Page 78 of Miss Beresford and the Beast

Her father turned. Relief was evident in his ice-gray gaze at the sight of her. “Charlotte.”

“Papa!” Crossing the room in a few swift strides, Charlotte flung her arms about his neck. He hugged her firmly in return. “What are you doing here?” she asked. “I thought you and Mama were to spend the summer at Beasley?”

“We’ve been in Hertfordshire,” he said.

“At Worth House?” It was their family seat, where Charlotte’s grandfather, the Earl of Allendale, still resided with her grandmother.

“Quite,” her father said. “Which goes some way to explaining the time it’s taken me to get here.”

“But why have you come?” She drew back, hastily scanning his face. “Has something happened?” A terrible thought occurred to her. “It’s not Mama, is it? Or Agatha?”

“The family is well.” Papa’s countenance was grave. “Except for you, it would seem.”

She gave him a bewildered look. “I don’t understand.”

Lucy slipped into the drawing room, ashen-faced. Mrs. Goodenough lingered anxiously behind her.

Papa acknowledged Lucy with a bow. “Miss Champion.”

“Lord St. Clare.” Lucy sketched a curtsy in return. “I assume you’re, ah, here in response to the, um…the letter I sent?”

Understanding hit Charlotte like a lightning bolt. She turned her stricken gaze on her friend. “You wrote to my father?”

“She wrote to your sister,” Papa said. “Who wisely gave the letter to me.” He addressed Lucy. “It was misdirected initially. It only reached Hertfordshire after having first made the rounds of half the West Country. On receiving it, I set out straightaway.” His attention returned to Charlotte. “I brought Tate with me, and a handful of servants. However, I thought it best that your mother remain at Worth until I ascertained the gravity of the situation.”

Mr. Tate was Papa’s secretary—a former law clerk in Chancery and a veritable bloodhound when it came to sniffing out obscure information. If he had come, then Papa must have thought the situation to be very serious indeed.

Charlotte directed an accusing glare at her friend. “What did you say in your letter?”

Lucy looked back at her with conscience-stricken eyes. She had gone vaguely white about the lips.

“She informed Agatha that you had disappeared after a walk the previous morning,” Papa replied when it was evident that Lucy would not. “She inquired if you had returned home to Somerset.”

Charlotte’s mouth was suddenly dry. She now comprehended the meaning behind all those veiled remarks Lucy had made and all the guilty looks she had given her.

I wish I’d known you’d been injured! she’d cried the day Charlotte had returned. If I had, I would never have acted so rashly!

Rashly indeed, Charlotte thought with a flare of resentment.

Yet, Lucy had only written to Agatha. It was Agatha herself who had relayed the intelligence to Papa.

“P-Please, do sit down,” Lucy stammered. Stepping forward, she gestured to the sofa. “Mrs. Goodenough? Perhaps we might have some tea?”

“Right away, Miss Champion,” Mrs. Goodenough said before scurrying off.

Papa waited for Charlotte and Lucy to take their seats before joining Charlotte on the sofa.

Lucy perched in the upholstered chair across from them, her body taut as a wire. “I was, perhaps, precipitate in writing. Charlotte has returned now, as you see, and all is as it should be.”

Papa’s expression was as solemn as it had often been when calling one of Charlotte’s brothers to account for some misdemeanor or other. Rather more solemn, Charlotte feared. “Your housekeeper informs me that a doctor was summoned?”

“Er, yes.” Lucy coughed, repeatedly clearing her throat. “That is, I thought it best⁠—”

“I’m fine, Papa,” Charlotte broke in. “It was all just a⁠—”

Her father silenced her with a gesture. “I will, of course, require a word with him.”

“Of course.” Lucy appeared a hair’s breadth from falling into a faint. She nonetheless surged to her feet. “I’ll send Frog to fetch him at once.” With that, she fled the room.