“Wonderful. We just have to come up with a signal for each letter! And the longer words, so it won’t take forever for you to say something likeparsimoniousoraccouterment.”
His eyes widened, though he wasn’t surprised she knew such big words. She was very clever, after all. Still, he couldn’t think of a time when he’d want to use big words. It seemed better just to avoid communication as much as possible.
She didn’t seem to detect his hesitation, though, for she continued, “Oh Ewan, it’s going to be wonderful. You’ll see.”
He swallowed as she kept talking, chattering on and on, waving her hands around in potential finger movements for letters and words. He wasn’t certain anything was going to be wonderful anytime soon. But when he looked at this girl, he found himself believing that maybe, just maybe, it could be one day.
Chapter One
December 1810
“I cannot believe the year is almost over,” Meg, the Duchess of Crestwood, said as she handed over a steaming cup of tea to Charlotte, the Countess of Portsmith.
Charlotte shook away the troubling thoughts swirling in her head and smiled at her old friend. She had been spending the past few weeks with Meg and her new husband and doing her best not to let her emotions be too obvious. “It has been a whirlwind, indeed.”
“James getting married at the beginning of the Season, Simon and I at the end of the summer, everything with Graham and Adelaide so recently.” Meg shook her head. “I’m ready for a bit of calm.”
“You’ve certainly earned it,” Charlotte said. “Though I think your calm may very well mark the beginning of a new storm for me.”
Meg tilted her head. “Your mourning period is over just after Christmas.”
Charlotte looked down at her gown, a deep purple that marked her mourning for her husband. Within days she would be allowed to return to colors. “It’s hard to believe Nathan has been gone a year, but somehow he has.”
Meg worried her lip. “Do you…miss him?”
Charlotte cast a quick glance at her friend. She and Meg had known each other since they were children, and she knew Meg could read a person so quickly it made one’s head spin. Right now she could feel her friend doing just that.
Even if she couldn’t, Charlotte felt no need to lie. At least not to Meg. “You know my marriage to the earl was arranged,” she said with a sigh. “And while there was no misery in our union, we weren’t close. I’m sorry he died—he was too young to have his life cut short—but I…don’tmiss him. My marriage was nothing like yours and Simon’s.”
Meg blushed and her face lit up. “I never thought I could be so happy. At the beginning of this year I was still making my plans with Graham and drowning in regret. Now…”
“Now you are exactly where you are supposed to be.” Charlotte smiled as she took Meg’s hand.
She was so very happy for Meg and Simon, and for James and Emma, and for Graham and Adelaide, too. Due to her mourning, she hadn’t been able to be a part of their love stories, but she had been so pleased to watch from afar, hearing about them though letters.
Of course, that put her own situation in stark contrast.
“Will youreallygo back onto the marriage mart after the new year?” Meg asked.
Charlotte sighed. “Yes, I’m afraid I must. Most of Nathan’s money was part of the entail, and Baldwin doesn’t think I know about his…troubles, but I am aware that he cannot take on a widowed sister as a burden at present.”
Meg tilted her head. “Is Baldwin struggling? He hides everything so well…”
Charlotte pressed her lips together. “Indeed, he does. I just get a sense, that’s all. I’m hoping to confront him about it during our gathering at Ewan’s for Christmas.”
Now Meg sat back, a tiny, smug smile on her face. “Yes, we’ve finally come tothattopic after all this time avoiding it.”
Charlotte turned her head. “What topic? My Christmas plans?”
“Your Christmas plans with the Duke of Donburrow,” Meg corrected.
Charlotte jolted, as she always did when Ewan was referred to by his title. He’d been duke for three years, after a long battle to claim his due, but she still didn’t think of him as such. To her, he would always just be Ewan. The boy with the soulful brown eyes, the shaggy blond hair…the boy who had turned into a tall, strapping man that Charlotte had never been able to keep her eyes off of.
“I have Christmas plans with my brother, my mother and our friends, the Dukes of Tyndale and Donburrow,” Charlotte argued. “A happy little group of friends.”
“Friends,” Meg repeated, drawing the word out. “Does that mean you will make no attempt to confess your true feelings to Ewan?”
Charlotte felt the color exiting her cheeks, drawing down to her throbbing heart. Feelings mobbed her. All the feelings she worked so hard to keep at bay. It never worked, but she did it regardless.
