Victor regarded her evenly. “Because I shall give you anything you desire.”
The words settled heavily between them.
Anything… I desire?
Charlotte hated the way her pulse stumbled slightly at the low timbre of his voice. Worse still was the look in his eyes, not mocking this time, but intent in a way that made her suddenly far too aware of the space between them.
“You cannot simply purchase people,” she said carefully.
“No,” he replied. “But arrangements may be mutually beneficial.”
Charlotte turned away from him abruptly, pacing toward the fireplace in an effort to gather her thoughts. This was madness. Entire, complete madness.
And yet… why am I blushing?
No, I cannot give in to this madness.
Her sisters’ faces rose immediately in her mind. Joan laughing too loudly at assemblies because she feared nobody would notice her otherwise. Irene pretending not to care each time another season passed without security. Penelope, wild and restless because nobody knew what future awaited her.
Then there was her mother, exhausted by constant worry.
Charlotte pressed her lips together tightly.
“Name your terms,” he said at last.
I should dismiss him outright.
Instead, the words slipped out before she could reconsider them. “Sponsor my sisters.”
The room fell quiet. Charlotte turned slowly, almost expecting him to laugh.
“Settled,” Victor said.
She blinked. “You would do it?”
“Yes.”
“Truly?” she asked.
Victor looked faintly impatient now. “Miss Brown, I do not make offers lightly.”
Charlotte stared at him in astonishment. “You would sponsor all three of them?”
“If necessary.”
She searched his expression for mockery and found none. Relief hit her so suddenly it nearly weakened her knees. Years of worry, sacrifice, and quiet desperation seemed to loosen their grip upon her chest all at once.
“Oh,” she said softly.
Victor’s expression shifted almost imperceptibly at her reaction. He seemed briefly caught off guard by the sincerity of her gratitude.
“Thank you,” she said quietly. “You cannot imagine what this means to me.”
Something unreadable crossed his face before his usual composure returned. “Then we are agreed?”
Charlotte hesitated only briefly now.
If enduring the Duke of Mulford meant securing her sisters’ futures and ensuring Elizabeth’s comfort, then she could bear it.
