Page 57 of Always the Chaperone

She looked up and saw Lady Romeril. “Her ladyship is not hailing me. Can you not see Miss Worsley over there? She is back in town.”

Had it been a month since they had first met? His conduct toward her had always been honorable, even when he had been seducing her. She had heard nothing bad about him from anyone in society, not really. And he had been within moments of proposing…

Charlotte shivered. “We had better circulate, and separately if we do not want the gossips of the world to talk.”

“Let them talk,” William said with a grin. “I care not what they say about us.”

She shook her head. “You may not, but I do. I will take a turn about the room and meet you back here in twenty minutes.”

Without waiting for his response, she allowed herself to join the gentle flow around the room. It was impossible to explain to him how exhilarating his intensity was. After giving up the hope of marriage, to have it suddenly thrust upon her…

It was overwhelming.

“Ah, Lady Charlotte!”

It was Miss Seton, and she was bearing down on her like a fox on the hunt, ignoring those whose paths she interrupted, her eyes firmly set on Charlotte.

“Miss Seton,” Charlotte said, dropping into a curtsey.

The lady followed suit and immediately said, “Dear Lord, am I glad to have come across you here, for I did not know which rooms you had taken this Season and ’tis so difficult to find out how to send a letter without direction! And how are you, Lady Charlotte?”

Charlotte opened her mouth to respond, but Miss Seton was too hasty for her.

“I must ask you, before you are swept away by this tide of people,” falling into step with her, “whether you are engaged next Thursday evening?”

Charlotte felt a slow swell of happiness. It had been weeks since any of her acquaintances had engaged her company for the evening. This was truly a good day.

“I believe I am unengaged for Thursday,” she replied.

“Thank heavens!” Miss Seton’s loud exclamation drew the notice of those around them. “I had been tearing my hair out, Lady Charlotte, but as soon as I saw you, I thought it would all come right, and now the table is complete!”

Charlotte smiled at Miss Seton’s enthusiasm. “I presume this is a dining engagement?”

“Oh, Lord, yes. I had two baronets and Lady Romeril, of course, and the three Belcher brothers, which left me unbalanced, you see,” explained Miss Seton breezily. “And with Miss Marnion being courted by the younger Belcher, I simply had to have a chaperone at the table to even the numbers and to ensure Miss Marnion’s protection. Seven o’clock then, this Thursday, my rooms—I’m in Grosvenor Square. Good day, Lady Charlotte!”

Without another word, Miss Seton stepped away into the stream of people.

Charlotte’s shoulders slumped. She should have guessed.Of course, Miss Seton does not wish her to attend on her own merit. She does not want to hear Charlotte’s opinion on art or music. She does not want the pleasure of seeing Charlotte dance or hear her sing.

Her merit was as chaperone, the world’s only view of her: a rather convenient spinster.

She reached the other end of the room and obediently followed the flow to turn around the room.

As Charlotte allowed the chatter of the room to wash over her, she tried to imagine being married to William—being married at all.

It was impossible. She had never been this close to marriage in her entire life, and as she had told William what felt like a lifetime ago, her only experience of marriage—her parents—was hardly a shining example.

She could have stayed at Stonehaven Lacey with Richard and Tabitha. It would certainly have been awkward at the beginning, to be sure, but after a while, they would have all become accustomed to each other, then perhaps she could have seen what a genuine marriage looks like.

A meeting of minds and hearts. A balance of opinions and passions. What it was to care for someone and be cared for in return.

Charlotte smiled despite herself. Instead, she had returned to Bath and discovered a gentleman who was ready to look past everything, her age, her reticence to be drawn into conversation with him, her innocence, and distrust.

Her wandering eyes caught sight of a tall man with sharp blue eyes.

William was walking in the opposite direction, and Charlotte’s breath caught. The sight of him, tall and handsome, elegantly dressed and with so much energy, so much charisma, the dampness of the rain still apparent in his hair…

His eyes caught hers. Without looking at those whom he pushed past, he began walking straight toward her, ignoring the affronted murmurs around him.