“Given the Iron Duke’s reputation, yes, I do. You have always managed to walk the fine line between scandal and charm, but tonight, there can be no mistakes.”
The smile fell from Edmund’s face. The light dimmed in his eyes. She saw the weight he carried with him. He finished off his glass of champagne and leaned toward her, his voice dropping to a whisper. Nobody would have been able to hear them anyway, but this made it a certainty. When he spoke, his breath was rank with alcohol, and it made her cough.
“If you think I would do anything to jeopardize Mary’s prospects, and indeed the prospects of our family, then you are sorely mistaken. I know you believe that you know far more than the rest of us, but that is not the case. Do you honestly believe that I would want Mary to wallow in debt?”
His words were sharp and cutting.
“I apologize, brother. I did not mean to offend. I just worry about the future of our family.”
Edmund’s expression softened. He placed a hand on Charlotte’s shoulder.
“That’s because you spend too much time thinking about life rather than living it. Perhaps you should take a lesson fromMary. She could have wallowed in all of her grief and despair, but instead, she opened herself to new opportunities, and now, she’s getting married to a man who makes her happy.”
Charlotte could not deny that there was wisdom in his words. “Very well, brother, I shall acquiesce in your knowledge.”
Edmund clapped his hands together, and his customary grin returned. Charlotte wished it were as easy for her to sweep away her misgivings. For her, life was precarious, and their fate was entwined with Mary’s.
She had spoken about it at length with Edmund, so she wasn’t going to bring it up again, but the Iron Duke, Alfred’s older brother, was notorious for his unwavering sense of propriety. Should anything arise that made him doubt Mary’s honor, or the honor of her family, he might forbid the marriage.
“Now, I’m going to do the rounds. Try not to get into any trouble,” he winked as he walked away. Charlotte’s cheeks burned, for she was the last person to allow that to happen.
While she waited for Lydia to finish her conversation, Charlotte looked toward Mary and Alfred, and indeed other couples who attended the ball. Some people happened to fit together as though they were two incomplete halves of the same soul.
Charlotte saw love as a compromise. How much had these people given up to be with each other? Were the rewards truly worth the cost? She couldn’t imagine ever sacrificing any of herself.
“Oh, isn’t this wonderful, sister? I don’t understand why you fail to enjoy occasions like this,” Lydia said as her friend moved on.
“We are just built differently; that’s all. Is there anyone who has caught your eye so far?”
“I’m not sure yet. I think there’s someone over there…” Lydia’s words trailed away as Charlotte spied something that made her blood run cold.
Edmund was deep in conversation with a viscount’s daughter. Charlotte could not recall her name. His head was bent low, and the look in her eyes was one of amorous intent. They laughed together, and it looked for all the world as though they were separated from the rest of the ball.
Charlotte darted her gaze between her brother and her cousin. The two were inextricably linked, and she feared that Edmund’s liberated approach to life might clash with the Iron Duke’s noted principles. His behavior might end up ruining things for poor Mary.
She could not see Mary’s laughter turn to tears.
Not again.
While Lydia continued speaking, and Charlotte nodded along absently, Edmund and this woman with straight black hair seemed to get ever closer, as though they were drawn togetherby invisible strings. A knot of anxiety twisted in Charlotte’s stomach.
Some time passed. Suitors approached Lydia and noted their names on her dance card. A few of them tried to speak to Charlotte, but she was far too preoccupied and brushed them all away.
“You should not be so rude to these men,” Lydia warned.
However, Charlotte doubted she would ever see them again, and she was, in essence, doing them a favor because she could never give them what they wanted. Besides, there were far more important things to consider.
Lydia was having a fine time, accepting invitations from those who wanted to dance with her. Charlotte watched Edmund like a hawk, although there were moments when the crowd shifted in front of her and she lost track of him. She surveyed the crowd and then saw something that made her blood run cold.
To her horror, Edmund followed his companion as she left the ballroom and headed toward a side corridor, a corridor that offered privacy and temptation in equal measure.
Charlotte swallowed hard, fearing that someone might see this and report inappropriate activity. She could almost hear Mary lamenting her fate. She would not allow it to happen.
Lord Gubbins was nearby. Charlotte put on her sweetest smile, which felt uncomfortable as she had to twist her mouth into an unfamiliar position.
“Would you mind watching over Lydia? I must excuse myself for a moment,” she said. Gubbins, ever the gentleman, accepted the task without hesitation.
With a frantic heart, Charlotte followed Edmund’s path, clinging to the shadows and promising to herself that she was only doing this to guard against witnesses. Nobody could have had reason to doubt the family’s honor.
