“Yes.” Alex straightened his back and lifted his chin, his eyes drawn tight.
Charlotte’s anger threatened to explode out of her. She held Penny’s reins tight, feeling more emboldened toward her brother than she could ever remember. “Christopher, how long will you insist on hating your once best friend? Perhaps you should go ask Walter who saved him from drowning a few weeks ago? It was Alex. He’s not the horrible person you think he is.”
“Don’t you dare try to insert yourself,” Christopher yelled.
Alex’s jaw flexed. “Stop talking to her that way, Chris. It’s high time you started to care about her. You ought to know how much Idocare about her. If you insist on hating me, know that I won’t stop my efforts until I am accepted by at least thedecentpart of your family.”
Charlotte’s heart took strength from his speech. He had said what she’d wanted to and more. She urged Penny’s head between the two of them. “You can’t stop me from trying to see him either.” She inhaled, screwing up her courage. “Alex is a good man, Christopher. Truly. I demand you give him a chance.”
“Alex?” Christopher glared at Charlotte. “Did you just use his Christian name? You hold your tongue. I forbade you weeks ago to ever speakofhim, let alonetohim.” He glared at her and then at Alex and back again. “This meeting was intentional, wasn’t it? How many times have you disobeyed my orders? How often have you seen him?”
Charlotte swallowed, keeping silent as she gazed toward the castle, not daring to look at her brother. She knew she could be stronger if she didn’t look at him, and she needed every bit of courage she had. Her argument for Alex wasn’t supposed to include their clandestine meetings. That would only hurt their case.
“Answer me, Charlotte,” Christopher demanded.
She clenched her teeth. “I have seen him by happenstance a few times. I—” She looked to Alex for strength. His steady eyes gave her what she needed. “I believe it was meant to be.”
She thought back on their conversation today. She had never really believed in God’s hand in her life. But as the breeze blew through the trees, it seemed to bring with it the invisible truth. She was sure now that all the times they’d happened upon each other must mean something. Must beforsomething.
“Don’t speak of such nonsensical notions. Things are nevermeantto be, Charlotte. We control our destiny. And, in this case, it’s high time I control yours.” Her brother’s every syllable demanded exact obedience.
But Charlotte would break free; she would not cower to him.
Christopher’s lips curled into a nasty smile. “Lord Ainscough will be here by tomorrow, and I expect you to be ready for his company. He will not leave without issuing a proposal, I am sure. A proposal, of course, which youwillaccept.”
From the corner of her eye Charlotte saw Alex’s taut form grow uneasy, his hands balled into fists, his shoulders raised and stiff. Charlotte still couldn’t meet Christopher’s gaze—she couldn’t behold the full measure of his wrath.
Christopher turned on Alex. “Don’t let her be so foolish as to come find you. Don’t let her meet up with you, and don’t youdarecome anywhere near us again. If I ever find you two together—and believe me, I’ll be watching—it will be pistols at dawn.” He ran a hand over the satchel on the back of his horse. Charlotte knew her brother always carried a gun on him. She winced as he rose a little higher in his saddle. Had he really just threatened such a thing?
“You know I’d win in a duel, and if you really do care about my sister, think of how she’d feel when you lost. Think of the grief that would cause her. Don’t let it happen, Jenkins. Best to leave forever.”
How could her brother speak that way? Threaten such an outcome? No one dueled anymore, and to threaten it at all made Christopher seem completely mad.
Alex’s face turned to stone. It reminded her of something familiar, and then it came to her: the day her father had cast him out of these very woods all those years ago. Alex’s eyes narrowed, but his posture remained tall. He turned his head toward Christopher. “I wouldneverpresume to control your sister as you attempted today. You’ll see; she will win out in the end.” He shot a purposeful look toward Charlotte, and the smallest bit of hope and encouragement buoyed her anguished soul. But she feared it wouldn’t last. He lifted his hat a fraction and said, “I will bid you good day, like a civilized gentleman.”
“Go, Charlotte.” Christopher gestured up the road. “I will not leave until I know you are on your way.”
This time she was trapped. She couldn’t wait in the shadows to speak with Alex like she’d done nine years ago. Her eyes locked with Alex, and she noted the unmitigated anger in his eyes. Then, suddenly, the storm on his brow smoothed a degree, and his look seemed to melt into resolve, as though he were saying he would not give up, that he’d find a way to come back. She noticed then his weary horse pawing the ground. She offered one taut, sad smile and tried to appear brave, to leave his last glance at her as a memory that she was strong and hopeful.
How had it come to this? Only moments before their lives held so much promise, so much beauty.
Without looking at her brother, she urged Penny up the path, her shoulders drooping, her brave countenance shattering. She hated that she believed Christopher’s words. If anything happened to Alex, she would always blame herself. She knew what Christopher was and what he might do, and she should not subject Alex to any kind of confrontation with him.
When Penny had taken Charlotte close to the castle, Christopher’s horse pulled even with hers and he cleared his throat. “As long as you pretend this never happened, I won’t tell mother. You know she can’t handle much more than she is already responsible for. Tonight—and every moment in the next week—must be perfect. I won’t have my idiotic sister ruining the plans I’ve made for us both.”
Tears threatened to shatter the dam of emotion she’d built against every one of his hateful words, but with determination, she didn’t give in to her tears.
How could he speak as though he hadn’t just ruinedherplans, her life? How long would he go on like this? Too many times she’d been subject to his demands. But she was no longer his pawn. She would not be used as a rung in his ladder to add a title and fame to the family.
Before she could say anything, however, Christopher raised his voice. “And don’t make any plans to go anywhere without a chaperone or one of your brothers. From now on I will personally make sure you are doing and going only where you ought.”
They rode silently all the way into the stables, and once they dismounted, he followed on her heels into the main vestibule. Did he really wish to confine her to the castle grounds like it was a prison until after the ball? As though in silent answer, he hovered near her and turned into the parlor only after he made sure she ascended the stairs. As soon as she entered her room, she collapsed onto the bed.
The dam broke and her resolve shattered and, with it, her future too.
Chapter 24
When another knock sounded atthe door, Charlotte didn’t attempt to lift her aching head from her tear-stained pillow. “Please leave me be,” she called through the folds of the bedclothes. She couldn’t enter the regular world when she had just learned Alex wanted to be with her—protect her, love her—just to have him ripped away from her in an instant.
