“We have seen the way you act with each other.”
“Act? We do not act.” Charlotte leaned back, aghast.
“You are like a cat and a dog! One chases, and the other nips back, and then you change roles. And everyone knows that all great love stories begin with chaos.”
“I feel we should defer to our cousin on that matter since she is the only one here who has experience of love,” Charlotte suggested, turning to Mary.
Mary shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
“I can’t say that it happened that way for me,” she began. Charlotte nodded and made a smug sound, arching an eyebrow in Lydia’s direction. However, Mary had not finished. “But that isn’t to say things can’t begin that way.”
“It happens all the time in stories,” Lydia said, clasping her hands together.
“I have told you many times before that we do not live in a story, and sometimes when two people clash, it means they are unsuited for each other, quite the opposite of what you imply.”
“You seemed to gravitate toward each other during the game,” Lydia pointed out. Mary nodded.
Charlotte opened her mouth wide.
“Am I at the heart of some conspiracy? Have you been discussing this matter behind my back?” She glared at her companions in turn. It was Mary who wilted first.
“There was some mention of you both when you went to fetch the ball. You were both taking the game more seriously than the rest of us.”
Charlotte straightened her back and adopted a haughty expression.
“Every game should be taken seriously. It is how you show respect for the game itself and your opponents. Treating things with a lax attitude only shows that you do not care. Frankly, I would be disappointed if the Duke did not display such an attitude.”
“And you matched him every step of the way,” Lydia observed.
Charlotte pinched her dress and spoke in an airy manner, attempting to dismiss the accusations.
“I merely rose to the challenge. Besides, it strikes me that he could do with having his pride pricked. It seems to have swollen beyond all control.”
“You rarely left each other’s side,” Lydia pointed out.
“Edmund and Alfred had one flank, and you two had the other. I hardly had a choice. It was simply a matter of circumstance,” Charlotte replied.
“And you did go in search of the ball together,” Mary added quietly. Lydia added to this with a firm nod, as if it proved their point entirely. Charlotte felt heat rising to her cheeks, which she tried to quell as quickly as possible.
“I was merely trying to be a good guest. The ball rolled a long way. It was challenging to find,” she said, hoping they would not catch the hitch in her voice or detect the way her heartbeat quickened.
There Nathaniel was again, looming in her mind. Just as she felt the chair against her back, so too did she feel his chest, his arms, every endless aspect of him. She sipped her tea and cleared her throat.
“I believe it would serve us better to change the subject. Have you noticed how tense the Dowager Duchess is around Grandmother? I’m not sure Her Grace is all that fond of?—”
Charlotte’s efforts to deflect attention away from her and Nathaniel were futile.
“Come to think of it, he always seems to be around you whenever you are near some kind of trouble. Clara told us about your previous tumble in the garden, and both times, he was close,” Lydia mentioned.
While Charlotte and Nathaniel had not shared details of what happened during their search for the ball, their muddy clothes had been impossible to hide. The others had surmised that a fall had taken place.
“Are you suggesting this is a positive thing? To me, it suggests he could be a bad omen, although I am not prone to superstition,” Charlotte said guardedly.
“I am. I remember the morning after I met Alfred; a rainbow appeared in the sky. It was so beautiful, and it assuaged any doubts I might have had,” Mary said, and the smile that adorned her face was so pure, it might have been mistaken for a rainbow itself.
“He has addressed you more than anyone else as well,” Lydia observed, this time more thoughtfully. She tapped her finger against her lip as though she were figuring out the pieces of a puzzle.
“I’m sure that can’t be true.” Charlotte frowned as she spoke, replaying the group conversations.
