Charlotte shook her head. She had thought of that already, but she wished she didn’t feel so thrown into Lord Ainscough’s path. At times their interactions felt contrived. She tried to put on a good face but wished their relationship could grow organically.
“And Lord Westcott’s cousin is Lydia,” Christopher continued to goad her. He seemed no longer afraid of the potatoes, because he was inhaling them with great speed in between his infuriating comments. After another swallow, he added, “You’d all be related and so well connected.”
Charlotte fought against the urge to groan. This was too much. He was too much. This awful side of him always came out around her, when he didn’t have to act his part in Society. She pushed away from the table. “If you are so interested in connections and titles and money, why don’t you marry Lydia and situate yourself as well as you please?”
Christopher scoffed. “Oh no. Lydia is a nice girl, and her mother is someone of merit, but her father was not titled and not very rich. And her mother’s second husband is a naval officer. That’s like picking one of a dozen apples on any given tree, as far as I am concerned. I would like to marry at least the daughter of an earl.”
Had he really just likened marriage to apple picking? Didn’t he realize he’d marry a woman, not a commodity? His sentiment disgusted her. “Might I remind you thatyouaren’t titled?”
Christopher donned his bravado. “But I amveryrich. And I will own a castle one day.”
“And that makes it so you can marry whomever you please?” she challenged further.
“I am working on leads in that direction as we speak.” He wiped his hands on his napkin. “She will be whomever I deem worthy.”
“Then, I can do the same, can I not?”
Christopher laughed. “Oh no, sister. That is where we differ. You might deem someone worthy who wasn’t titled, andthatwouldn’t do. I would never make that mistake. You must marry well, and that person must be approved. Father and Mother made me promise that while they were in India, I would assist you in finding a husband, and I assure them in every letter that I will not allow you to settle for anyone without a title. We are in the business of elevating our station, are we not?”
“That’s all this is, then?” Her voice was shrill and high. “A business?” She had heard enough, but her rebuttal had spilled out before she’d had the good sense to leave. Why did he always treat her like she knew nothing and was capable of nothing?
“See it however you want.” He tugged at his shirtsleeves. “Lord Ainscough is a kind, good man, in addition to his possessing a title. He seems very taken with you, and you apparently are so taken with him that you are already having shirts made for him.” He laughed at his little joke.
Charlotte glared at him, stood, and left, wishing she’d personally dipped the shirt in ink for Christopher rather than had it made for Lord Ainscough. She hated that he tried to make everything—even a shirt—fit into his scheme of what her perfect future looked like.
Chapter 11
At the end of May,Alex found himself on an evening train to London. He ought to be sleeping on the long journey, but he could do nothing of the sort.
Tomorrow he’d meet with Lord Ashley at ten in the morning—promptness expected, the letter had specified. Agitated, he brushed his hand over the leather exterior of his journal. Here he’d diagrammed his ideas and prayed they would not be found lacking. When he finally arrived at the inn near the center of Town, he tried once again to sleep but endured a restless night.
The next morning Alex headed toward the finer streets of London a full hour early. Feats of engineering and manpower, structural giants, and the city’s organization surrounded him, causing him to marvel. How many great minds had worked together to build the infrastructure of such a place? Couldn’t this brilliance be harnessed in the mines? They needed so much improvement, not just more cheap labor.
He made it to the Home Office with ideas of grandeur and possibility buoying his morale. Finally he arrived at the location Lord Ashley had given. At ten minutes to the hour Alex couldn’t wait any longer and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” a deep voice bellowed. When Alex entered, the man inside the office stood, appraised him from head to toe, and bowed his head. “I told you not to be late, and here you are, early.”
“Yes, my lord.” Alex clutched tight the notebook in his hands to mask how much they shook.
“Very good. Do be seated.” Lord Ashley gestured to a chair across from his desk and then took his place. He wore his hair long at the sides of his cheeks, and his mouth pulled into a slight smile. “Your letter surprised me,” he started.
Alex wondered if he meant it in a good or bad way.
“The way you expressed your concerns about the conditions in your mines was eloquent and articulate.” He pulled a paper out from his desk and tapped it with his hand. “I know very few miners with the ability to craft such a letter.” He scanned the paper. “You don’t exactly look like a miner either.” He raised an eyebrow in question and leaned back in his chair.
When the man said no more, Alex cleared his throat. “I suppose you could say I’ve retired from the worst of it.” He knew His Lordship to be of the religious sort, so he added, “Or, more likely, I’ve been spared the worst of it by the hand of God.”
“Is that right?” Lord Ashley questioned. “Tell me of your past.”
Alex’s throat tightened. He never relished recounting the details of his life to anyone, let alone a man as high ranking as the one before him. “My lord, I do not wish to offend your sensibilities, and it is such a base existence, you don’t—”
“Nonsense.” His voice sizzled low and serious. “Before the bill was passed in ’42, I went into a mine shaft myself.”
Alex’s eyes grew wide, his esteem for the man increasing.
Lord Ashley leaned forward. “I cannot talk further of solutions until I know where you have come from.”
That sentiment and the unease Alex experienced then reminded him of his conversation with Charlotte Roylance a month ago, when she’d pressed him about the mines, but he pushed her from his thoughts. This was different. This man already knew of the horrors and wished to know more information for a purpose. A cause, Alex hoped, they could join in together.
