I visited him under cover of night, about two weeks ago. I surprised him; he honestly never expected me to show up at his house.”
“You went to his house?” Ariel’s eyes were wide. “Have you gone mad?”
“This is why I haven’t told you anything yet. He was—believe it or not—the perfect gentleman.”
“Yet he kissed you,” her friend pointed out.
“He was testing my resolve. Nothing more.”
“So you’ve said. But I think there’s more to it than that. What was it like?”
“I can’t really describe it. One minute we were talking, and before I knew what was happening, his arms were around me and our mouths were fused together.”
Ariel sighed, as though picturing it. “How long did it last?”
“Long enough for his sister to interrupt us.”
“He has a sister?”
Charlotte nodded. “I had no idea, either.”
“Oh, I wonder if I can find out from my mother what her story is.”
“You mustn’t, Ariel. Promise me you’ll ask no questions about the marquess. I do not want anyone to suspect my plan.” She sat up and folded her arms around her bent knees. “Not that I’ve figured out what my plan is yet.”
“You really are acting strange. Before meeting him, you would have thought differently about this. I thought you wanted to be caught in such a compromising situation that you’d either be forced to marry him, or retire to the country indefinitely.”
“I seem to have developed a friendship with the marquess.”
“Friendship?”
“Well, not technically, but I haven’t anything better to call it.”
Ariel gave a wide grin as she sat and folded her legs under her on the bed. “He’s very much your secret admirer.”
“Somehow I don’t think he’d appreciate that description,” Charlotte said wryly. “He has a reputation for being a great seducer of women, and you call him a mere admirer.”
“Don’t tell him, then. Why do you suppose he was testing you?”
“You really won’t stop questioning me until you have all the information.”
“We planned this together, Charlotte. Why should you not include me now?”
It had been Ariel who’d suggested taking the names of every rogue from Charlotte’s collection of Mayfair Chronicles, which she kept stashed beneath her bed where no one aside from her maid knew she had them.
“I should mention that I wrote a letter to him without ever intending to deliver it. It was a way to sort out my thoughts after I first met him. I told you I saw him at Gunter’s when Mr. Warren took me for a carriage ride a few weeks back.”
Her friend nodded.
“I wrote out the details of our plan in that letter.”
Ariel’s mouth dropped open. “Why would you do such a thing? He must think you a childish ninny.”
“I can promise you that he does
n’t think that.” Charlotte shook her head. He wouldn’t have kissed her so thoroughly had he thought her childish. “I originally wrote to him because I was afraid the marquess was not interested enough in me to continue what I had started at the duchess’s ball. He said I was too young to understand what game I was playing. I never thought myself sophisticated enough or old enough to capture the attention of a man like him. But I have.”
Ariel tapped her finger against her chin. “We did notice that not a single debutante was tied to his name.”
“Exactly. So I thought he might side with me if I gave him reason to.” Charlotte paused and took a deep breath. It wouldn’t do to only offer half the story to her friend. “I might have told him that stopping my upcoming nuptials with Mr. Warren would damage his clout in Parliament when he came into his title and moved to the House of Lords.”
Ariel gasped. “You didn’t dare.”
“I did. I had no choice. It’s selfish, I know. My father wants nothing more than to make a political match with my marriage. I understand fathers do this all the time, and it would be perfectly acceptable if Mr. Warren were a decent man and I at least liked him. But that simply isn’t the case.”
“I’m in awe of your boldness. What did the marquess say when you appeared at his house?”
“I definitely surprised him. I think he thought I was there for an entirely different purpose.”
“You mean…” Ariel’s eyes widened.
“Yes. I think the kiss was to scare me off, but when I didn’t leave afterward … I might have returned his kiss with one of my own.” She looked away from her friend, embarrassed to admit that truth. Her skin didn’t blush from embarrassment, but from the thought of the marquess embracing her, and making her feel things she’d never felt in all her life.
“I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me any of this.”
“I think when his sister walked in, and I didn’t run frightened at the idea of being caught, he realized I could handle the plan I had set in motion.”
“What did his sister say?”
“She apologized for interrupting.”
“What do you think the marquess would have done had she not come into the room?”
“I guess I’ll never know. When his sister left, he walked me home. We agreed to correspond while I was at the Carletons’.”
Her friend stared back at her quietly for a few moments. “This is very interesting.”
“It is, but I’ve been at a loss for what to say when I write to him. He’s teased me about how boring my letters are.”
“I think he likes you, Charlotte.”
“Don’t be a ninny. He appreciates my situation and has temporarily agreed to help me. He has everything to gain in my ruin—at least politically. Ruining Mr. Warren’s good name will lose voters for him and my father.”
“What would you do if your father forced the marquess to marry you?”
“He won’t. Papa despises him. I’ve heard him over cards talking about the marquess and Lord Barrington. Even the Carletons.”
“How can he hate the Carletons when he’s sent you to their annual summer party?” Ariel said, disbelieving.
Charlotte shrugged. “Maybe it has something to do with Lady Carleton’s position? An invitation from her is more highly coveted than anyone else’s.”
“You’re right, of course.”
“And to be in her disfavor means all doors close to you. Not even my father can risk that kind of censure.”
“I suppose that explains why your father let you attend the events in Town, but not why he let you come to this particular house party. The worst scandals are born here.”
