William sighed, following her back to the foyer. “Where are you going?”
“Home, before I get us in even more trouble,” she said, pulling her cloak back on. After they had so carelessly began a false courtship, the last thing that they needed was to start another scandal. If Benedict didn’t trust William now, imagine what he might think if he found out that Charlotte had spent the evening in his home. She might never leave the house again.
“I will have to speak with him then,” he said.
“When?”
“Is your brother still hosting the ball tomorrow evening? I would have missed it otherwise, but it might be out best chance.”
Charlotte nodded. “Yes. You will speak with him tomorrow?”
“Of course. I will fix this,” he said.
As Charlotte exited the front door, she turned back to him and lifted her chin up confidently. “We,” she corrected him. “Wewill fix this. Equals, remember?” she asked.
He nodded. “Equals.”
Charlotte hurried down the steps and back towards her carriage. The moon dipped low in the sky. She had been at William’s much longer than she’d realized and the gin had relaxed her enough to make her tired. Tomorrow she would surprise everyone by going to the ball and hopefully William would surprise everyone by asking for her hand.
ChapterSixteen
“Icannot believe that you agreed to come,” Arabella whispered to her sister. They stood at the bottom of the steps, dressed head-to-toe in elegant dresses, expensive finery, and pristine satin gloves. Their mother had made it her personal mission to see it that her daughters would make the bachelors they lost regret ever crossing them.
No one had expected this outcome at the beginning of the season. If anything, Arabella was to be made a bride as quickly as was proper and Charlotte was supposed to become even more pessimistic over the summer. Now, things were different. Both Elkins sisters were left fumbling in the aftermath of romance gone awry.
“We make sure that Lord Stanton leaves with his intentions to court you set in stone tonight.”
Arabella stilled and her throat bobbed. “You won’t be stepping in the way of another lady’s match tonight?”
Staff passed the two by in a hurry, putting the final touches on the ball before guests came through the foyer doors. Above them, the staircase spiraled, and a glittering chandelier set the room aglow. “Tonight, I wish to do something different…” Charlotte offered a tight-lipped smile. “Maybe I will try making matches instead of just dissuading them. I want to offer solutions and not create more problems.”
Arabella looked as if she’d been slapped across the face. “Pardon me? What?”
“Pick up your jaw, Arabella,” Charlotte whispered, straightening her posture with a sigh. “This wicked world has changed me indeed. I now have a finer appreciation for love and all of its sickening qualities.”
“Uh-huh…” Arabella closed her mouth hesitantly and nodded. “Even after your time with Lord Holdford?”
Charlotte frowned, crossing her arms. “I am not helpless in my own affairs,” she said. The truth was, however, that Charlotte had grown anxious at the thought of William confronting Benedict this evening. Her brother had been trying his best to make light of his frustration tonight. The ball had been planned for some time. To cancel it, especially after the courtship ended would look particularly weak and affected. If he were to convince thetonthat he was not worried about his Charlotte’s prospects, then they would have an easier time finding her a suitable match.
No one knew—not even Arabella—that Charlotte and William had reconciled their differences. There was bound to be some surprise this evening and the only person standing in their way this time was Benedict.
It seemed after this whole situation, Benedict had learned Charlotte’s greatest secret, she did have a heart and it was as foolish and reckless as could be. If she told him that she was happier on her own, he might have respected that just as their father had, but she hadn’t yet said so. Her plan now was to marry William. She could not imagine happiness without him.
It hadn’t been that long, but the past few months had convinced her that marriage did not have to be anything like she’d imagined. For so long, she was convinced that marrying would mean a husband she barely knew or trusted who would treat her as well as a common farm animal. Despite the freedoms her father and Benedict afforded her, it was very clear that she was still regarded as belonging to someone else. When her father was alive, she was his, and after he died, her virtue and merit were inherited by her brother. For as long as she’d imagined it, escaping her first two seasons unmarried would almost certainly assure that she would remain unclaimed and husbandless by the time she was in her late twenties.
Only after so long, it had occurred to her that William made her feel even more independent than she could make herself feel. He brought out this audacity that dared to be trampled. When she was with him, she was breaking boundaries. He gave her the courage to exist for herself in a world that so desperately wanted her to be someone else’s. It wasn’t wrong necessarily. Arabella seemed to like the idea of a man loving and protecting her. That was fine, but that wasn’t what Charlotte wanted. William was the greatest hope that Charlotte had ever experienced.
After a few moments of watching the groups enter the first floor of the Hoskins Estate, Charlotte spotted William and Lord Stanton enter with their families in tow. Arabella gasped beside her. “Is that Lord Holdford?”
“No,” Charlotte said.
Arabella turned back wondering why her sister wasn’t as caught off guard as she was. “No Charlotte! That really is—”
Charlotte put her hand up. “Ask a stupid question, Arabella. There is only one answer to give you.” Charlotte took a deep breath, feeling the butterflies flutter up her stomach. “Tonight will be, by all accounts, a very eventful evening. Go find Benedict. I have a dance to arrange.”
“Fo—for me?” Arabella asked, looking at Lord Stanton out of the corner of her eyes.
“No, for me,” Charlotte nodded assuredly. “Yours will come before the night is over.”