“He’s looked that way ever since we returned from Scotland. Gerard, would you like an ale?” Jeffrey suggested at his side.
“Aye, I think I need it.”
Jeffrey laughed and passed him a glass of ale from the drinks table. Gerard could practically hear in his ear the way that Charlotte would reprimand him, saying that gentlemen drank claret at evening dinners, not ale, but to his amazement, the Duke of Stotbury showed an interest in the ale.
“May I?” he asked, gesturing toward the drinks.
“Aye, help yerself,” Gerard urged. The Duke of Stotbury returned a few seconds later with the ale in his hand.
Distracted, Gerard looked across the somewhat busy sitting room. He’d invited a few people to this dinner, in the hope of making Charlotte comfortable and creating enough atmosphere that no one would notice when he did manage to take her away for a private conversation.
The Duchess of Stotbury sat with a couple of friends on a settee, though she too seemed to be craning her neck every now and then, looking at the door in search of Charlotte. Mr. Withers was here too, though he was showing particular interest in a young woman by the name of Miss Marianna Bartholomew, and they stood together in the corner of the room.
“She’ll be here,” the Duke of Stotbury said suddenly, calmly taking a sip of his ale.
“Who?” Gerard pretended ignorance.
Jeffrey guffawed with laughter at these words as the Duke of Stotbury smiled at him.
“You and I might not have had chance to get to know one another very well yet, Your Grace, but I know when a man is waiting impatiently for a woman. Trust me, I used to do the same before I married Dorothy.” He inclined his head towardthe Duchess of Stotbury across the room, who was craning her neck once more, looking at the door in search of Charlotte.
When the door opened and the butler announced the next guests to arrive, Gerard found himself riveted to the spot.
Charlotte had walked in, standing between Lord and Lady Winchester. Lady Susan had also come, standing at her sister’s side, though Gerard struggled to spare a glance for her. His gaze was captivated completely by Charlotte, for she was wearing the sage green gown he had purchased for her.
She self-consciously flattened the stomach of the dress, ironing out any creases with her palm, but she didn’t look at Gerard across the room. Instead, she made a beeline for the Duchess of Stotbury and sat down beside her. The two connected hands at once, talking intently together.
“Time for dinner, Gerard?” Jeffrey suggested under his breath after a few minutes.
“Aye.” Gerard cleared his throat and did his duty, following all the lessons Charlotte had ever given him in welcoming his guests and suggesting it was time they went through to the dining room to begin their meal.
As he sat down at the head of the table, he was frustrated to see that Charlotte placed herself as far as was physically possible from him. She sat a great distance across the table, between her mother and the Duchess of Stotbury. She and the duchesscould not stop talking to one another, and Gerard felt a pang of jealousy for her attention that would not go away.
The dinner passed incredibly slowly. Each time Gerard considered a way to try and get Charlotte on her own, he knew it would be too obvious. In fact, it would be impossible to even attempt without causing scandal. No, he was forced to sit at the table and make distracted conversation with his guests around him.
Only when the meal was over did the opportunity to talk to Charlotte present itself. The ladies stood to retire to the duke’s drawing room for coffee as the gentlemen stayed in the dining room, having the opportunity to smoke if they wished. As Gerard watched Charlotte leave the room, he saw she separated herself from the other ladies under the excuse of needing the privy.
Gerard held his breath at the head of the table, waiting a few seconds before he stood up, too.
“Where are you off to?” Jeffrey asked, dealing out the cards that had been gathered for the men to play with.
“I just need to check with me housekeeper that the ladies will be served the coffee promptly.”
“Ha!” Jeffrey laughed warmly. “A true gentleman now, eh?”
“I try.” Gerard shared a laugh with him and hastened from the room. He did indeed bump into Mrs. Phillips in the corridor, butshe already had the coffee in hand, so he did not need to worry. Taking the opportunity, he headed toward the corridor where he knew Charlotte would pass through after she had been to the privy.
He paced up and down, restlessly. Just one candle lit the corridor, the buttery light falling on his path. Repeatedly, he glanced back to the entrance of the corridor, but she did not appear. He was just beginning to think that he had made some awful mistake, that somehow, she had circled back to the drawing room another way when he heard her footsteps.
He turned, just as she entered the corridor. She stumbled to a stop when she saw him, her lips parting. She looked as beautiful as ever in the sage green gown he had bought for her, but what was different was the pallor of her skin. He was used to Charlotte blushing when he looked at her, not this pale color that was so wrong.
“Charlotte –”
“No,” she whispered, though her voice was firm. She walked with purpose down the corridor, trying to get past him.
“I havenae said anythin’ yet.”
“And I do not care to hear what you have to say. If you have come out here in order to catch me alone to speak with me, which is what it very much looks like?—”
