“You,” she admonished, cocking one eyebrow, “cannot win.”
“But—”
But I,” she interrupted him cheekily, “can.”
He stared at her hard as she covered the remaining distance to the door, walking backward and holding his gaze.
”Tell him, Jules. And mean it.”
She’d asked him to trust her. What could one feisty American girl do that he could not?
After blowing him a soft kiss, she disappeared.
Then again, what couldn’t she do?
Charley had achedwhen she’d walked away from Jules earlier. He’d looked so terribly forlorn. He was determined to marry her—because he wanted to. That thought made her heart nearly burst with joy.
It was all she’d needed to know to set her plan into action.
Back in her chamber again, with Mrs. Crabtree and Daisy, Charley sat down and began writing out a number of notes. As much as she hated to leave details in the hands of others, she wouldn’t be able to do this by herself. Since Jules’ friends had proven willing to assist him in the past, she could only hope they would come through for her tonight.
With Mrs. Crabtree watching her every move, Charley pulled Daisy over to the wardrobe as though discussing various garments and placed one of the missives into her maid’s hand.
“This one goes to Lord Chaswick.” And then she gave her the second one in case Lord Chaswick failed to provide the assistance she needed. “And this one to Lord Greystone.”
Despite Crabtree’s persistent presence, Charley had managed to whisper most of what had happened, and what she wanted to do, and Daisy couldn’t be more excited than if she herself was attending the ball tonight.
She nodded in an exaggerated nonchalant manner, then slipped them into the pocket of her apron. Her maid—turned double agent—then collected a pile of linens as though she needed to make a trip down to laundry and nonchalantly exited the chamber.
It was rather ironic that Daisy could go out alone while Charley wasn’t allowed.
And although Mrs. Crabtree seemed unnecessarily stern, she smiled sympathetically at Charley. “You mustn’t feel too badly. Your father will arrive any day and you can put all of this behind you. I’m sure you’ll be happy to return to your home. It’s always nice to be surrounded by familiar people and places.”
It was also nice to be with the person she loved more than anyone else in the world. The thought astonished her.
Loved.
She pictured Jules in her mind as he’d appeared that morning, seated beside her and declaring that she was more important than the contract his father had signed.
She never could have imagined feeling this way for any man, let alone an Englishman, when she’d first set foot on English soil. Now she couldn’t imagine her life without him.
The thought sent ice coursing through her. Because keeping him was by no means a certainty.
So many things could go wrong.
“Ah, well,” Charley sighed and crossed the room to the large trunk that had sat mostly empty since her arrival. “If I’m to be stuck in here, I might as well entertain myself.” Inside, she located a small box. She nonchalantly opened it, eyed the stack of notes that represented more money than most ever saw in a lifetime, and pushing it aside, removed a deck of cards before closing it again.
“Very good, Miss Jackson. Very good.” Crabtree watched Charley for a while as she shuffled the cards easily and pretended to play a game of solitaire. Only after Daisy returned did the woman return her attention to her knitting, allowing Charley to get serious with her exercises.
If allowed into the game, she’d be forced to use the cards at the table, so she practiced her mucking, which involved keeping cards back that she appeared to be discarding or slipping cards off of the dealer’s discard pile. Onto her lap. Into her sleeve. She’d learned the tricks from her father a very long time ago and had only ever used them for fun.
When the card fell onto the floor for the third time in a row, she cursed under her breath. She had no idea how skilled the players at the table might be. Panic warred with determination until she was interrupted by yet another unexpected visitor.
Bethany smiled painfully as she stepped inside and Daisy closed the door behind her. She clutched her hands in front of her and then, taking a deep breath, rushed forward, taking Charley’s hands in much the same manner Jules had earlier.
“Oh, Charley! Felicity doesn’t evenwantto marry Julian now. She said that before all of this she had thought that she did, but not if he was in love with someone else and now she feels absolutely horrible.” Charley went to speak but Bethany went right on talking, “She told her father this, but he insists he knows what’s best. Oh, poor Westerley.”
“Have you seen him today?”
