Page 10 of A Seaside Scandal (Change of Heart #2)

Chapter Seven

ALICE

Charlotte’s gasp was even louder than I had anticipated. But it wasn’t until I saw the orange droplets of punch dripping down the front of her gown that I realized what I had done.

I had lost my temper.

Such a thing only happened on the rarest of occasions. It was rare enough that I could count each incident with the fingers of one hand, and nearly all of them had involved Charlotte.

The first time she had caused me to lose my temper had been near the beginning of our friendship.

We had been no older than ten years old, and she had begged to borrow one of my favorite dolls.

I had allowed it, since she had claimed that her mother never gave her dolls to play with.

It was the prettiest thing I owned, a sweet fabric face wrapped in perfect golden curls and a silver embroidered dress.

After a few weeks, I had finally convinced Charlotte to return it to me, but she confessed that she had left the doll too close to the fireplace, and it had burned into a pile of ashes.

I had been angry but forgiving.

Two months later though, I found the doll in Charlotte’s room, entirely unharmed. She had lied in an attempt to steal her from me. If there was anything I couldn’t tolerate from a friend, it was lying.

Charlotte’s face came into focus as the anger behind my eyes dissipated. Her jaw was lowered, her eyes wild with dismay.

I stood frozen, my hand still gripping the empty glass of punch.

After I had tugged her away from Mr. Croft, she had been bold enough to ask me to confess to my ‘lie’ about the horse.

But Millie was indeed my horse, and Charlotte had no right to claim her.

“Mr. Croft asked me to dance before you interrupted us,” I had said, to which Charlotte had replied, “Then you must pretend to be ill so he asks me instead.”

Of course I had refused.

And then she had called me a horrible friend.

And that had outraged me more than anything. No one had ever tried to be friends with Charlotte but me. No one cared for her happiness more than I did, not even her own family. How dare she be so cruel? This wasn’t about Mr. Croft anymore.

My heart stung as I watched Charlotte mop the punch from her chest with her hand. My face burned hot, and my voice was lodged in my throat. Anger still pulsed through my veins, but my senses were pouring back to me. How many of the other attendees had witnessed the scene I had just made?

With an enraged glare, Charlotte rushed away from the table.

I could already see Mama heading toward us, and I could only imagine the scolding I would receive from her later.

This one mistake—one childish display—could make me the gossip of town tomorrow.

All it took was one witness…and here there were far more than just one.

My stomach twisted when I caught Mr. Croft’s gaze.

He looked entirely dismayed. No, worse than that.

Appalled. He must have seen the entire thing unfold.

A few drips of punch ran down my arm as I set the cup on the table and followed Charlotte.

My legs shook. Why had I allowed her to make me so discomposed?

I bit the inside of my lip to hold my emotions at bay.

“What is the meaning of this?” Mama asked in a hushed voice.

I waited, expecting Charlotte to spill every detail of my villainous actions, but instead, she wore a calm expression. “I am quite mortified,” she said with a sigh. “I spilled my punch all over myself and now my dress is soiled.”

I held my breath, my pulse racing in my ears. Why was she not blaming me?

Mama frowned, a look of compassion entering her gaze. “Oh, dear. We shall take you home straight away. Alice, will you fetch Edmund? He may stay if he wishes but tell him that we will be taking our leave.”

My cheeks cooled at the icy look Charlotte shot in my direction.

She was still furious. I did agree that it was best that Mama not know that we had been fighting—especially that we had been fighting over Mr. Croft.

I folded inward with embarrassment at my actions—my silly, immature, pathetic actions.

I had been friends with Charlotte for long enough that I should have known how to keep my temper in check around her.

But I had been so pleased and happy to soon be dancing with Mr. Croft.

Now, I would have to tell him that I was leaving the ball.

My face burned as I noticed that he and Edmund were speaking.

I would have to face them at the same time.

Had Edmund seen what I had done with the punch?

I approached slowly. Mr. Croft’s gaze flickered in my direction.

I refused to look at him until after I had delivered Mama’s message to Edmund. My throat was dry as I tried to swallow. “Edmund, Mother sent me to tell you that we are taking our leave. You may stay if you wish, but we cannot.”

He gave me a confused look, but I turned away before he could ask any questions.

I lifted my eyes to Mr. Croft’s face. “Forgive me, but I’m unable to stay for our dance.” I wet my lips. “Th-there is an urgent matter that can only be addressed at home.”

