Page 53 of The Duke's Hidden Scandal
“I wondered whether you might be indisposed; there is an enormous carriage outside.”
“That was Lord Kilby, he was just leaving.”
Malcolm cocked his head to one side, observing her carefully. Charlotte felt no desire to hide her feelings about the man; she had known Malcolm all her life, and he could read her like a book.
“Lord Kilby?”
“Yes.”
“And… what did he want?”
“I believe, before you arrived, he was in the throes of proposing to me.”
Malcolm stared at Charlotte in utter amazement, trying to discover from her expression how she might feel about what she had just said. To his mind, she looked miserable, but he was uncertain whether to point that out to her.
“And how would you have answered?”
Charlotte’s face was highlighted by the glow of the fire, heavy shadows hung beneath her eyes, and her face, although still beautiful, was pale and drawn.
“I would have had little choice in the matter,” Charlotte whispered. “I have been told I must accept him.”
Malcolm’s heart broke for her. She looked devastated and he could well imagine why. Nothing could have prepared him for the interactions he had witnessed between the Duke of Lindenbrook and his cousin. The reserved and somewhat severe man he had known as a casual acquaintance was utterly transformed in her presence. In Malcolm’s romantic mind, they were meant for one another—just as he hoped to be with Lady Elizabeth.
“But why?” he blurted out. “Why so soon? You have just come back from caring for your mother for heaven’s sake.”
Charlotte slumped in her chair, glancing at her cousin and wondering how honest she should be with him. It was not necessarily her place to reveal her father’s position, and rumorsof financial woes could get out quickly in the wrong hands—yet she trusted Malcolm with her life.
“Papa is concerned for the estate,” she said heavily. “When Mama deteriorated, it left him in the country for many months, unable to travel to town as regularly as he needed to. I knew nothing of this until we returned. He told me the cost of the season has taken its toll; it seems his one aim is to marry me off to someone who can help to get us into a safe position again. Lord Kilby represents that security.”
Malcolm’s face was calm, and kind, and it gave Charlotte a moment to pause and think of the world beyond her troubles for a moment.
“I am sorry to hear of this,” Malcolm said honestly. “Not because I wish to comment upon whom you should marry, but because you seem so downcast. What do you think you will do?”
“I am not sure,” Charlotte confessed. “Lord Kilby is not abadchoice. He seems to be a decent man…” she trailed off.
“But you had hopes for someone else?” Malcolm asked.
Charlotte glanced up at him and rubbed a hand over her face in despair. “Perhaps. In my foolish heart. I did.”
“There is nothing to say that you cannot still have that?”
“But think of what was being discussed yesterday. Papa is looking for security, yet the duke is now mired in his own scandal. If what is being said of his fortunes are true, then father would never allow it.”
“What is your objection to Lord Kilby?”
Charlotte leaned forward in her chair. “I am not sure. I just do not admire him in the same way. The duke is rather stoic when one first meets him, and then he opens up, and I have never found anyone so easy to talk to. Save for you.”
Malcolm smiled, nodding his head in acknowledgment. “Then I believe that is a legitimate objection.”
“Father will never hear of it.”
“Perhaps not, but he cannot force you to accept the man. All he can do is tell you what hewantsto happen. That is not the same thing. It is difficult to delay such things, but there is nothing to say that you must accelerate them either. Keep an open mind. Sometimes things turn out well without us realizing they are on the route to change.”
Charlotte smiled. “And you?” she said carefully. “Have you spoken to Lady Elizabeth yet?”
“I see I am transparent as glass to you, cousin. No. I have not yet approached Lady Elizabeth.”
“But you will?”
