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Charlotte nodded.

The Duke left the two sisters alone, and Charlotte motioned for the maids to bring the trolley in. She had prepared a mid-afternoon tea to welcome her sister to her home. There was Earl Grey tea, pastries, tarts, breads, preserves, and more.

When the refreshments had been brought in, Charlotte thanked the maids and sent them off so that she and Beatrice could be alone.

“Beatrice, is it really that bad?” Charlotte asked. “You can’t go home?”

“I think I have ruined it all,” Beatrice admitted. “Oh, my goodness! They call me theRunaway Bride, and I have done it again. This time, I waited until I was married before I ran away. Is there any hope for me?”

“Yes,” Charlotte stated calmly. “You have no idea what I went through with Henry to get to where we are today. I am thankful to you for running away, or else I might never have fallen in love like this, but I am still a little angry with you, Beatrice. You threw me into something I was not ready for, and I had to become ready. That is all by the by. I love you truly, and I always will, but I know a little something about messy marriages.”

Beatrice sighed and took one of the pastries from the tiered plates. She bit into it, and even though she knew it was sweet, it did not taste so.

“I ruin everything,” she moaned.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” Charlotte huffed. “You are married, and you had an argument, and you have run away and come here. It could have been a lot worse. If your marriage was truly over, you would have done something a lot more drastic. Can we at least agree on that?”

“I don’t know,” Beatrice replied.

“And you are supposed to be the older sister.” Charlotte tutted. “I always looked up to you, Beatrice, even when you were getting up to no good—and Istilllook up to you.”

“You shouldn’t,” Beatrice said. “Ishould be the one looking up to you. You took something bad and made it good. I took something bad and only made it worse.”

“No, I will not have this pity in my home. I mean, look at us! Who would have thought we would both be duchesses? Is that not quite incredible?”

Beatrice took another bite of her pastry, and it tasted a little sweeter this time. She was supposed to be the older sister who helped her younger sisters, but that had been flipped on its head.

“Itisquite incredible,” she relented. “I don’t think of myself as a duchess.”

“Nor do I,” Charlotte admitted. “I have been a duchess for a while, but I still don’t feel like one. I like being one, of course, but whenever I attend a formal event with Henry and I am announced as a duchess, I always think they are announcing someone else.”

“I shall feel like that for a while,” Beatrice said.

Perhaps not for long if Edwin does not want anything to do with me after what I did.

“How are you feeling with the pregnancy?” Beatrice asked.

Charlotte was heavily pregnant now, and Beatrice would soon be an aunt. She could not think about starting a family now that she and her husband were angry with each other.

“There are good days and bad days,” Charlotte admitted. “I am only glad I will give birth soon, as I am uncomfortable all the time. And, my goodness! I don’t know what has happened to my appetite. I have never eaten so much in my life. I am glad for the baby because I have quite enjoyed stuffing my face without putting on any weight. Except for the baby, of course.”

Beatrice laughed. Charlotte had always been so proper that it was amusing to imagine her stuffing her face with cakes and other treats.

“I am very excited to meet my niece or nephew,” Beatrice offered. “I’m so sorry for what I did to you, and I am so happy that it worked out well in the end. You deserve all the happiness in the world.”

“I appreciate that,” Charlotte said. “It did work out rather well, didn’t it?”

Beatrice nodded.

“Have you tried that with your husband?” Charlotte asked.

“What?” Beatrice frowned.

“Apologizing?” Charlotte clarified. “Have you apologized for what you did?”

“No, not formally,” Beatrice replied. “But I don’t believe I was in the wrong. Even if I made a proper apology, I don’t think it would make any difference.”

“That sort of thinking is going to get you nowhere,” Charlotte warned.