Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Nathaniel feared he had let his gaze linger on Charlotte for too long. During the cribbage game, his mind had been unsettled. He smiled with pride as he placed the board back in the cupboard, for he had earned that victory.
Playing with Edmund had been like playing with a child.
His strategy was basic and predictable. Nathaniel could have beaten him in his sleep.
Charlotte, on the other hand, now there was a real competitor.
She had surprised him with her ability to plan ahead, and there were moments when he had been taken aback by the cards she kept.
She showed him opportunities to score that he hadn’t considered before. Although he would not admit it, he suspected that in that game, his victory had been due to luck, and he was not eager to play again. Hopefully, this victory helped to put her in her place.
Thankfully, now that he had stepped away from her, he could think more clearly. He poured himself another glass of brandy and then slipped out of the room, not making any grand announcement about his exit.
He made his way to the main library of the house, seeking to rest and recover from the expenditure of social energy. He picked out a book and ran his hands along the smooth pages. He breathed in the scent of the leather cover. Soon after, he heard soft footsteps padding along the ground.
Nathaniel smiled as Hector leaped onto his lap.
“Hello, boy,” he said gently, scratching Hector beneath the chin, where he liked it the most. “Are you going to let me read tonight, or are you going to be a nuisance as usual?”
Hector cocked his head, as if to protest that description. However, he then proceeded to pace around Nathaniel’s lap and drape himself over the man’s arms, making it difficult to read. Nathaniel had a tail wagging near his chin, but he persevered.
He had been reading for a while when he was disturbed by movement. He looked up, blinking as he became aware of the strain on his eyes. Then, his breath caught in his lungs. It was her.
Charlotte.
He stiffened in his chair. At first, he wasn’t sure if she had seen him, but then he realized she hadn’t. He quickly masked the surprise on his face and stared at his book.
She would not leave him alone.
Her footsteps made no sound, as though she were floating toward him. He was obscured behind a bookshelf but noticed her through gaps where books usually rested.
“This is incredible,” she gasped in an awed tone.
“One usually keeps one’s voice down in a library,” Nathaniel warned. Charlotte stopped in her tracks as though she had just collided with an invisible wall. She looked around, her face a picture of shock, searching for him.
When she found him, she masked her surprise by adopting a neutral expression.
“Good evening, Your Grace. I hope I am not interrupting you and your friend,” she said.
Nathaniel was a little bemused before he realized she was referring to the cat. “Ah, yes, this is Hector.”
Nathaniel arched his eyebrow as Hector leaped from his lap and moved toward Charlotte, winding in between her legs and pressing his head against her.
“Yes, we met earlier. It seems I made quite a good impression on him.”
“If only the world were made up of cats,” Nathaniel replied, folding his book closed, although he kept his hand pressed upon it.
“Then it would be milk and fish for everyone,” Charlotte replied. At the mention of this, Hector mewed loudly.
“If you want that, you’ll have to go to the kitchens, although they’ve been far too generous with you. I might start having to order them against feeding you.” Nathaniel directed his words toward the cat.
Charlotte sighed and shook her head. There was a chair opposite Nathaniel. She placed her fingers on it, tracing them back and forth.
“You even seek to place restrictions on the cat. Is there anything in this world you do not seek to control?”
Nathaniel leaned back and regarded her with a cool look. “I can think of at least one thing.” He leveled his gaze at her and let his words sink in. “Some things are like a force of nature.”
“Nature is formidable. I suppose you must like it. It follows its own rules. Speaking of which, I suppose one of us should leave. It would be improper for us to be seen alone together.”
“You’re the last person who should be lecturing me about what’s proper.” He rose to his feet and noticed a flash of fear in her eyes. He opened his palm and gestured for her to sit down. “The library is a place of knowledge, of learning. Anyone is welcome to spend time here.”
Charlotte studied his hand and then seemed to decide that it was safe to sit down. Nathaniel then turned to sit down, only to find that Hector had jumped up to steal it from him. Nathaniel shook his head, and Charlotte giggled as he lifted the cat, placing it back on his lap.
Hector seemed to take offence at this as he jumped straight off Nathaniel’s lap and scurried under Charlotte’s chair.
“Speaking of things that I can’t control…” Nathaniel sighed, shaking his head.
“You left the gathering quite quickly after our game.”
“I saw no reason to stay. I had a feeling Edmund was going to try to find some other game to play with me. I did not wish to bruise his ego by beating him over and over again.”
“The bigger an ego one has, the easier it is to bruise. Have you ever been afraid of that?”
“I can’t say that I have. I know you must think of me as a man of great pride, but that is not the case.”
“No?”
“No.”
“So, you just enjoy ordering other people about then?”
Nathaniel formed a steeple with his hands and gazed at her with an intrigued look on his face.
“I enjoy upholding the laws of legality and morality.”
