Page 12 of Unforeseen Affairs
Her lovely, perfect stepmother, hands folded delicately atop her lap, her dark brows knit with concern. Charlotte could not bear teasing her, any more than she could bear her father’s misguided attempts at matchmaking.
“It’s a spirit circle,” she admitted. “I’ll be assisting Mrs. Stone.”
“Ah,” Susanna replied delicately. “I did not realize Mrs. Stone was accepting invitations again.”
“She was only turning them down temporarily, out of necessity,” Charlotte explained. No one wished to attend a circle with a medium adhering to a strict vinegar bath regimen; the smell was too off-putting. “It was only for the month of February. February brings ill winds.”
“Does it?”
She knew how ridiculous the words sounded, but the stricken look on her stepmother’s face pulled at her heartstrings. Susanna was the first person Charlotte had loved outside of her mother. She’d first been engaged as Charlotte’s governess, until her father had somehow wooed her into becoming his bride. Charlotte would sooner perish than disappoint her.
Perhaps that was what prompted it. Either that or some mysterious, otherworldly force.
“Sir Colin Gearing will be there,” Charlotte added in a rush.
“Oh?” Susanna lifted her head, her brown eyes wide. “The naval hero?”
“He’s not that impressive,” she added, hoping she hadn’t sounded too eager in her attempt to change the subject. “Like any other young man.”
Susanna studied her for a long moment. Charlotte stood stock-still, until finally her stepmother leaned back with another tired sigh.
“Well, if Mrs. Stone is accompanying you, then I agree, best not to trouble Bess with something so… macabre.”
Charlotte then recalled the medium’s exhortation from a few days ago.
“By the way, Mrs. Stone mentioned you should abstain from rich foods.” She shrugged, indicating that she didn’t necessarily have faith in her mentor’s prescriptions. “She recommends barley water.”
“Mrs. Stone spoke of me? Goodness.” Susanna smiled wryly. “And why would that be, do you think?”
“All will be revealed in time,” Charlotte mused.
Walter sat up suddenly, then set to biting at his hindquarters with gusto.
Yes, all would be revealed. She couldn’t help but think of the strange feeling that had come over her so suddenly beforedeparting just as quick. Something was bound to happen. What, though?
Her eyes fell back to the watch fob around her neck.
What indeed.
Chapter Four
“Itisratherexciting,”Alice breathed, her perfect curls quivering about her face. “Don’t you think?”
Miss Alice Pearce looked charmingly girlish, even more so than usual. They’d grown up together, the Pearces and the Gearings, two naval families living on the same street who understood one another inside and out. Alice’s brother, Lieutenant Abdon Pearce—Beaky to his friends—had even been a midshipman with Colin. Colin supposed Alice to be everything a young lady ought to be, and that seemed well enough to him.
“Really? You were rather hesitant yesterday evening. Said you would be terrified if anything out of the ordinary were to happen,” Beaky teased.
They were in the nicest drawing room, the one that ran nearly the whole length of one side of the house. A large, round table that Colin did not recognize had been placed not far from the doors.
“Me?” Alice grinned.
She looked very pretty like that.
“Don’t worry; you shall sit between Colin and me,” her brother reassured her. “No spirits shall be allowed to distress you.”
She gave him a playful swat, which Beaky dodged easily. The two of them shared the same fair coloring and the same large, toothy smile, and while they were both slight of build, they possessed outsized appetites for amusement. As children, Colin had thought them the merriest of companions.
Especially since Bernard had been so much older than him, and far more serious.