I could hardly hold his gaze. Those coffee-brown eyes were as aloof as before…

but this time it did seem intentional. Charlotte might have ruined everything for me.

I had certainly made matters worse on my own, but if she hadn’t interrupted our conversation with her lies about the countryside, Mr. Croft and I could have been beginning our dance that very moment.

Couples lined up in the center of the ballroom, and the orchestra began playing the first notes of my favorite country dance. I saw Mr. Croft’s head decline in understanding, but he didn’t utter a word.

Edmund’s brow furrowed with concern, and thankfully, he led me away from Mr. Croft’s side. “What happened?”

“I don’t know.” My nose tickled, so I rubbed it. My eyes stung. It seemed that he hadn’t witnessed my behavior after all. But Mr. Croft obviously had.

Edmund did not seem content with my answer. His gaze was gentle enough to draw a tear out of the corner of my eye. He walked me farther away from Mr. Croft and other eavesdropping people until I felt that I could speak again. “I-I got angry. And then I threw a glass of punch onto Charlotte’s gown.”

Edmund’s mouth twitched into a smile. “You did…what?”

I wanted to slap him.

He laughed, casting his eyes toward Mama and Charlotte with no small measure of delight. “Surely she deserved it.”

“That isn’t the point. I shouldn’t have done it in public.”

He gave a firm nod, his lips still twitching. “I can agree with that.”

I covered half my face with my gloved fingers. “And Mr. Croft saw me.”

“Are you interested in Mr. Croft?”

“No. Well…yes. I was. But now I’m certain I have ruined everything.”

“Perhaps not yet. I just made plans to go riding with him on Wednesday morning. I might speak with him then.”

I shook my head fast. “No. I wouldn’t ask you to defend me.

I acted like a child.” I took a deep breath as we made our way toward Mama and Charlotte.

“It truly doesn’t matter any longer. Charlotte and I will make amends very soon, and there shall be no lingering animosity between us.

I refuse to allow a gentleman to ruin our friendship.

We will apologize to one another, and we will be the very best of friends again. ”

Edmund seemed to put the pieces of the puzzle together in his mind. “Did Charlotte know you liked Mr. Croft before she made her ridiculous attempts at flirting with him?”

“She pretended to be oblivious, but…I think she might have known.”

Edmund’s brow furrowed. “Those aren’t the actions of a friend, Alice.”

My stomach sank.

He turned to face me one more time before we reached Mama. “Come riding with Mr. Croft and me on the Steine on Wednesday morning. Perhaps by then he will have forgotten this entire spectacle.”

I highly doubted such a thing could be forgotten in a matter of two days. What I wanted to do was hide away at home and never have to see Mr. Jonathan Croft and his excessively handsome smile ever again.

I didn’t have time to reply to Edmund’s invitation before we reached Mama and Charlotte. The blue silk of Charlotte’s gown was soaked through on the bust, stained orange on the edges from the spices in the punch. I could hardly meet her gaze.

Edmund joined us in the carriage on the way back to our townhouse.

Not surprisingly, he wasn’t eager to stay at the ball.

He had only attended to help me find connections.

I had been hoping to find him a match as well, but I had become a selfish child that evening, and now everyone was suffering for it.

When we walked inside, Charlotte went straight to her bedchamber to change out of her dress. I kept my distance behind her on the stairs as I made my way to my own room. In the carriage, Charlotte hadn’t shown any signs of anger, her features completely smooth during the entire carriage ride.

Perhaps she had already forgiven me.

After changing into my nightdress, with my hair in a braid down my shoulder, I took a candle and started for Charlotte’s door across the hall. Candlelight flickered in the crack beneath the door. She was still awake.

“Charlotte?” I knocked lightly.

A few seconds passed before the knob turned and the door swung open. Charlotte’s hair was braided too, a golden twist cascading down the same shoulder as mine. With a calm wave of her hand, she beckoned me inside.

My heart pounded as I crossed the threshold.

The silence was deafening. Surely it was my responsibility to apologize first, but the words were caught somewhere in my throat.

I wanted Charlotte to apologize for lying to Mr. Croft, for interrupting us, and for not being happy for me.

I couldn’t forget the dismissive tone in her voice when she had asked me not to dance with him, but to pretend to be ill.

Well, she had gotten what she wanted.