The words hung painfully between them.
For one terrible hopeful moment she thought he might refuse.
Please,cross the room and pull me back into your arms and confess that you can not bear my absence. That I matter enough for you to fight for me.
Instead Victor merely stared at her silently before giving one stiff nod.
“If that is what you wish.”
Her heart cracked quietly.
Charlotte forced herself to smile though it trembled at the edges. “Only for a short while.”
“Of course.”
Still he did not stop her.
Victor stood motionless as she walked toward the door, and somehow that hurt worst of all. She paused briefly with her hand upon the handle, waiting desperately for him to say something more.
Anything.
But the silence remained.
So Charlotte quietly left his bedchamber with heartbreak lodged painfully inside her chest, realizing at last that caring for Victor…
might be my undoing.
CHAPTER 27
Charlotte sat upon the floral settee in her uncle’s grand parlor with her hands folded tightly in her lap while her mother embroidered beside the window. Afternoon sunlight spilled across the carpet in pale golden squares, warming the room despite the dreary London drizzle beyond the glass. The quiet felt unnatural without Joan and Penelope bickering over ribbons or Irene sighing over poetry. Charlotte ought to have enjoyed the peace, yet every silent second only made her think of Victor.
What is he thinking? Does he miss me as I miss him?
Harriet glanced up from her embroidery hoop with narrowed eyes. “You have sighed six times in the span of a minute, Charlotte.” She snipped a thread with dramatic precision. “Either you are dreadfully ill or something has occurred with your husband.”
Charlotte straightened immediately and forced a smile that felt painfully brittle upon her face.
“Nothing is wrong, Mother,” she said lightly. “I merely wished to spend several days with you and the girls.”
Harriet gave a sharp hum that plainly announced she believed none of it.
“Mulford Manor is very large, and I thought perhaps I missed the noise of family.”
“My dear, no one willingly misses this family’s noise,” Harriet replied dryly. “Not unless they are hiding from something.”
Charlotte looked away toward the rain-streaked windows.
Harriet leaned closer with growing suspicion. “Has the duke offended you?”
Charlotte nearly answered too quickly. “No.”
“That was far too fast a denial,” Harriet declared. She tossed her embroidery into her lap dramatically. “Good heavens, has he taken a mistress already? Men are intolerable creatures.”
Charlotte choked on a startled laugh despite herself.
“Well, do not sit there smiling, girl; answer me at once.”
“He has done no such thing,” Charlotte said quickly. “Victor has been perfectly honorable.”
