Page 38 of The Duke's Hidden Scandal
Unfortunately, she had to experience the glories of nature with the false gaiety of the party about her. Every conversation weighted with intrigue, every interaction criticized and analyzed from multiple angles. Charlotte had not been at the party for more than an hour, and already she was exhausted.
Lord Kilby had been at her side all day, and Charlotte was conscious of the many eyes upon them wherever they went. His interest in her could not have been more stark or more obvious than at this gathering, and she wished she had found an excuse not to attend.
He had introduced her to everyone as though they were already husband and wife. She very much felt as though she were expected to be on his arm and unable to detach herself to escape for even a moment.
“This is Lady Phelps, my cousin. Lady Phelps this is Lady Charlotte Wentworth.”
The lady was tall with greying hair, her gloved hands held stiffly before her as she gave Charlotte a long look. Charlotte appeared to pass inspection, however, as Lady Phelps smiled and held out a hand.
“It is a pleasure, Lady Wentworth; you look very like your mother. I would have known you from a great distance.”
“You knew my mother, Lady Phelps?” she asked eagerly.
“Very early in the days of our debut. Indeed. She was a kind and genuine woman and a good friend in my youth.”
Charlotte smiled; the lady’s words seemed truly genuine, and Charlotte appreciated being able to speak of her mother. Everyone else avoided the topic like the plague.
“Thank you, my Lady. I am grateful for your kind words.”
Lady Phelps’s smile grew. “What a charming spot you have chosen for this little picnic, Lord Kilby. And what wonderful weather you have arranged.”
Kilby laughed a little too loudly and too long. “Indeed, I do my best to ensure the sun shines on all of you beautiful ladies.”
Charlotte held back the urge to roll her eyes and looked out over the beautiful fields before her. Lady Phelps was right; the day was quite beautiful. She wished she could walk away from them all and have some time alone in nature, but she knew it would be impossible.
“I was most gratified that you attended today, Lady Wentworth,” Kilby said as the newcomers died down a little and they stood alone beside the rugs that had been laid out on the lawns. “I have enjoyed getting to know you these past few weeks.”
Charlotte knew she should respond in kind, but the words were caught on her tongue.
“I am most eager for us to spend more time together,” Kilby continued. “I believe we have a great deal in common. I know that you are accustomed to putting others before yourself, but I assure you if our alliance were secured you would want for nothing.”
Charlotte swallowed convulsively, alarmed suddenly that he might break all propriety and propose on the spot.
“Thank you, my Lord, you are most generous.”
Perhaps sensing her discomfort, Kilby stepped back just a fraction from where he had been leaning against her and threw an arm out to the park before them.
“This reminds me of the park near my home in Derbyshire.”
“Is it so large, my Lord?”
“Vast. And the grounds about it are really quite exquisite. In the next few months, the hillsides about it will be festooned with wildflowers. It is the most beautiful sight.”
Charlotte felt a little better at that. She wondered whether she might be able to walk there alone some time to escape their interminable marriage.
“I have great hopes for my future, Lady Wentworth. I have always wished to further myself and have made many advances in that direction. I can see myself in parliament before long. As you know I am well connected, and any lady on my arm would be so too.”
“That is encouraging, my Lord,” she said woodenly.
“I am glad you think so,” his eyes sparkled in the sunshine. His hair was swept back away from his face today, and the black locks were shimmering in the sunshine too. It gave him a slightly strange appearance, however. Charlotte rather thought, in her mind’s eyes that he seemed like a snake in the grass, but she could not explain the analogy.
Lord Kilby was distracted for a moment by an acquaintance, and Charlotte took a deep breath, looking about at the groups of people talking and laughing together. Everything was so perfect here, as though she were looking at a painting that had been fashioned for this purpose. The pinks and yellows of the ladies’ dresses dotted about the lawns looked artificial in the sunshine.
As her eyes moved around the circle, she gave a small gasp when she noticed a familiar figure at the edge of the group. The Duke of Lindenbrook had arrived without her noticing him. Hewas standing with some acquaintances at the edge of the crowd, but his expression was the same vacant and proud mask he often wore in public. She had seen that mask before, and had the privilege to watch it fall away in her company.
The sight of him immeasurably lifted her spirits and she found that her breath was coming more quickly, her heart hammering in her chest in a way that it never did with Kilby.
The latter turned to her at that moment and began to speak again of the changes he was making to the roof of his manor house. The conversation had been repeated thrice already—in fact, ‘conversation’ was too much of a stretch; it was a monologue in which Kilby rejoiced in the sound of his own voice.
