Page 23 of The Virgin Duchess (Unwanted Brides #2)
Chapter Twenty
“ I simply must do something to show my apologies, my gratitude.” Charlotte paced back and forth across her room as Diedre struggled to get her dressed. “Do you think the idea is unsuitable? I believe he has enjoyed his time at the previous events. He was a surprisingly good dancer.”
Waiting a moment for Charlotte to hold still, Diedre stepped up to her offering the stays for her to hold up her arms and slip inside. When they were in place, and Diedre set out to the task of lacing them, she at last answered Charlotte’s question.
“The Duke has been observed as an excellent dancer, in fact. And yes, Your Grace. I believe he would be pleased to receive the invitation directly from you.”
Charlotte clapped her hands together before turning over her shoulder toward Diedre. “Oh, excellent. I thought so as well.”
“Please, mistress,” Diedre’s eyes pleaded with Charlotte, “would you now be so kind as to hold still? I should have an easier time dressing a goose.”
Laughing, Charlotte rolled her lips between her teeth, attempting to hide her grin. She and Diedre had gotten quite close during her time here, and it was comforting to have another woman in her life who she could be honest with, and who was always permitted to be honest in return.
“Apologies. I suppose I am a bit wound up today. There is just so much on my mind.” She turned forward, making a show of keeping herself still. “I shall not move.”
Diedre began lacing the stays, but no sooner was she finished that Charlotte started to pace again, talking without taking a breath as she considered Amelia’s upcoming drum.
“Oh, Diedre, it will be such a good show to have Frederick at one of Amelia’s drums. They are known for being so relaxed, and the Duke is in great need of a bit of relaxation. He is so…strict.”
Snorting under her breath, Diedre did her best to mask her chuckle, but Charlotte heard it all the same. The two of them giggled to themselves about the hilarity of the ton believing that the man was indeed a true rake because it was so very evident that nothing was further from the truth if you actually took the time to get to know the man.
After much longer than usual, Charlotte was dressed. She would go to Frederick’s room straight away. She couldn’t wait a single minute before speaking to him.
This will be perfect. It will be the perfect way to apologize to him. I shouldn’t have been so harsh to judge him after all. It wasn’t his secret to tell. He was simply being a brother protecting his sister. Of course, I can understand that .
Charlotte’s thoughts churned nonstop as she approached Frederick’s door. As she reached it, she rapped her knuckles against the wood and waited—not so patiently—for him to answer.
The door creaked open, and Frederick greeted her with a smile. “Charlotte, good morning.”
He studied her for a moment, cocking his head with a grin. “You seem like you have something to say. By all means, speak before you burst.”
She laughed before stepping forward and taking his hand. “I would very much like you to come with me to Amelia’s drum. It is being hosted this evening. While you have not gone in the past, it would mean the world to me if you would accompany me this time.”
A genuine look of surprise washed over Frederick’s face. Charlotte couldn’t stop the smile that crept up over her own before completely taking over, stretching her cheeks wide as she grinned broadly.
“Truly? You’ve never requested that I attend previously. I…I will admit that I am quite taken aback. Still,” he nodded, his own smile growing, “it would be my pleasure to accompany you.”
Charlotte curtsied, still grinning, knowing it was a ridiculous gesture after…how close they had become. Then she straightened, nodding her head.
“Perfect. I shall see you after readying myself for the night.”
He chuckled, reaching out to snag Charlotte’s wrist and haul her close. “You shall see much more of me if I can find the time today, I swear it.”
Her skin burned and hummed, and Charlotte felt a strange sort of giddy glee coursing through her veins. It was so odd and overwhelming. But she would be lying if she said that it was not pleasant.
“Regardless, Your Grace,” Charlotte teased, slipping away, “I shall see you then for certain, and right now, I need breakfast. I’m famished.”
“Hmm,” Frederick narrowed his eyes on her, a look of profound, dark hunger radiating through his gray stare, “indeed. Famished.”
The room was bursting with vibrant energy when they arrived, last, in fact, to do so because of a slight delay . Frederick’s fault entirely, too. Every one of Charlotte’s friends who were in town attended. She saw them all huddled up near the open table of assorted tidbits—Selina, Magnus, Amelia, and Richard, of course, and even Rose had accompanied them.
As the evening progressed, the first hour or so spent enjoying lively conversations as the libations flowed, they all decided that a game was most necessary and settled on Charades. They split up into teams, and it was agreed that the team with the most points, achieved through successful guesses before the hourglass ran out, would win the game.
Amelia and Richard paired, of course. Then it was Charlotte and Frederick. And lastly, Rose and Selina. Magnus chose to sit out, in truth demanding it, and Charlotte couldn’t help but notice how quiet and almost sullen he appeared. She’d never seen him so despondent during a drum, and a strange notion caught in her mind that it might have something to do with Ethel’s absence.
He’s truly been so out of sorts since she left. Odd. He constantly bickers with her. Could he honestly be missing that?
Amelia and Richard began the round as the hosts, and it was hilarious to watch them work together to act out and guess the word baker. Amelia gesticulated wildly in some vain attempt to make it seem like she was plying dough. Through his laughs, Richard was finally able to guess the word with only a few moments to spare.
Next, it was Charlotte and Frederick’s turn. She was horrifyingly nervous to act anything out this round, so thankfully, Frederick agreed to go first. He drew a slip of paper from the stack that had been created before the game, and his eyes bulged at whatever word he saw. Charlotte’s nerves doubled down, but Frederick quickly began to act out his depiction of the word.
