I cannot lose you again,he thought, and pulled her closer to him. She did not protest, and when they broke apart from their kiss, he rested his forehead against hers.
“Oh… my,” Charity said, gathering her breath. It was as though she was just realizing what had occurred between them.
“Did you wish to take it back?” he asked, immediately curious. The last thing he wanted was for her to regret kissing him, though it had not seemed like that. Still, it was hard to tell.
“Take what… the kiss, you mean?” she said, and Duncan looked down to see her cheeks burning as she said the word. He could not help but smile at just how adorable he found the sight to be.
“Yes, I do not think you would want to take your uncle’s arrest back,” he said and kept watching her.
Charity took a step back and began to look around the room.
“I don’t think anyone saw,” Duncan said, understanding the look of worry in her eyes. In society, it was a woman who had more to lose when it came to her reputation.
And even if they did, it does not matter. Because we are to marry.
Duncan did not say those words out loud because he realized that perhaps that did not hold true anymore. Now that her unclewas out of the picture, she no longer had to marry him to protect herself.
“What are you thinking?” Charity asked, observing him now.
“I am thinking you should sit down,” Duncan said, keeping his tone practical. “Your legs are shaking.”
“They are not,” Charity said.
“Charity,” he warned. “Sit down, and get yourself a drink of water. I will take care of everything else.”
She looked at him, and then towards the altar where not too long ago the two of them were about to take their vows. No one made any attempts to move towards it, and with constables still lingering outside the estate, it was perhaps decided that the wedding… for the time being…had been called off.
“Please, have another sip of water,” Alethea pushed the glass in front of Charity’s face, who politely shook her head.
“I am fine, please,” she said. Her friends had brought her back inside the estate, and they were inside of her bedchambers. Towards the door, Matilda and Augusta lingered with worried expressions. “It’s fine now, let’s not worry anymore.”
Augusta took a few steps towards her sister, hesitantly, “Are you certain about that? I did not expect Uncle to show up and make such a mess, though I suppose this is not out of character for him to do so. Of course, he could not stand the idea of you marrying someone who was not Robert.”
As Augusta was narrating the events back, it felt as though it related to someone else entirely. It did not feel as though Charity had just lived through what she had.
“I still cannot believe that this happened,” she admitted quietly to Temperance, who was the closest to her in terms of proximity.
“That’s because you are in shock, dear,” Temperance took her hands into her own, and squeezed them gently. “I do not blame you, for if it was me in your position I would have been a sobbing mess. You’re handling it a lot better, considering that you were interrupted so rudely on your own wedding day.”
“That’s the part that I’m still trying to wrap my head around,” Charity admitted.
“I beg your pardon?” Temperance raised an eyebrow in surprise. “The wedding, you mean?”
Charity nodded, biting on her lip. She had gotten so close to being married to Duncan, and then it did not happen. Her fingers round her rosary again, looking for relief.
“You don’t think…” she started, hesitating. Temperance gave her an expression of encouragement. “Well, it sounds rather silly when I say it out loud. But you don’t think… that the interruption was a sign?”
“A sign for what?” Temperance knitted her eyebrows together.
“A sign that our wedding should not take place.”
Temperance gave Charity a look as though she had gone crazy, “surely you do not believe in such superstition.”
“My life has been so absurd as of late that I’m wondering if I should start,” Charity sighed. In earnest, her mind was all over the place. “Maybe I will have some more water,” she said, louder so that Alethea could listen.
“Yes, of course,” Alethea had furnished a glass of water immediately and offered it to Charity. “I think it would be good for you to rest as well. Are we bothering you in any way?”
Charity shook her head, “No, it’s fine. But Matilda and Augusta, why don’t you get changed and get ready for bed?”
