Lady Fitzgerald lifted a brow and set down her teacup carefully, trying to hide her surprise. Charlotte stifled an impatient cry of frustration. Must her mother insist on behaving properly even when there was no one else to see them?
“Leave, my dear? Whatever for?”
“I’ve had enough of this house party,” Charlotte said, her voice sharp with frustration. “I’ve hurt my ankle, I do not like the company, and I want to go home.”
Her mother studied her, still cool and composed. “What’s happened?”
“Nothing,” Charlotte replied, all too quickly.
Lady Fitzgerald sighed, folding her hands in her lap. “Charlotte, don’t be ridiculous. You’re clearly distressed about something. What is it?”
Charlotte turned away from her mother, pressing her lips together. “I simply don’t wish to stay.”
Her mother watched her in silence for a long moment. “We are committed to staying until the end of the week,” she said finally. “Leaving halfway through will cause unnecessary gossip.”
Charlotte whirled to face her, barely able to contain her frustration. “So what if it does? What does it matter?”
There will be plenty of gossip soon enough.
She would deal withthatwhen she had to.
Lady Fitzgerald’s expression barely wavered. “It matters because we do not invite speculation where it isn’t needed. A sudden departure would be noted. Questions would be asked.”
Of course. Of course it was about appearances. It always was. For women, anyway. As Henry had just illustrated, men could escape such traps to some degree. It was not Henry’s reputation that was about to be ruined.
“Perhaps you should rest,” her mother continued, her tone placating. “Take a nap, calm yourself, and we can discuss this later. You’re clearly overwrought.”
Charlotte let out a hollow laugh. She was tiptoeing on the edge of utter hysteria, but she no longer cared. Why would no onelistento her and what she wanted? “I don’t need a nap, Mother. I need to leave.”
Lady Fitzgerald’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You’re being irrational.”
“No,” Charlotte said, trembling with emotion. “I’m being treated like my feelings don’t matter.Again.”
Her mother sighed as though Charlotte were a petulant, spoiled child rather than a grown woman with cares and desires of her own.
Charlotte drew in a breath, forcing herself to keep her emotions in check. A wave of despair washed over her, numbing her fury. “I’d hoped, just for once, for someone to care about what I want,” she said more quietly now. “For you to listen to me instead of forcing me to do things I don’t want to do. But as usual, my happiness is the last thing anyone is concerned about.”
Charlotte turned on her heel before her mother could respond, her ankle throbbing as she strode from the room.
She couldn’t leave.
She couldn’t even control that.
CHAPTER 22
Henry tookan urgent step in the direction Charlotte had fled, his heart hammering wildly as her words rang in his ears, but William’s firm grip landed on his shoulder, halting him in place.
“Let her go,” William growled. “She needs to be alone right now. Forcing her to speak of her feelings will only push her further away. I’ve learnt this about my sister over the years… and you seem to know her well enough that you should realize this.”
Henry cursed sharply under his breath at both William’s words and the implication in them. He ran a hand roughly through his thick, dark hair, frustration gnawing at him as he paced restlessly across the manicured lawn.
“Damn it, William, I never intended any of this,” he rasped, though his anger was directed at himself rather than his friend.
What had he been thinking?
He should never have kissed Charlotte, knowing he couldn’t marry her. No matter how much he might want to.
William’s piercing eyes narrowed, his jaw clenching visibly, anger emanating from every rigid line of his posture. “Perhaps,” he began icily, “you shouldn’t have been kissing her, then. Youare hardly short of female attention. Do you need to turn your attentions to my sister? You’ve known her since she was a child.”
