Lottie tore her eyes from Alex.
That was precisely how the sensation felt. As if her eyes were desperate to linger on him, and she had to forcibly cut them free.
“Pardon?” she asked, forcing herself to focus on Margaret.
Well, rather, she attempted to do so.
But as if against her very will, her eyes slowly drifted sideways, unerringly finding Alex again. Was he bowing to Miss Appleton now? Was his smile broader than normal?
He paused as he rose from his bow and then turned his head in her direction.
As if she had called to him.
As if the connection between them was too strong to deny.
His gaze instantly locked with hers.
Oh!
Electricity charged between them, an invisible looping current.
“Charlotte Whitaker!” Margaret said, perhaps a bit too loudly. Heads turned toward them.
Lottie jerked her head back with a gasp.
“Lottie, please, you must cease this,” Margaret continued, frustration and hurt in her voice. “Youcannotstare so forlornly at him. Your very face is confirming everyone’s assumptions.”
“Agreed,” Frank cut in. “Lottie must do her part.”
A churning panic roiled in her chest. “My part?”
“I think you must,” Margaret nodded.
“Charlotte, you must give Dr. Whitaker the cut direct,” Frank said. “Just as Margaret and I have done.”
Lottie’s attention snapped fully to her brother-in-law.
“The cut direct? Cousin Alex?” Lottie could not help but press a shaking hand to her midriff. “I don’t . . . that is to say . . .”
Lottie could not fathom such a thing.
To announce, so very publicly, that Alex wasno oneto her.
To snub him as the elite of London watched.
A dreadful tingling sensation started at Lottie’s fingertips. Yes, she really should have eaten something in the last twelve hours.
Where had all the air in the room gone? She could scarcely breathe.
Worse, the encroaching panic was the pinnacle of feminine cliches. She hated herself for it, even as hysteria flirted with the edges of her mind.
“All will be well, dearest, but you must do it.” Margaret took Lottie’s hand, holding it tightly. Her sister indicated the doctor across the room with a sideways flick of her eyes. “Ferndown is approaching him now. The duke will greet Dr. Whitaker. This will show the Committee that we are civilized people—that our actions are not needlessly cruel—but that we do not wish a strong acquaintance. After Ferndown’s introduction, you will go and greet Lady Hadley, be introduced to Lord Hadley, and then, when you are introduced to Dr. Whitaker, you will turn and give him the cut direct. That should silence gossip. Lady Gardner will have your dismissal spread all over Town by breakfast.”
Oh, gracious.
Lottie feared she was going to be ill. The tingling in her hands reached a crescendo, sending black darts across her vision.
“But—”
