The Trouble with Anna

Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

C HARLOTTE WAS IN A MUDDLE . She would have accepted a problem, a fight, or—yes, please!—a scandal. But not something as helpless as a muddle. And yet, as the days went by and no course of action stood up and yelled, Pick me! , she had to admit that “muddle” was just the right word for her predicament. She felt like a puppy left out in the rain.

Charlotte stamped down the stairs through a pool of early afternoon sunshine. The strangest part was she didn’t know quite what to do. The idea of Julian and Anna together thrilled her, of course. But could they be happy?

Anna would hate being a countess.

Julian deserved to choose his own wife.

Yet—did he really when he was being so cloth-headed? Charlotte would marry Anna in a second if she were a man. Or if Charlotte were a certain kind of woman, which she wasn’t. Mostly. Except for that one starry night at a masquerade with Elizabeth Darby, who had lips as plush as cushions.

Surely there was something more she could do for Anna, besides their gambling scheme?

But no! For once, she had to mind her own business.

Which left her right back where she started. In a muddle.

Muddling.

The main door opened below and Julian and Anna came in. He had his hand on the small of Anna’s back and she was staring at the ground, but her cheeks were glowing and so was—her chin?

Charlotte craned her neck. Forget stars in a woman’s eyes, it was burn from a man’s stubble that told the true story. Charlotte had significant experience with chin rasp on her own face at balls, operas, Covent Garden musical evenings, and even in dark corners of the British Museum.

Julian’s kissed Anna! He’s practically kissed the face off her!

Even more fascinating was the way they walked together. Barely touching but still enmeshed, as if their bodies were deep in a conversation the two of them were trying hard to ignore.

She nearly fell down the stairs trying to get a better look.

“Strangling the balustrade again, Charlotte?” called Julian. “What’s it done this time?”

Anna shot forward down the hall with a guilty yelp.

They had definitely been kissing.

Even more interesting—because Julian had kissed half of London—was his expression. Charlotte had never seen him look so full of laughter and… was that pride? She swished her way down the staircase and gave Julian her sweetest smile. “Oh, look, you’ve scared Anna off. Don’t be beastly or you’ll scare me off too, and I badly want my breakfast. Will you join me?”

“Breakfast, you baggage? It’s past noon.”

“Join me for luncheon, then.”

Julian put out his arm and Charlotte tucked hers inside it, muddled no more.

She knew just what to do.

Charlotte was still in the mood to stir the pot when a wild-eyed Anna tracked her down in the small salon later that afternoon.

“Charlotte, we have to go to London!”

Charlotte tucked away her embroidery loop and considered. Things were progressing splendidly for Julian and Anna at Mayne, but on the other hand, there was nothing like the whirl of London to encourage a romance.

More selfishly, it would be easier to start up a proper gambling ring in the city. Their small bets kept doing well, and both young women itched to build something bigger.

“All right, let’s go to London! I know Gran is longing to,” Charlotte replied. “But—why are we going?”

Anna’s eyes lit with a truly frightening determination. “Because I need to line up buyers for my horses and that’s where I’ll find the richest ones.”

Charlotte grabbed a fat pillow from the settee and hurled it at her friend.

Anna ducked. “Good lord!” she cried, still half-crouched as the pillow hit the wall. “What was that for?”

“You must not sell your horses!”

Anna straightened. “I don’t have a choice! The horses make up the great bulk of Chatham’s wealth, and I can’t see a way to pension off the servants without selling. I’ve looked at everything.”

“Except the most obvious possibility.”

“Really? What?”

“Marry my brother, you idiot!” Charlotte shouted. She waited for Anna to stop choking. “Or at least let yourself consider it. He’s offered for you, hasn’t he?”

Anna, poor thing, never found it easy to lie. Charlotte watched her struggle, but it was no use. “He has,” Anna confessed in a small voice, “but only because of that repulsive will.”

“Do you know what else is repulsive? The thought of you without any horses.”

Anna paced back and forth across the Aubusson. “I couldn’t stand to be your brother’s unwanted wife! How could I do that, Charlotte, to either of us?”

Ah. Charlotte had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. So that was the problem. It was obvious to her that Julian was more intrigued with Anna every day, but of course it wasn’t a bit obvious to Anna. She never valued herself as she ought, and being buried in the country with that awful old man hadn’t helped.

Good thing Charlotte was around to set things on their proper course.

“I never said you should race down the aisle. But you’re both pigheaded, sharp-tongued, and disgustingly honorable. The truth is, I begin to suspect you’re well-suited.”

Anna gave a squawk, sounding just like an outraged chicken. “Well-suited! Imagine me, in front of your brother’s fine London friends.”

“I can imagine it easily. Please recall that I’ve invited you to London any number of times.”

“You know how strange and awkward I get in company!”

Charlotte wrinkled her nose. “Is that your true plan? To visit London… awkwardly?”

“No! My true plan is just as I said! I need to find buyers for my horses. If I happen to be a disaster in town and your brother happens to notice, so much the better.”

It sounded convoluted and desperate, which pleased Charlotte immensely. If Anna was this unhinged already, things were going well indeed.

“Well, I doubt it will work if the goal is to shake off Julian.” Charlotte gave a casual shrug and lobbed a bomb. “The truth is, I believe my brother’s more than half-smitten with you already.”

Anna collapsed into a settee as if her legs had gone wobbly, only to pop back up again. “That couldn’t… That isn’t… Oh, blast it, I’ll ruin myself right in front of him if I have to!”

Charlotte gave a shout of laughter. “Do you know what being ruined actually means?”

Anna lowered her voice to a whisper. “It’s kissing a man in public, isn’t it?”

“You haven’t got that quite—”

“Never mind! Forget about London. I’ll sell the horses from Chatham instead.”

“Certainly not! If you intend to kiss another man in front of my brother, by all means, let’s go to London!”

Charlotte sat back, beaming.

Her work, for today at least, was done.