Page 71 of A Lady's Wager
“Do you not like merriment?” Charlotte pressed.
“It has its place, I suppose.”
Her expression fell.
Julian eyed her father, hoping he noticed. Hoping he cared. The earl gave no indication one way or the other.
“Life needs a bit of lightness,” Julian said. “What a drudgery it would be otherwise.”
Charlotte looked to her father, holding his gaze earnestly. “That would be drudgery. It truly would.”
The earl pulled Charlotte’s arm through his. “Lightness is not a failing,” he assured her.
“For some people, Father, it is anecessity.”
He patted her hand and nodded. “It is a pleasure to have seen you again, Mr. Travers. Lord Wesley.” To his daughter, he said, “Let us find a place to sit.”
As she walked away on her father’s arm, Charlotte looked back at Julian, gratitude in her expression.
He bowed, grateful to have helped and heartbroken to watch her walk away.
“WHY DID YOU NOT TELLme Mr. Travers was not to your liking?” Charlotte’s father posed the question over breakfast the next morning, quite without warning.
“He was never to mydisliking,” she said, picking at her toast. “He would be kind to me and … most young ladies would consider themselves fortunate simply to have avoided unkindness. I had not set my sights much higher than that.”
“But youhaveset them on Mr. Vernon?” Her father was sharp. He always had been. She ought to have realized he hadn’t been unaware of her efforts.
“He is a good person,” Charlotte acknowledged. “And he would—”
“Not be unkind?” Father finished for her. “And that is what you were hoping for.”
“I know enough of the world to understand why marriages are contracted, and that the hearts and hopes of those being matched are seldom the topmost consideration. I was attempting to at least avoid misery.”
He looked as though she’d wounded his feelings. “Do you believe I would choose someone who would make you actually miserable?”
“I hoped not, but it has happened before. It has happened inourfamily. Aunt Tottie was so displeased with your father’s choice that she fled London and has steadfastly refused to return ever since.”
“I would never treat you the way he treated her,” Father insisted. “I wish to see you settled as you ought to be, looked out for, cared for, with someone dependable and reliable.”
“Would it be so terrible if that person also had a tenderness for me and I for him?” she asked quietly.
He studied her. “You speak as though you already have someone in mind.”
Truth be told, she did. But she couldn’t imagine her father was ready forthatconfession. “Are you absolutely determined to see me wed by the end of the Season? The speed with which we are approaching this makes it difficult for me to believe that the outcome will be a good one.”
He was clearly empathetic to her concerns, but he did not seem convinced by her arguments. “Even the daughter of an earl runs out of time, dear. Four Seasons is more than most are granted before being seen as a spinster. I would not wish for you to miss out on your opportunity for something more than what your aunt Tottie currently claims.”
“But I do sometimes wonder if I would be more discontented in a marriage that I did not like than I would be if I were unmarried entirely.”
Again, he seemed to understand why she would feel that way but did not give any indication he was softening to her line of thinking.
“You seemed satisfied with Mr. Vernon and Mr. Travers until Lord Wesley began interfering.” Father took a sip of his tea.
“I did not realize until coming to know Lord Wesley better that I could enjoy someone’s company as much as I enjoy his.”
Father set his cup down with a bit of a clang. “He is not suitable.”
“In what way is he not suitable?” She kept her tone conciliatory but also firm. “He has, on many occasions, stood my champion. He is not arrogant like Sir Duncan, and he is able and willing to quell that haughtiness without making the situation worse. He has a title and an estate. We have seen for ourselves that he is making inroads in Society and is being well received.”
