She offered him a half smile. “My shawl is perfectly adequate, thank you, Your Grace.” She looked behind her again anxiously. “We should not stay out here for too long.”
He nodded. “Come, this way, it is better if we go over here, behind the hedge.”
She followed him, but he could tell that she was almost out of her mind with anxiety.
“I will not trifle with you. I know that you will want to know what was said between myself and Lord Harry the other night. I am sorry I could not tell you sooner, but you know, I could not write, and I could not visit on the day of a ball…”
“Yes, I know,” she replied, a little impatiently, he thought. It was entirely understandable, though. She wanted him to get on with it.
“I am very sorry to tell you, Miss Hervey, that the man is as much of a wretch as I had suspected.”
She frowned, and a lump formed in his throat, but he knew that he must continue. “He told me that he had never had any intention of honoring his promises to you, that it was all something of a game, and that he was too afraid of what people think to be with you in any proper sense.”
She said nothing, but he saw a single tear sliding down her cheek, and he thought for a moment that his own heart would break at having to see her so sad.
* * *
Charlotte was furious with herself for allowing herself to cry in front of the Duke. What must he think of her? She wiped the tear away angrily and tried to compose herself.
“What else did he say?” she asked in a small voice. “Please, tell me all of it.”
The Duke nodded. “I am sorry to see you so upset,” he said. “Are you sure that you want to hear more?”
“Yes,” she said, a little more assertively. She had to know everything, or she would not be able to move forward.
“I went to meet him at his club, and I fear he had drunk rather too much brandy.”
“I understand, Your Grace. He was frank with you, having had so much to drink, and I beg that you will be frank with me too.”
“Very well,” the Duke agreed. She could see the hesitancy on his face, but he pushed his shoulders back and continued. “He said that he intends to honor his engagement to Miss Thomas. She has some money of her own, which seemed to be important to him. I suspect he may have some debts or be the kind of young man who persistently lives beyond his means.” He paused for a moment and looked at her as if he was checking how she was before going any further. “He said that he liked you very much but that he could not risk exposing himself to the comments of society, due to your family, and what people say about you, and your late mother.”
She felt a pang in her heart at the mention of her mother. How she wished that she were here now to confide in! But she had to handle this alone. She was not even sure she could share all of what he had said with Martha. She would only worry about her sister and about her own future, too – for whatever the ton said about Charlotte, they also said about Martha.
“That is all?” she said, looking at the Duke. He was staring at her intently, those piercing blue eyes seeming to penetrate into her soul.
He nodded. “I am sorry, Charlotte, that I do not bring you better news,” he said. “It seems that our ruse has not worked in the way we had originally planned it.”
“I am not surprised by what you say,” she said, tossing her head back slightly defiantly. She was not sure quite what she felt at this moment; a mixture of sadness, anger and indignance, perhaps.
“You are not?” the Duke replied, sounding a little surprised.
“No,” she replied. “It comes as no shock to me, really, that he does not wish to associate himself with me. Who would, when people say the things that they do about my sister and me?”
“He is a cad for leading you on in such a way,” the Duke said angrily. “I wish I had fought him, now, dammit!”
“Fought him?” Charlotte cried. “What on earth do you mean?”
The duke coughed. “Forgive my language,” he said. “I mean that I wish there was someone to take him to task properly about the dishonorable way he has behaved. It seems deeply unjust that he should get away with it and have the good fortune to marry an eligible young lady like Miss Thomas, who doubtless has no idea what he is really like. And he will squander her fortune on goodness only knows what.”
Charlotte shook her head. “I am afraid that I struggle to pity Miss Thomas. She has everything that my sister and I lack. A fortune of her own, beauty, grace and a good reputation. Of course, he would prefer to marry her, rather than me.” She felt the tears threatening to spill from her eyes again. “I was a fool to believe him.” A sob escaped from her throat, and she scrubbed furiously at her eyes.
“Miss Hervey. Charlotte.” The Duke stepped towards her. “You were not a fool to believe the word of a gentleman. You must not blame yourself. The fault is entirely his.”
“No, I was a fool!” she said hotly. “I should never have believed that he wanted to be with me. Who would want to be with me? I should have known all along that he was not in earnest.”
“Charlotte,” the Duke said again, his voice soft. “You are wrong in what you say.”
“No!” she said again. “I have been ridiculous and exposed myself to the risk of a scandal, and for nothing. I should have known better. My stepmother is right. No one will ever want to marry me.”
