Page 5 of The Virgin Duchess (Unwanted Brides #2)

Chapter Two

“ M istress? Mistress? Are you quite well?”

Charlotte groaned low, her head aching at the sound of Diedre’s voice cutting through her once blissful sleep. Suddenly, bright light cut into the room as well, and Charlotte flung herself away from it, burying her face in the pillow.

“Come now, my lady. You must be getting up.”

Diedre continued to open the drapes of Charlotte’s bedroom, and the Lady continued to moan over the loss of her sleep. After a moment, Charlotte flipped onto her back, smacking her arms down on the mattress as her maid flitted about the space like a pixie.

“Ugh,” she wined, “you simply couldn’t allow me another moment of rest? I am beyond exhausted.”

At once, the woman was seated beside her on the bed. When Charlotte dared to crack an eyelid to look at her, Diedre scowled from her loftier position.

“You have snuck out again. Haven’t you?”

Charlotte didn’t answer, remembering her run-in with her brother when she snuck back into the house, and she couldn’t hold Diedre’s irritated stare for another second.

“Ugh, mistress. You’ll be the death of me.” Her maid stole the covers from Charlotte’s legs, making her shiver. “What would your brother do if he found out? What would he do to me for allowing you to leave? I’ll lose my position.”

Well, I’ve actually seen what he would do, and it wasn’t all that bad, actually. Though being forbidden from leaving the house is a problem.

Sighing, Charlotte scrubbed a hand over her face before sitting up and offering Diedre a mournful smile.

“I am sorry, Diedre. I am. But you know that I have no choice. If Magnus will not see reason, which he has made abundantly clear, I am left with few other options.” She squeezed Diedre’s hand. “But I do not wish to worry you. And I am truly sorry for that.”

There was a slight pause where her maid simply eyed her, but then Diedre was off, scurrying about the room in order to get Charlotte ready for the day. As she practically dashed about the room, Charlotte watched as Diedre chose today’s dress for her and began to pour water from the pitcher into her wash basin.

“You cannot keep this up, mistress. The streets are more unsafe now. And after what happened with the Baron. How can you even think about going out there?”

“The Baron?” Charlotte furrowed her brow, scooting to the edge of her bed as Diedre approached with a new chemise and stays. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, of course. You have not yet heard as you have been asleep.” Diedre assisted Charlotte with removing the clothing she’d slept in and hurried her over toward the wash basin. “Late last night, your brother was alerted to a disturbance by constables. They informed His Grace that the Baron of Halfacre had just gone missing.”

Charlotte’s stomach dropped. The Baron, that was what her brother had been talking about last night. She’d not heard anything because it had just happened. But as if that weren’t enough of a revelation, Charlotte suddenly remembered the brief glimpse she’d gotten of Frederick’s opponent last night.

Blond hair, brown eyes…yes, that was him.

“The constables will be taking to the streets in droves now, mistress. If you sneak out again, you will surely be caught.”

Charlotte snapped her attention to Diedre, the unsettling thought still ringing loudly in her mind. The man with Frederick had been Baron Halfacre. She had no doubt about it. Lord above. What has Frederick done with him? I need to speak with him.

“I understand, Diedre. I…” Charlotte needed to speak to the man for herself, and she needed to smooth things over with her brother in order to do so. “Thank you. We shouldn’t dawdle. There is much to do today.”

At that, Charlotte worked with her maid to hurry through dressing. She was freshly clothed and presentable for the house in a matter of minutes. Her pulse too loud in her ears, Charlotte rushed out of her room and toward the stairs. Magnus would be in the breakfast room, and she would speak to him there before leaving.

If he allowed her to go.

Practically sprinting, Charlotte was down the stairs like a sudden storm. As she pulled herself around the corner of their hall to find Magnus in the breakfast room, she was forced into an abrupt stop. What on earth?

The Duke was standing in her front hall.

“Frederick?” Charlotte shook herself, clearing her throat as Diedre followed after her. “What are you doing here?”

Diedre stepped up alongside her, shooting Charlotte a stern glare. She quickly realized she had forgotten her manners, and Charlotte ducked into a hasty curtsey.

“Apologies, Your Grace. You startled me. How may I serve you this morning?” It was impossible to keep the disdain from her voice.

The Duke looked between her and her maid, no other indication that the man might be coming up with some con about why he was in the area. It undoubtedly had to do with the recent news of the Baron. Worse, Charlotte had to assume that he wished to reveal her outing last night to her brother.

“I have come to speak with Duke Aldsworth if possible. I apologize for not planning my arrival beforehand.”

Diedre curtsied softly before standing to address Frederick. “I will see if His Grace is available, L?—”

“Careful, Diedre,” Charlotte cut in. “He is now a duke with his father’s passing.”

The jab in his direction was certainly noted, and Frederick flicked his stare to her for just a moment as the cut sunk in.

“Apologies, Your Grace. I will see if the master of the house is available for a meeting.”

Excusing herself with another bow, Diedre left the room. Only Charlotte and Frederick remained in the front hall now, and the tension that swam through the air was thicker than pea soup. She refused to look away from the man’s face even as her stomach clenched at the thought of him betraying her secret to Magnus.

Or worse still, coming forward with some horrible truth about what happened with the Baron.

“Lady Charlotte, I?—”

“I had thought we made an arrangement, Your Grace.”

Frederick stopped short in the middle of a step forward. He eyed her hard, regarding her for a moment, but then sighed.

“I have actually come to speak with you, Lady Charlotte. Not your brother.”

As much as she would have wished it, Charlotte was at a loss for words. Why on earth would the Duke want to speak with her? They had their agreement, and it hadn’t been long enough for her to have betrayed it—not that she would. She reeled slightly, taken off guard, and Frederick took a step closer, further into the home.

