CHAPTER20
No, no. This cannot be possible!
Edward couldn’t think straight. For a minute, he was certain he was living out a nightmare. He was minutes, if not seconds away from a duel, and now his sister was here, with his best friend gesturing to himself, asking if her child washis.
“No. Charles, no.” Edward stood between them and reached for his friend. It was easy to forget Charles was his friend in this moment. He grabbed the lapels of Charles’ frock coat and gripped them tight. “Tell me you did not do this to Esther!” He demanded, with his voice low.
Charles’ face was wan, his brows knitted together.
“I…” He had no words.
“Edward, for goodness’ sake, what good does that do?” Esther riled behind him. “Keep shaking poor Charles all you like, it hardly changes my condition.”
“Esther, are you telling me that Charles and you…” He couldn’t finish the words, for he was too angry. “Charles, tell me you didn’t.” He shook his friend again for good measure, whose face merely paled all the more.
“It’s not as simple as it looks.” Charles held up his hands, in an act of innocence.
“Isn’t it!?” Edward snapped. “Then explain it to me, please!”
“Edward.” Another voice reached his ears. He felt Julia place her hand on his arm. “You know as well as anyone that not everything happens as it should do. Not everything waits for a ceremony.”
“Not the time, Julia.”
“Neither is it the time to shake your best friend like a rattle when your sister is ready to cry.” Julia’s words brought some sense to Edward. He released Charles and looked round to see Julia was right.
Esther was standing perfectly still with her hands on her stomach, and tears in her eyes.
“It is Charles’.” She confirmed, her breath hitching.
Edward paced for a second, his hands in his hair. He didn’t know whether to go to Esther, embrace her and console her, or run to Charles and hit him for what he did.
“Charles, you –!” He rounded on Charles, about to run toward him when he found Julia in the way. “Julia!”
“What exactly is Charles guilty of that you are not?” she pointed out with wide eyes.
“Charles and my sister? It’s just…” Edward shook his head, in disbelief. “He’s guilty of abandoning her when she needed him most.”
“I didn’t know.” Charles only had his eyes on Esther. Somewhere in the recesses of Edward’s mind, he could see his friend was in turmoil. The paleness had grown so much now that he half wondered if Charles would pass out. His own eyes had tears in them as he moved toward Esther.
“Not another step,” Edward warned, and Charles fell still. Julia folded her arms, glaring at Edward so much that he flinched. “He did this to her.”
“Don’t you think you should ask more before you accuse him of abandoning her?”
“Erm, there may be more important matters to attend to.” Esther spoke up, her voice shaking.
“Julia, this is different.” Edward’s mind was only on one thing. He gestured between Charles and Esther madly. “He has risked her reputation, entirely! Left her with a child.”
“Edward!” Esther snapped his name this time.
“What?”
“Look.”
Edward turned, following the mad gesture of his sister to see they were no longer the only ones in the field. Lord Gillet had arrived atop his horse, and he was slowly walking across the field, with the animal’s nose turned downward. The Viscount looked a little too big for his horse, his figure towering over them as he got nearer.
Edward reached into his frock coat and took out the pistol before shaking off the coat. Charles took it from him, their gazes meeting, without a word passing between them. Edward could see the pain in Charles’ face, but he couldn’t deal with it now.
He stepped forward, ready to meet Lord Gillet.