CHAPTER 15
Charlotte skipped into her Aunt and Uncle’s house. The morning sun was hiding itself behind scudding clouds, promising rain, but to her, it might as well have been shining lustrously.
“Good morning to you!” she chimed brightly to a maid who was dusting a vase in the entrance hall, “and what a fine morning it is!”
“Good morning to you, too, Lady Amelia,” the maid replied cheerily before furrowing her brows, “though it does appear to be the onset of a storm.”
“We won’t melt. Besides, it’s good for the flowers,” Charlotte replied as she breezed past.
The maid chuckled as Charlotte sprang up the stairs. The previous evening had been, well,magicalwas not too hyperbolic an adjective.
I floated down the Thames under the stars. It was like being in a cocoon, the city all around, but unable to touch me. To touch us. Oh, but I yearn for this magic every day!
She knew that it was an intangible dream. Seth had shared the evening withAmelia, or so he believed. Eventually, the dream would end for Charlotte, though she hoped it would continue for her sister.
When she eventually makes her appearance. I do hope that all is well. There must be a good reason for this silence. Perhaps those bad rains that lashed the country before I traveled have disrupted the post coaches? There must be roads washed away in a flood between Yorkshire and London.
She would regret the end of the dream, but perhaps she could seek one of her own at home.
And not with some staid, conventional man, but with a rakish rogue of mine...
Though Seth was far from a wicked man. Just one who was adjusting to the notion of marriage after a life spent ruled by none but his own whims.
Charlotte froze the moment she crossed the threshold. A figure was shuttling briskly about the chamber, flicking her duster with the kind of cheerful efficiency that only one maid in all of London possessed.
Fiery red hair. Freckles like spilled cinnamon. A round face with a button nose, and blue eyes as brilliant as a summer sky.
“Marie!” Charlotte exclaimed, astonishment and relief tumbling over one another. She rushed forward, throwing her arms around the woman before she could even drop her duster. “Heavens, I thought—Reginald said—what happened? Are you well?”
“Oh, Lady Charlotte,” Marie burst out, her accent thick with emotion. It was only then that Charlotte noticed the young maid’s eyes were glossy with tears, “I’ve made a right mess of things, haven’t I? Gone off just when you needed me most!”
Charlotte steered the girl firmly toward the nearest chair, already tugging the bellpull with her free hand. “Nonsense! Sit down this instant. I shall order us tea—and you can tell me everything.”
Marie obeyed with a trembling smile, dabbing her eyes with her sleeve. Charlotte took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
“I had to go to Rouen,” Marie began, voice catching. “My Mama took a fall. Doctor said she’d be weeks mending. Lady Willoughby gave me leave to care for her. Said I might be gone a while, and I was. But I told myself everything would be fine, since Lady Amelia left instructions in your old puzzle box, clear as crystal.”
Charlotte remembered the puzzle box, the final toy given to the pair of them by their mother as a birthday present. Both girlshad spent hours trying to understand its mystery, eventually solving it together. Since then, it had been their shared secret.
“Of course! The puzzle box!” Charlotte exclaimed, “I have been so caught up in Amelia’s situation that I did not even think to look for it. Where does she keep it?”
Charlotte plopped up a pillow to no avail before scanning around the rest of the room for it. But the maid shook her head, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks.
“I have it. I am so sorry. In all the ruckus before my sudden departure, I hadn’t realized I had taken it with me when I went to my Mama’s at Rouen. I’ve had it all along, and you’ve had no way of knowing what’s been going on…”
Charlotte blinked, the weight of a dozen recent confusions suddenly shifting into place. “So that’s why I never found a note. I’d half convinced myself Amelia meant to abandon me to flounder…”
“She’d never,” Marie said fiercely. “Not her. She had a plan and a message and all the rest—just…”
“Oh, Marie.” Charlotte hugged her again, tighter this time. “You have always been the most dependable soul alive. You have nothing to reproach yourself for. I am only sorry you were carrying that guilt on top of the worry you must have endured for your mother’s well-being.”
Marie nodded tearfully and rose, crossing into the next room. There was a knock at the door, and another maid entered with tea. After she had left, Marie emerged holding a small, lacquered wooden box. It was carved with images of dashing foxes, hares, trees, and birds. At first glance, there was no indication of where the lid was, of the hinge, nor a method of opening.
“I hope no damage has been done,” Marie mumbled, handing it over.
Charlotte felt immense relief as she took it. Her fingers found parts of the carving that could be manipulated to reveal hidden catches. With the smallest of clicks, the box unlocked, and a thin line revealed the lid. Charlotte found herself breathless as she opened the box.
At last, I can find out what truly has been going on in Amelia’s life…
