“Let her stew for a while,” he said. “She won’t listen to reason right now.” Charlotte’s face softened, and Arthur let go. “I know from experience.”
Charlotte’s eyes fell to the floor, and Arthur’s stomach twisted. He knew that Charlotte was blaming herself right now. But none of this was her fault. Even if she had been “busy,” whatever that meant. Emma wasn’t little anymore. And, in some ways, Emma was right. Women were working outside the home more often, sometimes even choosing not to marry. Some might say that Charlotte was one of them. He wasn’t so sure that they’d be wrong, either.
After a moment, Charlotte seemed to collect herself.
“Would you like for me to brew both of us some tea?” she asked.
Arthur smiled wryly. “Can it have whiskey in it?” he asked, though he was mostly kidding.
“If you insist,” she said, now smiling a little in return.
“Really?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“If you’d like.”
“Then,yes,” he said emphatically. “In fact, after that confrontation, Irequireit.”
Charlotte laughed. “Alright, then, I shall have some too. Unless you object?”
“I will object more if you refuse it,” Arthur replied.
Charlotte turned to fetch the kettle while Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God the two of them could carry on like this, likefriends, even though only moments before, tensions had been high and both of them had been so upset. Truthfully, Arthur stillwasa little upset. Probably Charlotte was as well. But they would work through this together, like they always did. Had Ella been here, she would have been proud of them both.
Once Charlotte had finished preparing the whiskey-tea (which required multiple spoonfuls of honey to be made palatable), thetwo of them took their cups into the front room and sat on the couch together. After a few sips, Arthur crossed one of his legs and relaxed, the stress from earlier finally fading a little.
“Before we revisit the topic of Emma’s impromptu trip to her friend’s house, I have to tell you about my own shameless behavior today.”
“Oh?”
“Charlotte, I spent the entirety of my lesson trying to woo Mr. O’Connor.”
Scandalized, Charlotte recoiled and sucked in a breath. Arthur chuckled.
“Nothing happened,” he said. “Not for my lack of trying, though.”
Charlotte, seemingly recovering from the slight shock of Arthur’s confession, smiled a pitying smile and shook her head.
“Perhaps, then, you should leave poor Mr. O’Connor alone?”
“Well, Iwould, but I know he’s interested in me, too. I can feel it.”
“Can you now?” Charlotte teased. “Are you sure it’s not all in your head?”
“Positive,” Arthur said before reconsidering. “Mostlypositive.”
“Arthur, he could ruin you.”
“Nonsense. I ruined myself before Emma was even born.”
“Yes, and ever since you and Ella were married, you’ve been working hard to change how the people in our circle see you.”
“But he’s only a typesetter. He’s not exactly an influential person.”
“Arthur, that’s a horrible thing to say,” Charlotte said, leveling a look. “Besides, it’s not even true. Do you really think that you’d be untouched by those sorts of rumors, regardless of from where they originated? He’s one of youremployees. Think of how it would look.”
Ugh,whydid Charlotte have to have a point?
Groaning, Arthur hung his head. “Dammit, you’re right. Iknowyou’re right. But Iswearhe’s interested in me as well. I’m not so obtuse as to not be able to recognize the signs. And, if heis, in fact,interested, then I can’t imagine he’d want to ruin me. I know haven’t hadmanycourtships, but—”
