Page 53 of To Woo a Wicked Widow

“Yes. He is such a kind man, with such charming manners. I do wish now I had danced with him at the house party, although I suspect I shall have another chance shortly.” Georgina sat back, a satisfied smile on her face.

“You do?” A sense of foreboding gripped Charlotte with icy fingers.

“Why, yes. Don’t you plan to have dancing at your upcoming party?” The girl cocked her head, as if puzzled, but a twinkle of mischief showed clearly in her eyes.

“Of course I do. Georgie . . .” Oh, drat it. At this point, her nerves stretched tighter than a violin string, she didn’t care about propriety. “Did Lord Wrotham . . . ask you something?”

“Oh, yes. I meant to tell you.” Georgie leaned toward her.

Charlotte steeled herself for the blow.

“He asked me about you.”

Charlotte stared at her, relief cascading through her. “He did?”

“Yes, just before he asked me to marry him.”

“What?” Her blood froze in her veins. She stared into her friend’s smiling face and simply wanted to die.

“It wasn’t the grand romantic gesture Isaac made, going down on one knee and bringing me flowers, but it was a proposal.” Georgie’s face lit up at the fond memory.

“So I am to wish you happy, Georgie?” Numb all over, Charlotte wasn’t quite sure what to say. She didn’t want to accept what she’d just heard, but she had no choice. Lord Wrotham had taken her at her word and found another woman to be his wife.

“Oh, no, I didn’t accept him, Charlotte.” Georgie shook her head, her red ringlets bobbing beside her face. “I simply couldn’t do that.”

Warmth flooded Charlotte’s cold body, as though the sun had come out radiantly after days of snow and ice. She gasped and covered her face, fighting tears. After a few breaths to steady herself, Charlotte recovered enough to ask, “Why not, Georgie?”

“Because, my dear, I don’t love him.” She grasped Charlotte’s hands. “I am not unaware of the honor it would be to become the Countess of Wrotham. And I confess I did consider it during the house party.”

Charlotte nodded. “I suspected as much. You seemed to get on well with Lord Wrotham.”

“Jemmy broached it to me. He made me see how good a match it would be. He even hinted that it might reconcile me with Father.” She smiled wistfully. “Lord Wrotham is a very amiable gentleman. He looked out for me at The Bull, helped me be part of the conversation.”

“You were flirting shamelessly with him, Georgie.”

Her trilling little laugh filled the room. “I did, didn’t I?” She sounded quite proud of it. “Quite astonishingly, he made me want to have fun again. Something I never thought I’d do after Isaac died.” Her face sobered and a fierce light shone in her eyes. “But I had true love in my first marriage. I’ll not settle for less the second time.” She patted her lips, laid her napkin down, and rose. “I must write to Jemmy. He will be disappointed, I fear, but he will understand when I explain it to him.”

“How did Lord Wrotham take your refusal?” Charlotte folded her napkin, carefully keeping her eyes down.

“He seemed a bit confused,” she said, frowning at the memory. “As if he didn’t think he’d heard me correctly. Then I told him I understood the great honor he bestowed upon me by asking me, but I thought it would be a mistake.”

Charlotte’s head came up. Georgie had mettle she’d never dreamed of.

“He didn’t protest at all.” She smiled straight at Charlotte. “I believe he knew I was right.”

After Georgie left, Charlotte stayed at the table, her head spinning with her friend’s story. She needed to confront the earl immediately. He had meant it when he said he wanted a wife. If she didn’t act fast, she might find he had already asked yet another woman, although she could think of no reason for such haste on his part. Still, if she wanted to secure Lord Wrotham, she had best do it now.

Did she want to secure him? The outrageous thumping of her heart when she had thought him betrothed to Georgie told her she had already made her choice. Her interest in him, which had begun that night at Almack’s, had grown stealthily over the ensuing weeks and months. His admission to saving Edward, if nothing else, would make her esteem him above all other men. His manner toward her during the house party had persuaded her that he might have similar feelings for her. Of course, their encounter in the library left no doubt whatsoever of his attraction and his intentions. A pity he would consider nothing other than marriage, but if the man was bound and determined to have her as his wife, she would renounce her independence. And perhaps be happy at last.

Contentment flowed through her like a river of joy. She would go now. An urgency swept through her, a desire to see him again, to touch and hold him before she lost him. The sensible thing would be to send a footman to Wrotham Hall, requesting him to call on her. Her stomach twisted at the thought of waiting even an hour. No, she must do something. Go to him, pursue him. Her last act of freedom.

A scandalous proposition for her to visit a bachelor household unaccompanied, but a necessity in this case. She wanted him to herself, without a companion in tow. If she went on horseback rather than in the carriage, she could go to him and return with no one the wiser.

Both Rose and Georgina would try to dissuade her from this rash action, so she must employ stealth. Her next problems, therefore, would be how to change into her riding habit and escape the house and stables undetected. She would address those obstacles first. Planning her capitulation to Lord Wrotham could wait until she was underway.

* * *

Contrary to her expectations, donning her black wool riding habit undetected had been simple. She had summoned Rose, who had assisted Charlotte with her gown, and told the maid she would be riding alone in the park.