“I have the estate. I can’t imagine Edmund ever ousting me,” Charlotte replied with a smirk, but Honoria still looked utterly baffled. The wryness fell from Charlotte’s face. “There is more to life than marriage, My Lady.”
Honoria shook her head. “Not for me. Forgive me, but it seems like a brave and reckless path. Even if you succeed in publishing your work, it cannot protect you. It cannot raise children with you. It cannot build a future. It cannot stave off illness. It is so far removed from the life I have been taught to lead.”
“Then we have clearly been taught differently,” Charlotte said, iciness creeping into her voice. She angrily bit into a sandwich, tearing the slices of ham away.
“Tell us more about your home and family, Lady Honoria. I must admit, I am not too familiar with them,” Mary said, swiftly changing the subject. Honoria was all too happy to look away from Charlotte.
Charlotte glowered. Her cheeks burned. The woman was insolent and ignorant, and of course, Charlotte couldn’t say anything to that effect. To insult Nathaniel’s bride would surely be the cause for him to turn her family away and declare them unfit to stand beside the Blackwoods.
Knowing that she often found it difficult to hold her tongue, Charlotte rose and picked up a few apples, intending to feed them to the horses. When Clara realized what Charlotte was doing, she scrambled to her feet and chased after Charlotte.
Clara begged for an apple.
“Be careful. Keep your fingers away from their teeth. They won’t mean to hurt you, but they don’t have full control of their mouths,” Charlotte warned, making sure to keep an eye on Clara.
The horses ate loudly, destroying the apples rather than eating them. Clara took great delight in watching them. Charlotte looked down into the stream and gazed at her own reflection. To Honoria and so many other people, she was an oddity, a failure. She shunned the usual aspirations of society.
But it’s what she felt was right.
“Clara, will you promise me something?” she asked in a soft voice. “And this is a secret.”
Clara nodded enthusiastically, her eyes shining brightly at the prospect of being given the responsibility of a secret.
“I want you to promise me that when you grow up, you will pursue your own interests, and you will have a strong mind. Don’t let other people tell you who you should be or how you should act. Do as you feel is right. That is the most important thing in this world.”
“I will,” Clara said. Charlotte looked down and ruffled Clara’s hair. The girl didn’t understand fully, but she would in time.Since the horses had finished their apples, Charlotte and Clara returned to the picnic.
“…and I hope that I shall meet a suitor during the upcoming Season,” Lydia said.
“That would be wonderful. Then we would have three weddings to celebrate. We are fortunate to be given so much happiness,” Mary replied.
“I’m sure there is a good match for you, Lady Charlotte, but you may need to remain patient. I have waited for a suitable match for three years now. I had some suitors arriving at my door, but my parents did not think they were suitable. Now, they have paired me with His Grace,” Honoria said.
“And what a match you will make,” Mary beamed. “Seeing the two of you dancing last night… it looked as though it was meant to be. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen His Grace dance like that before. You can bring out a side of him that he rarely shows.”
“I shall do whatever he asks of me, and he can act however he wishes,” Honoria replied.
“What if he acts in a way that displeases you?” Charlotte asked. Mary glared at her, but Charlotte arched her eyebrows and bore an innocent expression, as though she hadn’t done anything wrong at all.
“He cannot do anything to displease me. As his wife, it is my duty to find something pleasing in everything he does.”
“Mary, would you please disabuse her of that notion?” Charlotte asked.
“Every marriage is different, and it is up to each couple to find their own way. My Lady,” Mary turned to Honoria, “I am confident that Her Grace would not have chosen you unless she was certain that you would make a good match. Having known her for some time now, I can say with confidence that Her Grace is not prone to making mistakes. You shall make a wonderful duchess.”
Honoria smiled at this.
“I hope so. That is all I want from life,” she replied.
Charlotte was about to open her mouth to ask another challenging question, but this time Lydia rose and asked Charlotte to join her. When they were out of earshot of the picnic, Lydia rounded on Charlotte.
“Do you have to be so antagonistic?”
“I am not being antagonistic. I’m only asking questions,” Charlotte replied indignantly, folding her arms across her chest. Lydia lifted her gaze to the sky.
“You know very well what you’re doing. Just because she disagrees with you doesn’t make her wrong.”
“It’s not so much that she’s wrong; it’s that she hasn’t asked herself the proper questions. You’ve heard her, Lydia; do you really think she’s speaking for herself? It sounds as though she’s just parroting what she’s been told all her life. This is exactly the kind of thing I find distasteful. We are never taught to think for ourselves.”
