Perhaps marriage might not be the horrific prison I always imagined, if it will simply douse this fire within me.
The thought horrified him enough that he sat upright immediately.
“No,” he muttered aloud to the empty room.
Absolutely not.
He would not lose himself this way. Yet as he finally lay back against the pillows once more, one unbearable truth remained.For the first time in years, Victor Richards desired something he could neither command nor control.
And her name is Charlotte Brown
CHAPTER 13
Charlotte poured tea carefully into Elizabeth’s porcelain cup. “One lump or two, Your Grace?”
Afternoon tea at Mulford Manor was treated with elegance. The long parlor windows stood open to the mild spring air while pale sunlight spilled across polished floors and cream-colored furnishings. A silver tea service gleamed atop the low table between Charlotte and the dowager duchess, accompanied by delicate cakes, thin cucumber sandwiches, buttered crumpets, and sugared biscuits arranged with perfect precision.
“Two,” Elizabeth declared happily. “At my age, one must take joy wherever one finds it.”
Charlotte smiled faintly as she handed over the cup. “A philosophy I greatly admire.”
Elizabeth took a pleased sip before sighing dramatically. “The opera was splendid.”
Charlotte nearly laughed into her own tea.
Splendid? The woman had slept through nearly all of it.
“Yes,” Charlotte replied carefully. “It was certainly… memorable.”
Elizabeth nodded enthusiastically. “Everyone admired Victor and his fiancée terribly.”
Charlotte nearly inhaled tea. She coughed delicately into her napkin while Elizabeth continued entirely unaware.
“It was high time Victor began introducing you properly,” the dowager added. “A gentleman should not hide his future bride away like a state secret.”
Charlotte’s cheeks warmed immediately. The guilt returned unpleasantly at moments like these. Pretending for society’s sake was one thing. Lying directly to Elizabeth felt far worse, particularly when the older woman looked so genuinely delighted.
Charlotte stirred her tea unnecessarily. “Your Grace, you know that… ”
“Oh, hush,” Elizabeth interrupted fondly. “You are both terribly shy about it.”
Charlotte bit back a sigh. Victor was many things. Shy was not among them.
She quickly sought safer ground. “Are you excited for the start of the season?”
The effect was immediate. Elizabeth lit up brightly. “Oh yes.”
Charlotte smiled as the older woman leaned forward eagerly like an excited girl instead of an elderly duchess.
“There shall be balls and musicales and garden parties,” Elizabeth declared. “And your sisters must attend everything.”
Charlotte blinked. “Everything?”
“Certainly. Victor is sponsoring them after all.”
Charlotte froze slightly. “He… told you about that?”
“Of course he did,” Elizabeth said.