She tried to pay attention as the small hourglass, one that Amelia asserted lasted precisely two minutes. Still, it was impossible to keep herself from laughing as Frederick began to mime kissing someone. Her hands flew to her mouth as she fought against the giggles, still studying her husband for any clue as to what he might be acting out.
His gestures became more and more crude, and Charlotte could think of nothing that he might be trying to show her. This was supposed to be all about careers one might take, and they all had taken slips of paper and wrote down options for the game. Whoever had put this one in was a fiendish jokester.
“Time!”
Charlotte threw up her hands, still laughing. “What on earth was that?!”
Frederick caught his breath, his cheeks red from both exertion and what Charlotte believed to be embarrassment. He held out the card to the room and sighed.
“Prostitute.”
The room erupted into laughter, and then Amelia glared playfully at them all. “Who put that in there?!”
Selina slowly raised a hand, rolling her lips to keep herself from laughing herself silly. “I couldn’t help it! It was too humorous!”
Further laughter filled the room. Everyone there—even Magnus to a certain extent—was lost in a fit of stitches that took several minutes to come down from. It was so wonderful for Charlotte to be there, enjoying her friends and her husband all in the same place. While their relationship began on such a rocky foundation, it was a delight to have him here now, partaking in the silly game with them.
She could even admit that Selina wasn’t grating on her nerves as much as usual.
As the evening progressed, however, Charlotte was intimately aware of how Magnus appeared to be watching over her and Frederick like a hawk. His attention was glued to them whenever they were around. It was quite the sight to see him go from so obviously distracted—his head clearly somewhere unpleasant—to focused on the two of them like Charlotte and Frederick had joined in an effort to sneeze in his soup.
They’d taken a brief break from the game to enjoy a bit of refreshment and small tastings of food—pastries and fruit and cheeses—returning to the couch in Amelia’s drawing room to pick up where they left off. Frederick and Charlotte were in the lead, the points totaling five successful rounds, with Amelia and Richard right behind them at four.
Amelia took the stage first, Richard acting as the guesser. He watched as she depicted some apparently quite difficult work, for she exaggerated the nature of her toiling, wiping her brow as if she were sweating. It was a hilarious sight, and just before the sand emptied out, Richard cried out, “Gardener!”
“Yes!” Amelia clapped her hands together, both of them laughing as they took their seats once more.
“Oh, is that what you were doing?” Frederick chuckled, reaching for Richard’s hand and shaking it. “Well, done, chap. I can say that I would never have guessed it.”
“Ha,” Charlotte laughed, “I don’t think I would have gotten it either. I had no idea what you were doing pushing your finger at the ground.”
As one, Amelia and Richard answered, “Planting the rows of seeds!”
The room laughed once more, though Marcus was nowhere in sight for this round. Selina and Rose mimicked the gesture, with Rose commenting on how she should like to visit a garden soon.
“I love them, and I certainly must for how I am named.” We all smiled back at her. “Though, I fear I’ve seen most every garden in the city at this point.”
“Have you attended the Vauxhall Gardens?” Charlotte inquired, scooting forward on the edge of her seat with curiosity.
Rose shook her head. “Oh, no. I have not. How delightful.”
Charlotte grinned, thinking back to the wonderful things she’d heard about the beautiful garden and how she longed to go herself.
“It is a bit of a distance, but it comes highly recommended for any garden connoisseur. In fact, I have wished to go myself but have never yet been, unfortunately.”
Taking her hand, Rose offered a gentle smile, the perfect match for that inspiring name of hers. “Perhaps we can find a time to go together?”
“That would be wonderful.”
Amelia cleared her throat, getting the room’s attention. “It is your turn, Charlotte. And if you lose this round, we shall have to have a tiebreaker.”
Charlotte would certainly not allow that, and she grinned at Frederick as she stood from the sofa and took her place in the center of the open floor. She would be acting the word out this time, and she just knew that they would clinch their title with this round.
Sure enough, Frederick was able to guess her depiction of a wet nurse nearly immediately, and the two of them leaped into the air as they celebrated their win. Amelia and Richard put on a show of being sore losers. Still, they were quickly smiling again—proving that they had never been very upset at all.
What surprised Charlotte most was that Amelia came up to her after walking to the mantle on the opposite side of the room. In her hands, she held an ornate box, gleaming with gold and swirling filigree. She presented it to Charlotte with a proud smile.
“For winning tonight’s game.”
Taking the box, Charlotte gently opened the lid to find a beautiful set of writing tools inside. They were finely crafted with crystal—the quill and ink well snuggled into a thick bit of light pink velvet. It even had a few pages of pressed paper and envelopes to match.
“This is lovely, Amelia.” Charlotte met her friend’s eyes, so very grateful for the gorgeous gift.
“Of course. It is a delight to give away such wonderful trinkets to celebrate the game. And we do not see you both here enough. Perhaps these will act as encouragement for a return visit.”
Leaning forward, Charlotte wrapped an arm around Amelia’s shoulder, holding the box with the other, and brought in her close.
“It is more than enough of an incentive, sweet Amelia. We would come to see you every day were our schedules to allow it.”
The party slowly wound to a close after that, but Charlotte’s mind whirred with a bright, new notion about the box as she rode in the carriage with Frederick.
Kitty had been speaking of her desire for a writing set. She had none for herself, and Charlotte couldn’t think of a person who would appreciate the gift more than her dear half-sister. Except perhaps for Ethel, but her friend was still dreadfully unavailable for the time being.
So, she decided quietly that tomorrow she would go to visit them and deliver the gift personally.