Lady Charlene faced her aunt. “It is more than all right, Sarah. It is brilliant. Completely brilliant.” She did not sound happy.
“Are you going to stand here all night?” Mrs.Pettijohn persisted.
Lady Charlene looked to Jack. “Our business is done here, is it not, Mr.Whitridge?”
“It is.” Jack backed down the step. He did not want to take his eyes off her. “I must be going.”
“Thank you, sir.” She hugged the hat to her chest. “This is the most noble, magnificent gesture anyone has ever performed for me.”
“It was a small thing.”
“Not in my eyes.”
No blessing could ever be sweeter.
“What did he do?” Mrs.Pettijohn asked.
“He was kind,” Lady Charlene answered, but the warmth in her voice made him feel like a knight who had won for his ladylove.
“Good night,” Jack said, but he didn’t move.
She did not move, either. They took each other in, drinking their fill in silence—because “they” could never be. There was a sadness in her eyes, in the lift of her chin. A regret.
“I pray your meeting goes well on the morrow,” she said.
May it be worth the cost, he thought.
He turned and walked briskly away.
Char watched Whitridge until he reached the corner and turned out of sight, swallowed by the ever-present evening fog. She marveled at how a moment ago, the world had been exciting, thrilling even, and full of possibility.
They had almost kissed. She could still recall the heat of his body, the scent of it.
And now, with the absence of one person, life had lost that momentary luster.
“Are you all right?” Sarah asked.
Char did not know how to answer that question.
Then again, she did.
She knew what was expected. She filled her lungs with the cold evening air and released it before taking a step inside and rejoining her aunt.
“I’m fine,” she said, and she actually sounded that way. “If you will excuse me, I shall say good night. It has been a long day.” She nodded to Lady Baldwin, who was gently snoring in a chair before the fire in the hearth, her feet propped on a footstool. “Do you need help seeing her to her bed?”
“I can manage.” Sarah took a step close to her, concern in her eyes. “Is something wrong?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I know your moods, Char. You know you can confide in me.”
“I know, Sarah. Nothing is wrong.”
“What are you holding in your arms?”
Char held it out so that she could see the shape of the hat.
“What is it?” Sarah asked, confused.
