The Dowager Duchess stared after her, eyes narrowed in dislike. Then she turned to Charlotte and said, “You are rather accident prone, Lady Charlotte.”
Her cheeks reddened, but before she could say anything, Dominic interjected, “It was my fault grandmother. Charlotte was helping me, and I… well, I lost my grip on the pole, and in my haste to retrieve it, I unsettled the boat.”
“I would have thought you would have taken much greater care with your fiancée. Cecily, come with me. I want you to help me pick out my necklace for this evening. If you pick well, I shall give you fifty extra points.”
“Of course, Grandmother.” Cecily glanced at them once before she followed her grandmother from the room.
“She is right,” Dominic said after a moment.
“Who is?” Charlotte frowned.
“My grandmother. I should have taken greater care with you.” He clenched a fist and shook his head.
Charlotte shrugged. “It was an accident.”
“I would never have forgiven myself if anything had happened to you.” He sounded wretched, and the strength of his reaction surprised her.
“Nothing did happen to me. I just got a little wet and cold; that is all.” She laid a hand on his hand without thinking.
Dominic yelped. “Your hands are freezing.”
“Sorry.” Charlotte made to pull her hand away, but Dominic cupped it in his own and gently blew on her fingers.
“This will help,” he murmured as he gently rubbed her hands between his own.
“Thank you,” Charlotte replied, her voice slightly breathless.
“It is the least I can do.” Dominic smiled at her. “After all, I need you.”
For a moment, his words took Charlotte by surprise, and then she realised that he must have been talking about the competition. She smiled, ignoring the slight stab of disappointment in her chest.
“I know you do,” she answered. “We need each other.”
Laughter trickled in through the door, and Dominic slowly released her hands. “I should leave you to finish your tea and see if I can find out what the next event is.”
He inclined his head towards her and left before she could protest. A sense of loss stole over her chest, and she shook her head. She was being ridiculous.He is not mine to lose.
Chapter Twenty-Five
THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, AND TRUTHS
“Agh, why is this so hard?” Dominic scowled and crumpled up another bit of paper, throwing it onto the growing pile around himself.
He glowered at the sheet of paper before him and let out a long sigh. It was the day after they had brought Venus and her puppies back, and he had decided to finally set about writing down his thoughts about Charlotte.
So, he had gone to the library in the East Wing where he and Charlotte had written their ‘love letters’ to one another. He had hoped that it would give him some kind of clarity, but thus far it had been lacking.
“I do not even know what I am trying to say.” He absentmindedly sucked on the edge of his quill. “Everything sounds either trite or insincere. It is somehow simultaneously too much and far too little.”
He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “Write your feelings. As if it were so easy! What am I supposed to say?”
Lady Bellmore’s words drifted into his mind.To be chosen by someone worthy.Dominic glanced back down at the paper and began to write.
I am not sure that I am worthy, but perhaps it does not matter what I think. Actually, I am sure it does not matter what I think.His pen scratched the words onto the paper, and he felt some tension within him lift.
“It does not matter what I think; it matters what you think,” Dominic muttered as he wrote the words. “But how can I expect you to make a decision if you do not have all the information?”
He looked at what he had written and nodded. “That is a good start.”
