Page 2 of Under the Seductive Ladys Charm
“You should go and find it then.” Charlotte tried to keep the irritation out of her voice as Roger dashed from the room. She sighed heavily. All she really wanted to do was take a nap, but she heard one of the children scream and she trudged toward the uproar.
The other three children seemed to be lost in mirth, punctuated by ear-splitting shrieks as they dashed up and down the stairs. “Stop that or you will fall,” Charlotte said as she caught sight of the children.
The children burst into giggles and all took off in different directions, up the stairs and out of the front door.
Charlotte leaned against the railing at the base of the stairs. She turned on her heel and went out the back door. The room that she shared with two of the children was no place of solitude. Charlotte walked the path toward the gardener’s shed.
There had not been a dedicated gardener in some time and the chores were left to Charlotte and the oldest children mostly. The inside of the shed was dark and inviting. Charlotte shut herself inside and sank down on a little stool that was set to one side near a workbench.
Ever since Charlotte’s father had died, the only thing that kept her going was the idea that when her brother returned, she would move with him away from here. Her dream of an escape died with Charles, and Charlotte had only this shed, a shed that was not even hers by rights. She allowed herself to cry quietly, but she would not let herself wallow. After a few moments of weakness, she drew in a shaky breath and dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief.
She would go and see the children. Charlotte left the shed and her grief there. It would do no good to allow it to take over. She had things to do.
Mrs. Wilson was waiting for her at the back door. “There you are,” she said with quiet concern. “I have given some thought to your predicament.”
“That is kind of you.” Charlotte slipped past the woman into the house.
Dot, now reunited with her ragged doll, toddled towards the table where Josh still sat working. Mrs. Wilson shut the door behind Charlotte. She put her arm around Charlotte’s shoulders and guided her toward the kitchen.
When they were alone in the kitchen, or as alone as anyone can be with so many children underfoot, Mrs. Wilson ventured, “I do think that you should apply as a governess. I know you tend to dismiss the idea, but a position in one of those grand houses would be a stable life for a young lady such as yourself.”
By young ladies such as Charlotte, Mrs. Wilson meant unmarried, childless, and without family. Oh, ladies such as herself had very few options and Charlotte was all too aware of it.
“Again, you are kind, but I have no idea where I would start in finding such a position. Dallington is a small village with few families that fit your description and even less with children that might benefit from a governess.” Charlotte sighed with frustration, but she softened her exasperation with a smile. “I am sorry to sound like such a… well, I do not know what I sound like really.”
Mrs. Wilson gave her shoulder a squeeze. “You sound like a girl who needs some help.” She released Charlotte’s shoulder and stepped over to a basket of vegetables from the garden. As she picked up a carrot to rinse, she said, “You could try Lord Easterly.”
Charlotte shook her head and clasped her hands together. “Why would he help me?”
“Your father and he were close. Were you not close to his daughter? Surely that counts for something.” Mrs. Wilson gave Charlotte an encouraging smile.
As good as Mrs. Wilson’s intentions might be, Charlotte held no true hope that Lord Easterly, Earl of Atcham, would consider that enough of a bond to aid a destitute girl. “I have not seen or spoken to any member of the Easterly family in years.” Charlotte looked down at her feet.
She could remember quite clearly the last time she saw Lord Easterly. He had been at her father’s funeral. Not since that day had she seen the Earl of Atcham or his sister Amanda. Charlotte shook her head and laughed. “I doubt they would even remember me.”
“What is the worst that could happen? Is it that they could simply refuse? You will still be no worse off in that situation, so it seems to me that you have most everything to gain.” Mrs. Wilson sighed. “Do not give up on something before you actually attempt it.”
Charlotte smiled. “That would make a very good topic for church.”
“I might just pass that along to my husband,” Mrs. Wilson said with a smile of her own.
Charlotte thought for a moment. “I suppose I could try. Right now though, I have to focus on my brother and how to handle his funeral.”
“There was a little set aside for that, was there not?” Mrs. Wilson asked the question as she turned back toward the vegetables she was washing in preparation for the meal.
Charlotte frowned and gave a little nod of her head. “There was a stipend for it. It should cover most things. I received it with the letter that told me his body was coming home.”
“I cannot imagine,” Mrs. Wilson said in a soft voice. “You will bury him here in the cemetery?”
Charlotte heaved a sigh. “He shall have a place beside my father and mother. Charles would want that.”
Mrs. Wilson nodded her acceptance of Charlotte’s words. “I never met him, but he must have been a brave man.”
“He was. After father died, Charles stayed in the army because he wanted to make a good living to send money to me.” Charlotte pulled out her handkerchief and dabbed her eyes. “I wonder sometimes if he is really dead. Maybe they are wrong and he is still out there somewhere.”
Mrs. Wilson set a fresh bowl of vegetables on the table in front of Charlotte. “I think those sorts of thoughts are normal. Without a body, it is bound to cross one’s mind. But you know that he would be here if he were not dead. Surely you do know that?”
“Of course,” Charlotte said as she helped Mrs. Wilson begin chopping up the vegetables to go in the day’s meal.