“You know as well as I that my father could never refuse the invitation. I think he hoped I wouldn’t receive one, but that wasn’t the case, and I’m glad for it because it means I won’t have to keep company with Mr. Warren.”
Their conversation called to mind the words she’d had with her father shortly before leaving Town. He’d made it clear that he would be furious if he found out that she was corresponding with the marquess. That knowledge wouldn’t stop her from carrying on, though. She just needed to decide what exactly she planned to do with the marquess. Could she accept a permanent solution? Marriage? Why must she lose her freedom? Life was cruel to women; they never had a say in their own future.
Charlotte stood from the bed. “Come, we should write this letter and go back down to the rest of the company.”
She convinced Ariel to keep the beginning of the letter.
Dear T,
What happened to being discreet about our names? If you address me as Lotte, I’ll be forced to address you with an equally horrible rendition of your name. I have a strong aversion to Lotte. Lady H____ used to call me Little Lotte as a child. I felt like one of her corgis when she called to me in her shrill voice.
Because you are waiting so patiently for the latest on-dit, let me tell you that there is one scandal brewing. For the sake of the persons involved, I hope that they are vigilant and not caught out. They seem to have developed strong feelings for each other over the past week. I think I’ll keep you in suspense a while longer about who is involved. I would hate to be responsible for the leak that ruined their sojourn in the country.
Your friend
Char
Dearest C,
I will keep in mind that we must be ever vigilant. We don’t know who could be watching the post coming to and from the Carleton estate.
Town is equally hot, and the stench off the Thames grows unbearable, making me crave an escape of my own. Perhaps I should retreat to my estate up north if the weather doesn’t cooperate and turn into something more civilized soon. But first, I await your return. We’ve much to plan in person since we haven’t planned anything on paper.
I can think of a few people who might be engaged in a scandal as well. Perchance do you refer to mutual friends engaging in wickedness? My oldest friend was acting odd before he left for the country. “Smitten” and “distracted” are how I would describe him.
Your dearest friend
T
My dearest friend,
I’m not sure it is safe to discuss our plans in our letters. I fear that the only solution to my conundrum is what you’ve previously suggested—and neither of us wants that outcome. We are too free-spirited to be confined—especially by what you once mentioned.
Yes, a scandal is brewing between mutual friends. Though I must say my friend seems blind to the man seeking her favor, who has been sincere and kind beyond measure. I’ve only seen such behavior in a man desiring a permanent place in a lady’s heart.
I do hope the weather treats you more kindly in Town. I would hate for you to leave before I am home. I’ve news to share with you—about a mutual foe, the very one to precipitate our friendship.
Your
C
My darling,
You cannot end your letters as you did the last. I’m waiting for further explanation. Has our foe paid a visit to you? Have plans changed?
Your
T
My friend,
Everything has changed. I’m sorry I can’t provide you with more details just yet.
You should know that something has happened at the party. I’ve been confined to my room—all the young unmarried ladies have. I don’t know what is happening, but I fear this could be my last letter before I come home. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to get posts out safely. Please don’t write me any more notes. I can’t be caught out when there is scandal afoot.
Longing to return to London,
Char
Chapter 11
Someone was seen lurking about in the shadows of Lord R____’s last night and every night before that for a week. Perhaps one of his many daughters has a secret to keep? This writer will certainly uncover all the answers in due course.
—The Mayfair Chronicles, August 1846
Her father had arrived twenty minutes ago. He’d called for her to co
me to the small parlor. She was too nervous to remain idle and so paced the room, fingering the decorative ornaments on the mantel and on the side tables. There were only a few reasons her father might come to the Carleton estate—none of them good.
When the door opened, the sound of other guests could be heard from the corridor beyond. Charlotte turned to face her father, still surprised to see him here of all places.
Her father’s arms were outstretched so she could walk into them and hug him. “My dearest,” he said, patting her hair as he used to do when she was a child.
“What’s happened to have brought you here? Is Grandmamma well?” Her cousin had advised against leaving the old woman in Town during the hottest months. And her failing health was one of the three reasons her father might be here.
“Your grandmother fares very well. Her sister’s presence has lightened her spirits these past few weeks without you to brighten our home.”
“Has something terrible happened to bring you here?”
“I cannot lie to you, not about this, but you should hear the unpleasant details from me and not anyone else at this shameless house party.” Her father visibly took a reassuring breath—this was not like him at all. “Your chaperone is to be removed from the party for a transgression that cannot be ignored.”
“You can’t do that to Genny,” she argued.
Her father raised his hand to stop her protests. She snapped her mouth shut, knowing he was out of sorts, and she hugged him, hoping to lift his mood.
“I already have done exactly that. And I’ve done it to protect you, poppet.”
Tears prickled her eyes. She was angry and sad and felt so many conflicting emotions she couldn’t list them. How could her cousin not have been more careful? She was smitten with Lord Barrington and had been for the duration of their stay at the Carletons’, but the earl had left today …
She pulled away from her father’s comforting embrace and searched his eyes, hoping she could read the truth there. She didn’t need to hear it from him; she could guess that her cousin had been caught by another house guest. Who would dare call her father here?
Midnight Temptations With a Forbidden Lord Page 14