‘Why not?’ she purred.
To his horror he saw that she was sliding her blouse off her shoulders. With a muttered oath he leapt off the bed, wrapping the sheet around himself.
‘Aren’t you tempted to make me yours?’ she asked suggestively.
‘No, I amnot,’ he said. ‘And if your father catches you here, he’ll kill us both.’
‘Not if I tell him you took advantage of me,’ she said spitefully. ‘He’d see that you marry me then. Whether you want to or not.’
He glared at her. ‘When are you going to get it into your head that it’s Charity I love?’
She bounced to her feet, her eyes flashing. ‘And when are you going to get it into your head that she doesn’t want you? She would have come to find you by now if she did, wouldn’t she?’
Taking her arm Luca steered Scarlet towards the door. ‘She’ll come,’ he told her as he showed her out. ‘Now leave me alone.’ And with that he slammed the door on her and her wounded pride.
Furious, Scarlet adjusted her clothes and strode away. But she wasn’t finished yet. She’d make him sorry for the way he’d treated her if it was the last thing she did.
Chapter Fourteen
‘Ihear the horse fair will be over next week,’ Maureen told Charity two weeks later. ‘The Gypsies will be moving on then.’
Charity wasn’t sorry to hear it. She was almost afraid to step out of the door for fear of bumping into one of them. ‘And what about the circus?’
‘I believe they’ll be here for another two weeks.’ Maureen smiled. ‘Tilly and Simon want to go again. They so enjoyed it.’ It had been clear to Charity since being there how much Maureen adored the children. She thought it might be because she had never had children of her own. The week before Maureen’s mother had taken a turn for the worse. It looked unlikely that she was going to recover this time.
Now Maureen glanced at Charity. The poor girl had dark circles beneath her eyes and she knew she wasn’t sleeping well. She wasn’t eating much either.
‘Look, why don’t you wait until the Gypsies have gone and go down to the circus again?’ she suggested. ‘Perhaps your friend hasn’t managed to pass your message on to your young man yet.’
‘I would have thought she’d have had time to see him by now,’ Charity said quietly, remembering how cold Scarlet had been towards her. ‘But I think you’re right. That might be the best thing to do.’
Word reached them that the Gypsies had moved on late the following week. That evening Charity waited until Eddie and the children were in bed and slipped away. It was dark but the darkness held no fear for her. She knew that it would be much later before the circus folk got to their beds. When she reached the wooded area, she could see the men closing down the fair stalls. There was no sign of Luca so she waited. She was rewarded some minutes later when Scarlet appeared. Quickly pulling her shawl about her face Charity hurried over to her.
‘Scarlet.’
Once again, the girl looked surprised to see her. Charity took her arm and drew her into the shadows.
‘Did you manage to give the letter to Luca?’
Scarlet looked uncomfortable.
‘Yes, I did . . . but . . .’ Scarlet lowered her head. ‘Look, there’s no easy way to say this so I may as well just come out with it. The thing is, everything has changed since you ran away.’
‘What do you mean changed?’
Scarlet looked ashamed. ‘It was after you left that Luca and I . . . Well, we realised that we have feelings for each other. I’m so sorry, Charity. We never meant it to happen. But you must see that we’re a better match than you two could ever be. We are both circus folk. Had you two got together it would have caused terrible trouble.’
Shock coursed through Charity as her hand flew to her mouth. She felt as if all the air had been sucked out of her. It couldn’t be true, could it? Luca loved her, she was carrying his baby. And yet one look at Scarlet’s face told her that it must be.
‘Luca and I are betrothed now,’ Scarlet went on and Charity felt as if a dagger had been plunged into her heart. ‘Our people helped us celebrate our betrothal. I couldn’t bring myself to tell you the last time we met. As I said, I’m so sorry. We never meant to hurt you.’
Charity gathered what pride she had left and stood tall. ‘It’s all right,’ she said. ‘I hope you’ll both be very happy.’
For the first time Scarlet felt a flicker of guilt. It was her now who caught Charity’s arm as she turned to leave. ‘What will you do? Will you go back to your people?’
Charity shook her head. ‘No, that is out of the question. They would never accept me back. I have shamed them by refusing to marry the man of their choosing and running away to be with another. But don’t worry, I shall be quite all right. Goodbye, Scarlet. I doubt we will see each other again.’
With her head held high, Charity walked away. It was only when she reached the shelter of the trees that she stopped, and, sinking down onto the grass, she began to cry.
