Page 63 of Unforeseen Affairs
When he reached up to remove his hat, Charlotte was flooded with a powerful urge—a desire to take hold of the lapels of his coat and pull him to her, to push herself into the firmness of his body.
Oh no.This would be even more challenging than she’d anticipated.
She swallowed and turned away, busying herself with straightening a stack of books that were already quite neat.
“Mrs. Stone is in the back room,” she said hurriedly, pausing to clear her throat before adding, “She’s working.”
“Ah.”
More silence. There were only so many ways she could shuffle the books about on the shelf, most of which she had already exhausted.Death and the Afterlife: Eight Evening Lectures on the Summerland, the one in her hand was titled. She’d already read it.
“It need not be different,” he said, his tone hopeful. “Between us, I mean. I’m so sorry, you must understand, Miss Sedley, I never would have thought myself the—”
“Sir Colin,” she cut in, trying to sound firm even as she fought back a smile, “might I beg you, yet again, not to apologize to me?”
She turned to face him and crossed her arms.
His eyes were wide, that look of adorable befuddlement plain on his face.
“At least, if you’ll recall, not for something you’ve already apologized for.”
“Oh.” He nodded slowly. “Right.”
“And besides,” Charlotte lied, “I’ve quite forgotten about it.”
“You have?”
“Of course,” she said breezily, watching him study her with interest.
“Ah, well,” he said with a bit of a forced laugh. “No harm done, then, I suppose.”
Hehad clearly not forgotten.
It was a pleasing realization, one that forced her to take up her polishing once more lest he notice the color rising in her cheeks. This next stage of her plan would be rather interesting, considering the difficulty they both seemed to be having in one another’s presence.
Charlotte might need to amend her thinking about the nature of their relationship.
Especially if they were to travel to Manchester together. Alone.
Her idea was simple enough. She would tell her parents—at quite the last possible minute—that she planned to visit Cousin Marcus at his estate in Lancashire, to be accompanied by Cousin Bess. Her reason, which would not be altogether false, would be her desire to explore the ancient, crumbling, and undoubtedly haunted Methering Manor, where Marcus’s father-in-law lived.Meanwhile, Charlotte would tell Cousin Bess that she only needed her escort to the railway station, and that she would make the train journey alone so as to not take Bess away from the business of Walter’s photography.
Of course, once at the station, Charlotte would meet up with Sir Colin, and the two would take the train to Manchester, where they would finally expose Mr. Bass in front of an audience at one of his shows. Her target was his elongation trick, for he performed it both onstage and during his private sittings; if she could prove it to be an illusion in front of an audience, it would discredit every claim he had ever made that elongating during a séance was a sign of a spirit entering his body.
It was admittedly not the most cunning plan—after all, it would be discovered quite quickly that she had not arrived at her destination in Blackburn, and they would surely face her family’s wrath once found—but she hoped it would buy them the day or two they would need to complete their quest.
As if reading her thoughts, he strode closer, fiddling with his hat as he spoke. “I am still ready and willing, if you are.” He looked everywhere about the shop—at the books, a shelf of glass orbs, a stack of scrying bowls—everywhere but at her. “That is, er, as long as the plan is sound.”
He paused before a rudimentary spirit cabinet and leaned closer, frowning at the contraption.
Charlotte drew in a deep breath and set the rag aside. “Of course the plan is sound.”
“That is, I mean… well.” He drew back from the cabinet and finally looked in her direction. “The last undertaking ended on a bit of a sour note, wouldn’t you say?”
“On account of your actions, or lack thereof.”
He froze, his face twisted in pain.
Charlotte held his gaze. Her heart was as loud as thunder in the silence.
