Charlotte saw Dorothea press her lips together and nod with satisfaction.
“Very well. I shall leave you to your thoughts,” Dorothea said. “But, please know how much you are missed downstairs.” Without waiting for a reply, she slipped out the door and closed it softly behind her.
*
Two days later,Charlotte could endure remaining indoors no longer. Still wishing to avoid any of her family, she waited until she saw Reginald ride out on estate affairs and later, her sister and niece depart in the carriage for some purpose—errands or visiting, perhaps.
Knowing she would have a couple of hours at least, Charlotte grabbed a shawl, hurried downstairs, and exited out the back of Haverstone to take a walk in the rose garden.
Strolling around the vibrant rose bushes, she luxuriated in the late summer sun on her face.Freckles be damned, she thought. After walkingaround the entire garden three times, she sat on a bench—the very bench where not long ago Mr. Robert Morton had kissed her and pressed her to elope with him. It now seemed a lifetime ago. What would her life be like had she accepted his offer and gone to Gretna Green that day with him? Would she be happy? He had always at least treated her with kindness and courtesy, even if it was her money he wanted more than her love. Would it have continued so? Perhaps. After all, her enlarged dowry would have been the saving grace of Brentwood estate and surely he would have always felt an obligation to her for that. They might have been happy, and she might have never been the wiser about her deceitful dowry. No. She knew no marriage built on lies could possibly be one of contentment. Robert was now married to the beautiful Miss Phoebe and would likely never think on her again.
“Miss Kendall.”
Charlotte’s eyes flew open at the familiar voice. Before her stood the last person she wished to ever set eyes on again—Mr. Morton.
Chapter Forty-Five
Robert Morton stoodseveral paces back from where Charlotte sat, with a look of expectancy on his face. Charlotte could hardly think what to do. How dare he interrupt her private reverie? Memories of his proposal flooded her with sudden rage, and she clenched her fists as she nearly jumped to her feet.
“What areyoudoing here? I should think you would have the grace and intelligence to know I have no desire to see or speak to you ever again,” she said in a shaking voice. “Please be so kind as to leave Haverstone at once.” When he did not move, Charlotte had no choice but to walk away herself.
“Miss Kendall, I beg you to allow me to speak,” he called after her. “I know I have behaved abominably and a thousand apologies would never be enough to warrant your forgiveness. But, I do not interrupt your solitary time now for my own purposes.”
Charlotte stopped in her tracks and turned back to face him. “I fail to understand you, sir,” she said stiffly. “What is your meaning?”
He took a few steps toward her, halting when she backed away. “Be assured I have no wish to upset you in any way, Miss Kendall. I come to speak on behalf of my brother, Frederick.”
Charlotte’s knees nearly gave way at the mention of her former fiancé’s name, and she quickly returned to the stone bench to sit. As Robert again moved nearer, she held up a hand to stop him. “Whateveryou have to say can have no bearing on my decision. I made a mistake in accepting him. I am sorry that my subsequent refusal may have caused him any pain, but I hope it will be of short duration and that he may one day find happiness with another.”
“Youhavemade a mistake, Miss Kendall, but it was not in accepting my brother. Rather, it was in believing Frederick was anything like me in regards to his motives for making you an offer. I know, thanks to village gossip, that you are now well aware that I was primarily interested in a wife with a generous dowry. I was desperate to save Brentwood from its debt and yes, your coming into the county looking for a husband was most advantageously timed for me. I pursued you and—I am ashamed to say—asked you to elope with me, rather than wait for a church wedding in order to get control of your dowry sooner, rather than later. At the time, it seemed my only solution.”
“And when I left to care for my father you persuaded another to do what I would not.” Charlotte could not keep the bitterness from her voice.
“Yes. I needed the money that quickly. Again, I am not asking forgiveness for my actions. They were reprehensible and not those of a gentleman.” He lifted his eyes skyward and exhaled. “Does it, perhaps, make you feel any better to learn that I am now tied to a woman who is beautiful but without a single, sensible thought in her head? Phoebe and I are not well suited, and I shall likely spend a great deal of time in London while she remains here in the country. I have no doubt that you and I would have been better suited. You are intelligent and thoughtful. We could have had a good marriage. But, there is no point in discussing all that now,” he ended softly.
“No,” Charlotte said fiercely. “There is absolutely no point in it. And, there is no need for you to plead your brother’s case. I cannot trust him or any other man who may make me an offer. In the back of my mind, I shall always wonder whether it was my dowry they truly desired.”
“But, that is exactly why I am here. You believe Frederick to be like me, and I assure you he is not. He never has been. I tell you, Miss Kendall, my little brother has always been the kinder of us two—the more generous, compassionate, and sympathetic. Even as a young boy, he could not abide seeing an animal mistreated or a person bullied or ridiculed. He was tailor-made for the Church. Believe me—he is a good man, and he loves you not for your dowry but for yourself. He returned to Brentwood after speaking to your father, when Mr. Kendall shared the contents of your recent correspondence.” Robert moved to a second bench and sat, leaning forward toward Charlotte and giving her a rueful smile.
“After giving me yet another thorough dressing down for my treatment of you—which, I admit, I completely deserved—he came here to Haverstone to beg to speak to you. But, you did not see him.”
“No. There is nothing he could say that would alter my mind.”
“Is there not? Your fear is that he wants you just for your six thousand pounds. He came to assure your sister and brother of his sincere love for you and to ask them to withdraw their generous addition to your dowry. Frederick does not care for the money. He says he has a good living now at Clayton Parish and merely wishes for you to be his wife to complete his happiness.”
Charlotte stared at Robert. “He refused the dowry? What did my sister and brother say?”
A grimace crossed his face. “Frederick tells me he spoke only to your sister and that she…she declined his request. She said that she believes once you get over your heartache, you will be more than willing to marry some other gentleman who has been paying his addresses to you this summer—someone with an estate and an income far grander than Frederick’s.”
Charlotte threw her hands up and gave a cry of aggravation. “Dorothea said that? I cannot believe it. Well, no—in fact, I can well believe it, Mr. Morton, because she has been determined to have me marryadvantageously and a simple rector is not her idea of such a match.”
“What does your heart say, Miss Kendall?” Robert asked softly. “I believe you accepted my brother because you truly love him and because you know you are well suited to each other. I beg you to reconsider your change of heart and tell Frederick you will have him, after all.”
Charlotte narrowed her eyes at Robert. “You say he is not a fortune hunter, and yet, when he proposed, he did not bring my dowry up or tell me he would refuse it.”
“He told me he intended to do so later, especially if your family objected to the match. But, your father approved wholeheartedly, am I correct?”
“Yes. In fact, it was he who gave the living to your brother so that we would be in close proximity. I believe he hoped it would lead to an offer.”
