Turning to her, Charlotte did the only thing she could think of. “I’m sorry, but we’re all out.”
For the rest of the day, Charlotte made marzipan sculptures, sold chocolates at half price, and told lies about what they had run out of if a customer insisted since she had no way of knowing what if anything was in a particular chocolate. It was beyond draining. Edward stayed in the back with Beatrice, presumably learning to do better.
Just in case, however, she stuck her head through the curtain and eyed the two of them. “You’re keeping an eye on the cooking time, Bea?” she asked.
Edward glanced away, his cheeks turning red.
“Yes, sister, don’t worry.”
Charlotte turned around at the sound of the bell again. That was easy for Bea to say. She hadn’t been humiliated by trying to sell burned toffee, and to the palace of all places!
They would have words later in private, without Edward.How could her sister have left him unsupervised to do something so important?And it wasn’t merely Bea’s reputation at stake, it was all of Rare Confectionery’s. Moreover, he must have been allowed to make chocolates unsupervised when he went to Amity’s house recently to train and had returned with box upon box. It seemed both her sisters had taken leave of their senses.
When she realized the time, it was almost four o’clock.Mr. Richardson!She hadn’t even had a chance to tell Beatrice. In fact, expanding the shop had been the farthest thing from her mind all day. And if she gave it more thought, after discovering how quickly things could go wrong, Charlotte might find her feet had grown roots to the floor.
Hurrying into the back room, she announced, “I have to go out. I forgot I had an appointment.” Quickly, she removed her apron as Bea looked up, a frown on her face.
“You can’t be serious. You’ve been worried all day about my getting the toffee finished, and now you’re going to leave us.”
“It’s all done, isn’t it?” Charlotte asked, slipping on her fitted jacket and reaching for her satin hat. Luckily, it tied under her chin and she wouldn’t need pins. “The chocolate just needs to set on the toffee. And it would have been finished earlier if you’d come in before one.”
Her sister looked surprised by her tone, as did Edward, who’d avoided her for hours and could scarcely look her in the eye.
“Sorry, Bea,” Charlotte said, tugging on her gloves. “I know you’ve got other things on your mind now you’re a married woman.”
Bea shook her head. “About that—”
“I have to run,” Charlotte interrupted her. “I have somewhere I ought to be by four, so obviously I’m already late. You heard what I told the customers about the chocolates. Half off and all a surprise!”
Without waiting another instant, she rushed toward the front. “I should be back well before the queen’s footman.”A sentence she never thought she would utter!
Chapter Eleven
Charlotte didn’t mind her parents being gone, but she appreciated having the family’s small staff at hand. She liked hearing noise when she was puttering about in the morning, even though she ate breakfast alone. The following morning, Finley appeared beside her with two missives.
“Thank you,” she said, assuming one was from Charles and the other from her parents. Instead, the first one she scanned had Viola’s name scrawled along the bottom. Seeing it brought everything back. She didn’t want to think of the Evans at all.
“Lionel needs funds desperately,” Viola wrote with little preamble. “From the days when you still counted us among your friends, I hope you will find it in your heart to....”
Charlotte stopped reading, picked up her tea, and drained it, before resuming the presumptuous message of how Lionel had already exhausted every other avenue, including begging his parents.Of all the gall!Truly, it wasn’t Viola’s fault except for extremely bad judgment. Charlotte would help anyone in need, but Lionel had brought it all upon himself and used her sorely. She was not going to fund his self-indulgent lark through Europe.
Should she even respond?Ultimately, she didn’t. Anything she wrote would make her seem mean and miserly unless she told Viola about the special attention Lionel had paid her, leading her to believe his intentions were for a future together.
The second, a crisp envelope with Lord Jeffcoat’s seal, made her stomach twitch with excitement. He’d invited her to a concert the following evening. By the time she’d finished reading it, she’d tamped down her effrontery over Viola’s bold request, and realized the ache resurrected at seeing Lionel’s name had already dissipated. It had been a mere ghost of the sadness she had previously felt. Nothing more. And her heart seemed to be her own again.
She looked forward to what was to come. Even the difficult day before had ended better than it had begun. Although Beatrice had already left the confectionery when Charlotte returned from the notary public, she’d rushed in to find Edward manning the counter. After the last customers left, the queen’s footman had returned, and they were able to sell him the freshly hardened toffee and close up the shop.
Edward had said nothing more about the part he’d played in the disastrous day, but when they started to clean, he spoke up, “I know it was my fault, miss. If I’ve lost my position, I understand.”
Her heart had gone out to him. “No, of course not, but your confectionery should not have been on the shelves until it was perfected.”
He’d hung his head, and Charlotte had dropped the matter.
Twenty-four hours later, she focused on being grateful she had Delia at her disposal as a chaperone. While everyone in the upper class would look down upon a maid as suitable and insist upon a married woman of the same class, Charlotte couldn’t imagine how she could go out with Lord Jeffcoat elsewise. She could hardly ask Amity who rarely left home anymore or Beatrice ... who knew what she was up to?
“You look lovely, my girl,” Delia said in her familiar way. Since she’d been with the family for nearly fifteen years, she felt more like a trusted aunt than a maid.
“Thank you.” Charlotte wore another gown from the previous Season that she’d attended with Beatrice. Her only Season, one she hadn’t thought she’d needed as she’d had her heart set on Lionel. “I hope you don’t mind being kept out late for the concert.”
