Page 115 of The Duke's Forbidden Bride
“Do not fret? Do notfret?! You are unwed, Charlotte! Do you know how terrible it makes me look when you wander the streets at night? How I worried? Even Lord Avington was concerned.”
“Oh, Aunt Katherine,please. Please do not start. I am twenty; I am no longer a child who has jumped out of her window again.”
“You used to jump out of your window?” Theodore asked with a smirk.
“Indeed,” Charlotte answered. “I was certain I could find my way back to Everdawn.”
Eleanor’s heart stuttered at the innocent sadness of such a thing, but she was quickly distracted by Lady Montagu drawing closer.
“You ought to know better, Your Grace,” Lady Montagu chastised. “You do not need a chaperone, but Charlotte does. Do not tell me you were searching for my reckless nephew.”
“No,” Eleanor said defensively. “No, we were not.”
“Then where were you?”
Eleanor and Charlotte exchanged a glance.
“It does not matter!” Charlotte insisted. “We are home and safe. Heavens, can everybody stop thinking that the world will end if little, defenseless Charlotte is left unattended? I am a grown woman who can make her own decisions about where she goes, who she goes with, and what she discusses!”
Her cry came out passionately, silencing the room.
“Charlotte,” Eleanor said gently. “Your aunt is only looking out for you. She is right, I should have thought it over.”
“I am not your responsibility! I am not a child. Goodness, why is everybody claiming to be responsible for me when I have my own life?” Charlotte backed away, shaking her head, annoyed but not angry with her friend.
She scowled at them once more before storming off, announcing she was going to the library, for books were far better company than her scolding aunt.
“Perhaps I ought to go after her,” Theodore suggested rather quickly. Eleanor eyed him suspiciously. “It seems I am the only one here who has not made a decision for her. That seems a rather touchy subject at present.”
Before anybody could refuse him, he dashed off.
The minutes ticked by, and Eleanor thought about apologizing to Lady Montagu, but in the end, she muttered something about seeking out Charlotte to make sure she was not flinging accusations at poor Theodore.
But when she ventured into the library, the sight that greeted her stopped her short.
“Oh!” She stumbled across the threshold, immediately turning her back on the embracing couple. “I did not see a thing! Not one thing!”
“Yes, you did,” Charlotte sighed. “Come in.”
Eleanor slowly turned back, unable to keep her smile off her mouth despite everything. For she had caught Theodore embracing Charlotte, his mouth lowering to hers, but not quite making contact yet. Sheknewshe had sensed something brewing between them.
“Perhaps somebody might explain,” she teased, “for it seems you have secrets of your own, Charlotte.”
But before her friend could answer, a scream tore through the townhouse, making Eleanor freeze.
She sprang back into action, the three of them running for the parlor. Just as they entered, the windows smashed through, stones thrown to break a way in, and she screamed. One of the stones was on the floor by Lady Montagu’s body.
Eleanor’s stomach churned.
No less than six masked faces emerged from the shadows and stalked into the parlor. She could not discern any features, their all-black attire covering them.
They quickly gained on them, but Theodore threw himself in front of Eleanor and Charlotte.
“Stay back!” he yelled. “Stay away from them.”
But the masked men did not speak. One of them stepped forward, huffing a breath as he drew a pistol and pointed it right at Theodore.
“Lord Avington!” Charlotte cried, trying to reach for him.