“I wished to check on you. Are you all right after last night’s…encounter? You stumbled fairly roughly, after all.”

His face was a mask of charming sincerity, but Charlotte didn’t believe it for a moment. The man was a dastardly rake, and she was almost positive that he had done something terrible last night.

“I am sure that isn’t your reason for coming,” she countered. “You have come to see if I’ve said anything about your Baron. Rumors have already spread of his disappearance, and you wished to see if you could lay the blame on me.”

The man didn’t so much as bat an eye at her accusation. Frederick only held her stare intently, calmly gripping his hat between his hands.

“What have you been doing with the poor man since his disappearance, I wonder?”

At that, the Duke’s stare went to the floor as he cleared his throat. After a moment, he looked up at her once more and took another step forward into the hall. Leveling her with a glower, Frederick kept his voice low—a dark edge to it.

“I have done nothing that the man did not deserve.” He ducked his chin slightly. “I assure you.”

A shiver ran down Charlotte’s spine. There was that look that she’d seen just a few hours ago. It was so different from the boastful charisma Frederick usually wore on his sleeves at all times. This wasn’t the man that she was used to, and the fact that he had so clearly been putting on airs signaled the worst.

I must tell Magnus about this.

“I believe it is a good thing then that you have sent for my brother. He should hear what you’ve done to him.”

The muscles in Frederick’s jaw worked, and he turned his face down toward the floor. “I truly wish you had not said that, Lady Charlotte.”

A flicker of nervousness dripped down her spine, skittering like spiders. The dark quality of Frederick’s voice made her pulse quicken, and she was not so foolish as to deny that she was scared of what he might do to her.

“I am in my own home, Your Grace. This would be an unwise place to try something untoward.”

The Duke chuckled, the sound too beautiful for the intensity of the situation. “You misunderstand. I do not wish to harm you. Though, I believe that your brother might have an interesting thing to say if he learned that you were out late last night in the streets—alone.”

“You can’t,” she snapped. “I have said nothing. And you agreed?—”

“Calm yourself, Lady Charlotte. I don’t wish to go down that road unless forced. Instead, I offer a solution, if an unorthodox one at that.”

Charlotte felt like some leaf blown about by a fickle wind back and forth, and she shook her head, scoffing at how Frederick continued to yank her about like a fish on a hook.

“A solution? And what, perchance, is this miraculous resolution to our situation?”

There was a brief pause where Charlotte noticed the deep crease between Frederick’s brows. He studied her, only the act of a moment, and then nodded as if solidifying himself to the decision.

“A marriage. One of convenience and mutual benefit.”

She nearly fell to the floor; the shock was so great. Charlotte couldn’t stop the immediate need to lean forward, her jaw dropping open. When she snapped it shut once more, she blustered, utterly taken off guard.

“You can’t be serious. You wish to marry? Me, of all people? Why on earth would we do that?”

Still as stoic and unreadable as ever—the odd change to his usual charming countenance persistent as a weed—Frederick only raised his brows a hair, staring straight into her eyes.

“You will not be compelled to testify against me as my wife.”

Charlotte expected more from the Duke, but he allowed the statement hang in the air.

“And? That serves only you, Your Grace.” She glowered at him, becoming increasingly irritated with this entire conversation. “You have yet to tell me how the arrangement would be of benefit to myself.”

Nodding once, Frederick exhaled hard. “I’d have thought that was obvious. I will not speak of what I saw last evening, and I shall provide for you utterly. You will be completely taken care of and provided with whatever you desire as the duchess of my estate.”

“Your Grace, I?—”

“Furthermore,” he cut in, not allowing Charlotte to speak, “I will permit you to go wherever you wish, including the clandestine location you were returning from last evening. So long as you can be discreet, of course.”

Charlotte was at a loss. Frederick was indeed an excellent businessman. The merits of the arrangement were evident, and she found it difficult to come up with reasons that she should not take him up on it. Her making the journey on a regular basis had been discovered by her brother, and only this morning had she begun to work on a way to continue her outings without notice.

The Duke’s proposal offered a genuine answer to how she might carry on.

Can I trust him, though? He has said nothing about the Baron, and ? —

“Your Grace,” Magnus strolled into the front hall, smiling evenly, “thank you for waiting so patiently. I do hope my sister was able to entertain you.”

He seemed in as pleasant a mood as could be expected, but when her brother stepped up next to her, he regarded her with a quizzical expression. Magnus’s brows were threaded with curious skepticism, and Charlotte bowed her head in a show of respect.

“Please, if you’d like to join me in the study, we can discuss whatever matter has brought you all this way.”

Charlotte turned to face Frederick, waiting for his reply as eagerly as Magnus.

“There shall be no need to take up your study, Your Grace.” Frederick smiled cooly at Magnus. “I would, in fact, like Lady Charlotte to be present for my proposal.”

She yanked her attention away from the Duke to her brother, seeing Magnus’s jaw drop as surely as hers had. His brows hit his hairline, and Magnus took a step forward, putting himself slightly between Charlotte and Frederick.

This is it, Lotte. What are you going to do?

Sucking in a hearty lungful of air, Charlotte licked her lips before stepping up past her brother and closer to Frederick. She plastered on her best smile, putting her hand to her chest.

“Finally, Your Grace. I had thought you might never ask.”

Both men cast their glances her way. The surprise painted on Magnus’s face only doubled down. In contrast, the Duke still regarded her with that schooled expression. Still at the edges, in the depths of Frederick’s grey stare, she could see a glimmer of delight—no doubt pleased that his plan had come to fruition.

Smile all you like, Frederick. I will do what I need to do, as I always have. And neither you nor my brother will keep me from my greater duties.