“Mary and Lord Blackwood, for one. When are you going to announce your blessing of their marriage?”
“When the appropriate time arrives.”
“And what of yourself and Lady Honoria? Would a marriage forged with duty rather than love be fulfilling?”
Charlotte expected another testing reply, but instead Nathaniel remained silent. There was a questioning look in his eyes, almost as though he was pondering the same thing himself.
“I suppose this subject is close to your mind tonight because of your companion.”
“Lord Winstanley.”
“I noticed you were dancing with him. I didn’t think you came to these events to dance.”
“He asked. It would have been rude to decline.”
“So, you have found your manners at last.”
Charlotte pressed her lips together tightly and felt the tension rising inside. He was proving himself to be frustrating again, and while she had intended to maintain a neutral air with him, it quickly became impossible.
“You are a fine one to speak of manners, or are we just going to pretend that what happened in town did not happen at all?”
The comment caught Nathaniel off guard. Color rose to his cheeks, and he quickly looked around, as though everyone mightsuddenly turn to them and point their fingers, shouting ‘shame, shame!’. He leaned into Charlotte, so close that she could feel the warmth of his breath.
“How dare you mention that here!”
“How dare you not mention it at all, or were you hoping I would simply forget about it?”
“I…” Nathaniel trailed away, struggling to find the right words.
“Because it is one thing for a reckless woman like me to act like that. People cannot help their natures after all,” she spoke with a hard edge to her voice, playing into the image that Nathaniel clearly seemed to have of her. “So it is even worse that a man like you should commit such a scandalous act.”
“I… I lost myself. It was a moment of madness.”
“How easily you excuse impropriety when it suits you.” Charlotte gave a slight shake of her head. Nathaniel’s brow was a straight line, for he was unused to being tested like this.
“I did not ask you to dance to talk about our… to talk about that,” he corrected himself quickly. Neither of them wanted to mention the word ‘kiss’ lest anyone around them should overhear.
“If you wish to write it off as a mistake, then so be it, but none of us can help our natures, Your Grace, and it seems hypocritical for you to judge everyone else when you fail to live up toyour own standards. I dread to think what Lady Honoria would think.”
Charlotte meant the comment only as an offhand one, but Nathaniel bristled and stopped dancing for a moment. The music continued, however.
“Is that a threat? Do you seek to ruin me? I never took you for a petty person.”
Charlotte flinched.
“What could I possibly gain from threatening you? A little acknowledgement is all I ask, and an explanation. I think it is the least I am owed.”
“I have no explanation to give,” Nathaniel replied quietly. Charlotte sensed a struggle in his words, something unspoken. He glanced around as the people around them began to notice that Nathaniel had stopped dancing. He resumed the motions, and the room began spinning around Charlotte once again.
She looked into his eyes and silently urged him to share his inner thoughts with her. There were depths to the man that she had glimpsed, but he seemed determined to keep them obscured. She parted her lips, ready to try to coax the truth out of him again.
He was not a man who kissed on a whim. Something had driven him to steal a kiss in town, but what had it been? If it was desire, if it was love… she almost dared not think the thought.
Could that ever be a possibility when he was so unwilling to set aside his duty?
“Will you marry him?” Nathaniel asked abruptly.
“Who?”
