“Soon?” Charlotte blurted before she could stop herself.
Victor glanced down at her with a warning look. “Very soon,” he repeated calmly.
Mrs. Holly stared between them greedily, clearly storing every word away for future gossip. Charlotte felt utterly trapped.
Elizabeth clapped her hands happily. “Oh, splendid.” She turned to Mrs. Holly brightly. “I told everyone Victor would eventually settle down once he found a woman stubborn enough to survive him.”
Victor looked deeply offended. Charlotte nearly laughed despite her rising panic.
“Grandmother,” he drawled.
“It is true,” Elizabeth insisted. “Charlotte argues with you constantly. It is very romantic.”
Mrs. Holly made another scandalized noise. “And now you are sneaking off into libraries together.”
Elizabeth lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Though I do think they were kissing this time.”
Charlotte wanted to die instantly.
“Grandmother,” Victor said sharply.
“What?” Elizabeth blinked innocently. “Charlotte’s hair is all mussed.” Mrs. Holly’s eyes widened in pure horror. Charlotte slapped trembling hands against her hair at once.
Victor closed his eyes briefly as though reconsidering every life choice that had led him to this moment. Then he sighed heavily and offered Charlotte his arm.
“Come along, dear,” he said smoothly. “Before Mrs. Holly combusts entirely because an engaged couple stole a few kisses in the library.”
“I most certainly shall not combust,” Mrs. Holly snapped.
Victor raised one dark brow. “Pity.”
Charlotte nearly laughed aloud. The absurdity of the moment struck her all at once, and she found herself biting her lip to contain the hysterical amusement threatening to escape. Everything had gone so horribly wrong that it almost seemed comical now.
Victor began escorting both women away, Elizabeth happily chatting between them while Mrs. Holly stood staring after them in outrage. Charlotte walked beside him in stunned silence, her mind racing too quickly to settle on any coherent thought. The ballroom noise swelled around them once more, but she barely heard it. All she could hear were Victor’s words.
By marrying her, naturally.
She glanced sideways at him uncertainly. Victor’s expression remained unreadable, though she noticed the tension along his jaw. He looked calm to anyone else observing him, but Charlotte had begun learning the subtle signs beneath his polished exterior.
He is unsettled.
“You cannot simply announce such things,” she whispered urgently once they were out of earshot.
“I just did.”
“Victor…”
His gaze slid toward her lazily. “Would you rather I allowed Mrs. Holly to destroy your reputation…and possibly that of your sisters through association?”
Charlotte opened her mouth, then closed it again. The dreadful truth was that he had protected her and her family. Without his declaration, tonight’s scandal could have ruined her family entirely.
Still, marriage?
Elizabeth smiled blissfully beside them. “I do hope there shall be lemon cake at the wedding breakfast.”
Victor groaned softly under his breath.
Charlotte stared ahead numbly as the reality finally settled over her shoulders like a heavy velvet cloak.
