“You most certainly are, and you will never receive an opportunity like this again,” Thompson stated firmly. “Luckily for you, Mr. Victor Hawthorn’s family needs my money.”
“Hawthorn?” Charlotte choked. Her face felt suddenly cold. “I cannot marry him. He could have any heiress.”
“True,” her father agreed. “But none are so rich as you or will inherit her father’s entire estate at his death.”
“What have you done?” Charlotte cried, horrified by his actions. “It will never work.” She then quickly reminded herself that a betrothal was not a marriage and there may still be time to undo this debacle.
“It will work because you will make it work.” Her father pounded his fist on the desk. “Need I remind you that you lack anything resembling ladylike grace or skill? Your hair is atrocious, nor is your form one to attract a suitor. I had hoped that you would grow into a beauty by this age, but clearly that will not happen. Your face is not one to which poets would pen sonnets.”
Charlotte had heard his criticisms several times before, and they had grown especially more frequent these past few years. The only one true compliment she had ever received from him was her gift for numbers, arithmetic and investing. Had she been born a son, her father would have been confident leaving his riches in her capable hands. But, he hadn’t wanted a son. He had always wanted a daughter because she could marry a title and thus, complete the one thing left that her father coveted—a title connected to his name.
She just hadn’t turned out to be the daughter he had hoped for and no matter how much he complained, she had no control over what he would change. Her hair was a wild mass of curls that she could not control, she had yet to develop any curves of a woman, and her breasts were nearly non-existent. There was also a mass of freckles across her face that had not lightened with age. One only need look in the mirror to know that she would never be considered pretty, and certainly not beautiful.
“You cannot sing a note, play an instrument or dance. Heaven knows I have hired tutors enough, yet you still lack any ladylike talents or skills. However, what is important is that you are wealthy, and that is why you will one day become a viscountess and my future grandson a titled gentleman. Further, you will do your duty without complaint.” He wagged a finger at her. “You have been a disappointment for fifteen years and you will not disappoint me in this.”
Charlotte grasped the back of a chair to steady herself, afraid she would faint from the shock. She couldn’t believe that her father had arranged for her to marrytheVictor Hawthorn. His family must be in dire straits if Mr. Hawthorn was willing to marry her, sight unseen. “When shall I meet him?” she asked with dread.
“Tomorrow, when you wed,” her father answered triumphantly.
“Tomorrow?” Charlotte squeaked in panic. She wasn’t even given time to get used to the idea or figure a way out of the betrothal.
“We cannot risk him seeing you before then. Hawthorn is honorable enough not to disgrace his family by walking out on his bride. We just want to assure he arrives there.”
Charlotte’s stomach churned and the library seemed to tilt. Of course, in her silly, romantic fantasies, she fell in love and married a man just like Victor Hawthorn and he would love her too. This wasn’t a romantic fantasy, but real life. A gentleman like Hawthorn would only resent and grow to hate her every time she stood next to a beauty of Society.
Charlotte raised her chin and looked her father in the eye. She needed to be strong in her convictions before he ruined two lives. “What if I do not wish to marry him?”
“Are you mad girl? Need I remind you to look in the mirror? No one will ever offer for you.”
“I had other plans for my life.” She rarely stood up to her father, and always regretted it, but this was her future he had just arranged.
He laughed. “What exactly did you plan on doing?”
Father never took her seriously, and continually dismissed her. Charlotte forced down the rage she often experienced but never exhibited, and took a deep, steadying breath. “I planned on becoming a governess.”
“A what?” he practically yelled.
“A governess,” she said once again. “I am intelligent, with an above-average understanding of financial matters, mathematics, and sciences. I speak French and am proficient in literature. I would make a fine governess,” she announced proudly. “You have said several times that my marriage prospects were non-existent.” She lifted her chin a notch higher. “Therefore, I have already planned my own future.”
Her father came to his feet, planted both fists on top of the desk and leaned forward.
Charlotte took a deep breath and continued even though her father looked like he was ready to come over the desk and strangle her. “It is what I intend to do.”
His hand was lightning quick. A blur before the searing sting connected with her cheek, shooting fire from her jaw to her eye.
“How dare you defy me? You will marry Victor Hawthorn if it is the last thing you do. What he does with you after the vows, I do not care, so long as I end up with a grandson.”
Tears flooded her eyes, but Charlotte refused to let them fall and blinked several times.
“Oh, good God. Get out of here before you further disgrace yourself by crying. What is done is done and you should be thankful for your good fortune.”
Charlotte didn’t need to be told twice and ran from the room, choking back the tears, not thinking to take the servant stairs, and practically ran over a couple in the corridor.
Chapter 2
Thedinnerwasastrained affair, without his future wife making an appearance, and Victor escaped to his chamber at the first opportunity. There, he pulled the bottle of brandy that had been packed within his belongings and took a drink as he started to pace. He would either figure a way out of this predicament or he would get good and bloody drunk. Except, with each sip and step, the walls seemed to close in on him. Now he knew what the animals in the menagerie felt like—caged, no longer free and controlled by others.
Crossing to the window, he threw it open and took deep breaths, prepared to weigh his options again when he noted his parents in the garden directly below him, as well as a girl standing on the opposite side and hidden by shrubs. He wasn’t so far up that he couldn’t hear what was being said.
