AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Louisa shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s not as though he’s wrong. People see one another in the village. I see strangers all the time. Slowly but surely, they aren’t strangers anymore, because I’ve seen them so frequently.”
“I understand why you’re resistant to this idea, Louisa. I do.”
“But what was it he said?” Louisa asked. “You went back to the mystic’s. Why?”
Charlotte’s throat tightened. “I don’t want to explain here. There are too many people around. I don’t know who to trust.”
Louisa scoffed. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“My cousin, Louisa. He was murdered. I don’t know if you remember that, what with your recent swooning …”
Louisa’s cheeks flashed pink. “I didn’t mean to annoy you, Charlotte. Really. I just fell into the chaos of the night. That’s all.”
Charlotte pressed her teeth into her lower lip. She detested her own ability to make Louisa sad. “It’s nothing,” she said. “Really. I just don’t want to get involved in anything that could put us in any danger. Nobody really knows what happened to Brooks.”
“Assuredly, he was involved in something illegal …” Louisa said.
Charlotte closed her eyes tightly. “I don’t want to assume anything. Not about my cousin. I cared for him, Louisa.”
Louisa clapped her hand over her mouth, simmering with regret. “I know,” she whispered. “I did, too.” She cast her eyes towards the ground, then said, “I think we should leave the ball. I don’t have the energy to be here any longer. I’m terribly sorry.”
“I don’t want to ruin your night,” Charlotte said.
Louisa shook her head violently. “No. It was I who ruined it.” She laced her arm through Charlotte’s and tugged her back towards the front door. “I don’t want to do anything but lay in bed and gossip about things that don’t matter. You’ll come home with me, won’t you?”
“As if I had any other plans,” Charlotte returned.
