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Charlotte felt the heat in her cheeks doing nothing to help her prove her point. No doubt the bright pink color undermined her terribly, and she dropped her face into her hands with a groan.

“Oh, Lord. I haven’t laughed like that in a while.” She looked up to see Cordelia wiping the tears from under her eyes. “And if you hardly know your own husband, that is entirely a fault that you claim. You’ve lived with the man each day for a time now. What have you two been doing if not getting to know each other?”

Charlotte’s stomach clamped down. She recalled the time she’d spent with said husband this morning and just how much their past few encounters had been about “getting to know each other” in a rather intimate fashion. It sent further flames into her cheeks, and Charlotte ducked away.

Unfortunately, Cordelia noticed at once, yanking on her arm and forcing Charlotte to make eye contact again.

“Oh, I see what you’ve been up to!” She laughed again. “So then, has our innocent Charlotte at last tasted the fruits of marriage?”

“Cordelia!” Kitty looked over at them for a moment, and both women played it off with easy smiles until she went back to what she was doing. “You can’t say such things. Especially with your daughter seated not ten feet from us.”

“Dear Charlotte, how exactly do you think I came by Kitty? Immaculate conception? You’re well aware that I was lured into the arms of your own father. If we cannot speak about such things with each other, who then will we have to talk to?”

She had a point, and Charlotte sank down in her seat, releasing a heavy breath. “Understood.”

Bobbing her head, Charlotte took a moment to gather her words. In truth, she’d wanted to talk to someone about all this. Still, Amelia was so busy with her own marriage, and Selina wasneveran option. The woman was such a massive flirt that Charlotte had an idea she knew precisely what Selina might say about all this.

Just have sex with Frederick already.

“I have not. I…I find myself rather nervous about the prospect of carrying a child. I do want them, of course, but… Before now, I had believed every slight against Frederick was founded in truth. I had denied him, asserting that I would not be carrying the child of a rake. Now, however, well, I know that so much of that has been exaggerated, and I am…”

“Conflicted?”

She looked up at Cordelia, smiling at the insight into her situation that the kind woman possessed.

“Yes.”

“I find it best when I am reluctant to make a decision,” Cordelia supplied, and Charlotte hung on her every word, “that it is best to choose with your heart. Life’s practical and financial woescan be mended, but you will always regret not following your passions.”

“But my father left you. He was horrid to you.”

She looked over at Kitty, a soft smile stretching over her face. “He was. But I have her. And I would not trade my daughter for every pound in this great country.”

Charlotte didn’t speak. If anything, she was more conflicted now than before. And still, watching the love exude from Cordelia for her child, a deep, hidden part of Charlotte’s heart beat harder.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The street was quiet when Charlotte stepped onto it from Cordelia’s house. Perhaps that was why she didn’t see Selina until it was too late, and she collided with her friend, sending them both stumbling backward.

Shock played over Selina’s face, undoubtedly reflected on her own. Charlotte smoothed her hand down the front of her dress, looking around the street. Her carriage was still parked up ahead, and she couldn’t see anyone else lingering there.

“Charlotte,” Selina breathed heavily, “what are you doing here? You look…upset.”

Shaking herself, Charlotte schooled her expression so that the churning thoughts that plagued her were less visible. It took a moment for her to feel confident enough to speak, the surprise of running into her and the dread of someone learning about Kitty flaring brightly inside her.

“I…nothing. I’m quite well. I assure you. What areyoudoing in this part of town?”

Selina recoiled slightly, giving Charlotte that classic look of condescending annoyance. How dare Charlotte have the gall to question her, after all. The Dowager Duchess would never.

“Me?” As she pulled backward into herself, something changed in Selina’s stare, and her shoulders slumped forward. “I was seeing my solicitor. He has an office here where he serves clients of a less…securefinancial standing.”

“Your solicitor? What call do you have for a man of the law?”

Confusion swam within her, and it was only dampened when Selina met her stare with one of despondent grief. Her friend stared down at where she had wadded up a bit of paper in her hands, twisting the thin sheet until it crinkled and tore at the edges.

“I’m afraid that the heir of the Duchy of Soulden reached out to him. My solicitor informed me that the heir has ‘requested’ that I find a suitor expressly. He expects me to have secured one by the time of his arrival so that he can…make himself at home in the estate without worrying over me.”

Charlotte’s jaw dropped, and she reflexively reached for Selina’s hands. “He wants you to leave your home in such a short time?”