Too soon alas! The damsel grew
A pettish pert old maid.
At ball or play,
No longer gay,
Poor Laura now you’ll see;
Nor does she cry,
For reasons why,
No one shall govern me.
By now, the whole room was uncomfortable, and even Regina had realized the error of her ways. Two verses were enough. Charlotte stopped and turned to her companions.
“I rather like that Laura,” Charlotte announced.
“I think the point of the song is that she is unhappy.” William scratched the back of his neck.
Charlotte shook her head. “You are making assumptions. You may not wish to be a pettish pert old maid, but for Laura it is a dream come true.”
“Lest you, like her, should in despair, Repent alas!”he recited the end of the song.
“You know I hate to be told what to do,” she snapped, closing the pianoforte back up and shuffling her pages back up into a neat stack.
“I am so sorry,” Regina whispered to William.“I really thought she had practiced.”
He held a hand up and soothed her concerns. “I believe a promenade will mend such shaky beginnings. What do you say, Lady Charlotte?”
* * *
By this time in the afternoon, William had already had his fun, but to steal a few moments of private conversation with Charlotte would make the day even more interesting. Of course, they were never truly alone. Anyone could see them, but if they were quiet, they could talk freely.
“Are you pleased with yourself?” Charlotte asked. They walked through the meadow by the house, down a long dirt road, where horses and other couples frequently passed by. Benedict and Mary Ann were not far behind.
All throughout the morning, William had been thrilling in the way her body felt pressed against his the evening before. She offered just enough to make him want more. Her frame was tiny, her hair soft, and her lips fine like silk. He couldn’t stop thinking about the passion with which she kissed him. If he didn’t know any better, he might have thought her to have genuine feelings for him. She was so intoxicating. The feelings he had, whether romantic in nature or not, could become a very dangerous thing if he did not take caution.
“I feel that you are not even trying to win,” he said. “It is so easy to shake you. Almost anything I say can make you anger.”
“I would not worry about me,” she said. “By the end of the season you will lose, which will be very unfortunate for you.”
“Do you think so?”
“I know as much. You are a known liar. How am I to believe you are not already losing?”
“If I were in love, I would treat you much better,” he explained.
“Okay, let us go over a list of lies you have told me. One, you told me that you were respectable. That is not the case. Second, last night you swore that you were not a rake not even ten minutes prior to kissing me. Who knows what other truths you hide?”
“You returned the favor,” he pointed out.
“Yes, but I never claimed to be well-behaved. In fact, I have made it very clear that I will do most anything that will get me into trouble.”
“Most anything?”
“I do not know what you are implying, but I do not like it,” she declared. “I have precisely no more plans to misbehave with you. Stare at my mouth all you please, but it will never touch yours again. I have had my fill.”