“I never had a daughter, Charlotte,” Amelia said affectionately. “If I had, I imagine she would have been very much like you.”
“Not like you?” Charlotte teased.
Amelia chuckled. “No, my sons took after me. I always thought that, should I have a girl, she would have taken after my husband. Kind, gentle, quiet, sensible. Yes, you are very much like him.” She smiled and touched Charlotte’s cheek. “Thankyou for bringing me such pleasure. I have longed for this happy situation for such a long time.”
“Surely you were not so alone. You had Sir Andrew…” she trailed off, biting her lip.
“Andrew is often gone. Such it is with busy gentlemen. Do not diminish your contributions, my dear.” Amelia lifted a shawl and placed it around Charlotte’s arms. “You look lovely. Let us go enjoy the evening.”
She offered her arm to Amelia, and together they left her chamber and descended the stairs. Sir Andrew waited at the bottom, and Charlotte heated as his gaze fell upon her, his expression unreadable. She wondered why he stared at her so intently, suddenly remembering her words to Elizabeth.Gentlemen do not stare because of disapproval. Perhaps he is pleased that I am keeping his grandmother company.She sighed mentally.He certainly does not find me handsome. After all, you can dress up a pig, and it will still be a pig,she thought bitterly. She knew she would never possess the same level of beauty as Elizabeth or even Mary Bennet, but at that moment, for the first time in many, many years, Charlotte wished her features were more pleasing. Shaking off her dismal thoughts and determined to take pleasure in that evening’s events, she smiled brightly as she and Amelia reached the bottom of the staircase.
“Am I to be favored with two such lovely ladies again?” Sir Andrew said, kissing first his grandmother’s hand and then Charlotte’s.
“If you can bear it,” Amelia joked, swatting his arm with her fan. “Has the carriage been called?”
“It is standing ready. Shall we?” He offered the ladies his arms, and they took them. Outside, the carriage waited, pulled by four pure white horses. Charlotte had not seen this team before and wondered if they belonged to Sir Andrew’s.
He helped Amelia into the carriage first before turning to Charlotte. She took his hand, and he caressed her fingers with his thumb as he helped her in. His touch almost caused her to stumble, and she felt great relief when she settled onto the forward-facing seat.
Arriving at Lady Sefton’s, Charlotte had to prevent herself from gaping in complete shock. Never had she experienced such opulence. Lady Catherine’s choices of décor were garish, even if they were expensive. The other private homes where they had attended balls paled in comparison. Here, taste and elegance had not been overtaken by fashion, and the entire effect pleased her greatly.
Lady Sefton greeted her guests politely, and they moved through the line into the ballroom. The floor had been chalked in fantastic designs, and there were so many candles and mirrors in the room that everything glowed. The large ballroom could certainly accommodate the number of guests that Amelia said would be in attendance and Charlotte eagerly watched for anyone she had met at previous functions.
“May I request your first and your supper sets, Miss Lucas?” Sir Andrew said from her left.
Charlotte turned a startled look to the man beside her. “Both, Sir Andrew? Did you mean ‘or?’” Two sets were tantamount to a declaration in town.What can he be thinking?
“I meant precisely what I said, Miss Lucas.” He waited for her answer— that same, unfathomable expression on his countenance.
Swallowing, she nodded, accepting his request. His face split into a wide grin, and he bowed low before striding away.
“He is so very strange,” Amelia said from her side. “Where is he off to?”
Charlotte shrugged. “I am as baffled as you.”
“Wherever he has gone, he had better bring me something to drink.” Amelia grumbled good-naturedly and turned away, beckoning for Charlotte to follow.
Their time before the first set they spent greeting Amelia’s acquaintances. Charlotte did encounter a few ladies from previous events and spoke happily until Sir Andrew came to claim her.
“You look beautiful tonight, Miss Lucas,” he said as they began the movements.
“There is no need to flatter me, sir,” she replied, feeling somewhat testy. “I own a mirror.”
“Do not disparage yourself.” His sharp tone caused her to frown, and the steps of the dance took her away from him, allowing her time to gather her thoughts.
“Why do you criticize yourself so?” he asked when they came together again.
“Sir, you have met Mrs. Collins—formerly Jane Bennet—and her sister, Elizabeth. Believe it or not, there are three other Bennet sisters, all of whom have more beauty than me. I am not offended or hurt by this; nature favored my friends more than me. But your insistence that there is beauty where none exists is ridiculous and unnecessary.”
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” he countered. “I am the beholder, and therefore I declare you to be quite fetching.”
The steps took her away from him again, and she shook her head.Let him flatter as he sees fit,she told herself.There is no harm in it.
They spoke of outings and other pleasant nothings during the rest of the dance, and when the music concluded, he led her off the floor and out to the terrace. It was well-lit and overlooked the gardens of Sefton Manor. He led her to a spot farthest from the door and stood next to her as they gazed out at the formally arranged flowers below them.
“Miss Lucas,” he said after several minutes of silence, “I wish to ask you something, and I am afraid I shall bumble it terribly. As such, I will be simple and to the point. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Charlotte’s head snapped around so that she could look at him. She gaped. The sudden hope she felt became smothered in reality, and she came to the conclusion that he teased her.
