Page 54 of The Brooding Duke's Fateful Letter
“It is not enough.” Charlotte replied.
“I know but I shall spend every day making it up to you,” Henry said hopefully.
“Why do you still tell me one thing and do another?” Charlotte asked.
“It is something I have always done to protect my family and myself. I wish you would please give me the chance to explain.”
“Perhaps. If you believe you can trust me with the truth.” Charlotte held firm in her request.
Henry nodded.
“Do you want to marry me?” Charlotte asked plainly, trying to mask the hope in her voice.
“Charlotte… I am quite sure of what I want. Whether I can is in question.”
Charlotte looked at him with a sad expression. “I should give this back to you, Your Grace,” she said, discreetly handing him her engagement ring. Henry put his hand out to take it and for a brief moment, her fingertips touched his palm.
It evoked memories of when they had kissed in the maze and when he had held her in his arms. Currently, he couldn't care less for all the eyes that would be on them. He wanted to declare his love for her and to have her in his arms again. Now and always.
“I will keep this safe, My Lady, but know this. It will soon take its rightful place in your hand.” He said it as a vow, to both of them. Charlotte looked up at him, and for the first time, she looked resigned… cold even. Then she turned and began walkin away from him.
He looked back to where Edward and Bethany had been seated. They were no longer there. Henry looked around him in every direction and could not see them.
“Have you seen where your sister has gone to?” Henry called after her, actually perplexed. If he had been courting Bethany, he would have found her actions to be offensive. Then again, it did give Henry the opportunity to spend time with Charlotte. The problem lay in the fact that he needed to appear uninterested in her for his plan to work.
Chapter 21
Charlotte felt assured that it was all going to work out. It just had to. She had thought her world had stopped turning the moment her stepmother and stepsister had arrived.
The very fact that they have the nerve to come there and to add insult to injury, they brought that wretch LeBlanc!
She watched Henry, as he searched for Bethany. Charlotte tried to control the jealousy that had taken hold her of the moment Bethany had arrived.
He loves me, I know he does! Charlotte thought as she watched him looking about for her sister. Charlotte was so inside her thoughts that she never saw Lord LeBlanc walking up beside her.
“My Lady, we finally have a moment to ourselves,” he said.
“A brief moment, I am hoping,” Charlotte said, without sparing his feelings. The man was a male version of her sister. He would stop at nothing to marry into money. “It goes against my understanding why you have not just married my sister,” Charlotte said, feeling tired of the games being played.
“How could I when I have always loved you, My Lady,” Lord LeBlanc said in a way he must imagine made a woman swoon. The only thing that did feel moved was her throbbing head and churning stomach.
“And what is it you love so dearly, LeBlanc? The money that will alleviate your gambling debts or the title that might finally win you a little respect from your peers?” Charlotte asked directly. She was not given to playing with people and their emotions. She would not entertain it in others.
“My Lady, I believe you have the wrong impression of me. I care deeply about you,” Lord LeBlanc said as he moved to take her hand. Charlotte did not even allow him that.
“If that is the truth, then surely you must care about my happiness?” Charlotte asked.
“Naturally, My Lady,” LeBlanc said with what barely passed as a smile.
“Then it should please you greatly that you can indeed make me happy,” Charlotte said. Lord LeBlanc’s eyes widened at her words. “You can leave me be and never return.” Charlotte finished and let herself enjoy his confusion while she made her escape from him.
I would not put it past him to have planned this to get me alone with him! Charlotte thought as she went searching for Bethany as well.
“You forget so easily what you owe me,” he called after her. Charlotte turned back toward him.
“What do I owe you? Do enlighten me. Do I owe you for your mother’s land, your mother’s food, perhaps? Not one thing given to us was yours,” Charlotte said, taking a step closer to him with every word she spoke.
“I have no idea what you mean. Everything belonged to my father,” he retorted.
