“Lady Charlotte?” Lady Gardner wiggled her fingers. “I say, are you quite all right? Going to faint again?”
Lottie gave Lady Gardner a too-bright smile.
“I have actually never been better, my lady.” She shot Margaret one final pained look. “I think I am finally seeing everything clearly.”
And that was the truth.
“Lottie,” Margaret began, gaze pleading, “I feel that perhaps you and I need to discuss—”
“I don’t have anything to say at the moment, Margaret.” Lottie’s tone was terse.
She didn’t trust herself to say more.
The wound was too new. Too raw.
Time and again, she had chosen Margaret and Margaret’s needs.
Why had Lottie been so blindly loyal to Margaret and Frank and Freddie?
Loyalty, after all, was only good if those you were loyal to returned the sentiment. Otherwise, loyalty devolved into a sort of exploitation.
How had Lottie not seen that she was forfeiting her own life, her own heart, in exchange for theirs?
As Grandmère had pointed out, Lottie could only live her own life.
Create a family that is wholly yours and shape a future that is uniquely your own.
She could choose to make one person family.
Abruptly, the path she would choose was crystal clear.
She gave Margaret one last look, silently communicating all her anger and hurt, and then turned away.
Lottie smiled at Alex and placed a hand on his arm.
“Thank you for being here tonight, Dr. Whitaker,” she said. “I shudder to think what might have happened otherwise.”
“I am happy tae have been of service, my lady.” Alex met her gaze.
Lottie drank in his dear face.
How had she ever thought him to be steel? He was warmth and kindness and everything she could have ever dreamed of.
“After some consideration,” she said, “I have decided that, yes, Iwillaccept your offer of marriage.”
Alex gasped, head jerking back as if she had doused him with a glass of water.
“No!” Margaret gasped. “Lottie, please—”
“I say, Lady Charlotte,” Frank hissed, “I cannot accept this.”
“Silence!” Grandmère intoned. “This is Lottie’s moment. You will not sully it.”
Margaret took a step back, chastened. Lord Frank continued to scowl but said nothing more.
Alex and Lottie stared at Grandmère.
“Go on,” Grandmère flicked her fingers toward them. “I would hear the rest of what you have to say to one another. Lady Gardner came to witness a spectacle. It would be a shame to disappoint her.”