“Is that all you enjoy?”
“Riding Bastion.”
“And social gatherings?”
Nathaniel tilted his head from side to side. “I assume the same is true of you, since you are no longer with the others.”
“There was a dispute about the rules of whist. A rulebook had to be hunted down. Things were getting quite animated. I thought I would search for some peace. Mary mentioned the library to me.”
Nathaniel allowed a brief smirk.
“I can imagine the dispute was a heated one. Mother can be quite a stickler for the rules.”
“It must be a family trait.”
Nathaniel arched an eyebrow. He studied her face, trying to gauge whether this was a subtle slight or just an observation.
“It should be a trait of every moral person. Rules offer a structure through which we can measure our behavior. We can judge ourselves by how well we adhere to the rules. Don’t you agree?”
Charlotte tilted her head. “I do,” she replied, although there was a begrudging tone to her voice.
“What use is a game where one person cheats? Playing by the rules is the only way to determine who is the deserved winner. It is the same way in life.”
“So you believe bad things happen to people who deserve it?”
“Yes,” he replied without hesitation. Charlotte furrowed her brow slightly and took a heavy breath. There was a shadow in her eyes, and for a moment it looked as though she was about to say something more, but she hesitated and instead looked around at the vast library.
“You have an impressive collection, Your Grace.”
“Thank you. I have worked hard to curate a varied collection of books from all over the world.”
“What is your most prized possession?”
“A copy of Homer’s Odyssey in the original Greek. The man who sold it to me demanded a hefty price, but it’s worth it.”
“Can you read Greek?”
“I can read many things. Yourself?”
“I am familiar with Latin; it helps when cataloguing plants. Do you have any books about nature here?”
“We have books about everything. Even etiquette, which you may wish to seek out.”
His comment provided a slight pause in their conversation. Charlotte smoothed down her dress. She pressed her lips together, tightening them for a moment before they returned to their full shape.
Nathaniel had to shake himself for a moment as he found himself captivated by the gentle twitches of her lips.
“I am well-versed in etiquette, Your Grace. What happened when we first met? It was—”
“Not to be spoken of again,” Nathaniel said immediately. His words were harsh, slashing through the air like a knife cutting through ribbon. He clenched his jaw, for the last thing he wanted to think about was the kiss.
There was a slight crackle in the air, a palpable tension. His fingers gripped the arms of the chair as though bracing himself for a sudden attack. Charlotte was unpredictable after all. She had thrown herself at him once. She might very well do so again.
Instead, she took a breath and squared her shoulders.
“Very well, Your Grace,” she agreed. But even this drew suspicion. She struck Nathaniel as a combative person, so such a quick concession felt like it must be a ploy. He felt as though he were still playing a game with her, even though they had left the cards behind.
“I wish to speak plainly with you, Lady Charlotte, to avoid any misunderstanding. What happened between us will not lead to marriage. You may aspire to become a duchess, but this is certainly not the way to achieve that end.”
Charlotte drew back. A flash of indignation passed across her face. Her feet came together, and she clasped her hands tightly.
“Believe me, Your Grace, I have no desire to pursue marriage.”
“I find that difficult to believe.”
“Whether you believe it or not, it is the truth. And if you are implying again that I seek to trap you—”
“What other conclusion could I draw?” he asked.
After the kiss, he had turned the situation around in his mind. The logical conclusion was that she attempted to elicit affection from him so he would marry her. The alternative was that she made a habit of kissing strangers.
Charlotte took another deep breath.
“If it were up to me, we wouldn’t have been that close.”
Nathaniel furrowed his brow. “Are you hinting that a higher power had some part to play in our meeting? I don’t believe that God called you to kiss me.”
“I had no other choice,” she replied.
Nathaniel studied her face, utterly baffled by the response. What could have caused her to take such drastic action?
“Why?” he asked.
A few heartbeats passed between them. Nathaniel leaned forward slightly.
As maddening as this woman was, she was also an enigma.
She seemed intelligent, far more so than most he met, and yet usually, intelligence did not go hand in hand with recklessness.
She possessed a unique combination of qualities unlike anything he had encountered before.
“I believe you said that we should not speak of it again. I would hate to break the rules you determined,” she said.
Nathaniel narrowed his eyes, frustrated that she was using his own words against him.
“I shall take my leave of you now, Lady Charlotte. Enjoy the pleasures of the library as much as you wish. But I would suggest that you keep your distance from me during your stay, lest you receive another mysterious calling.”
He spoke as he rose, watching the look of indignation and disgust color Charlotte’s face.
Nathaniel strode away, pausing when he reached the entrance.
He looked back and watched Charlotte lift Hector in her arms, cuddling the cat.
Then, she disappeared behind a bookshelf, her hair and dress flowing behind her.
Nathaniel lingered for a few moments, trying to understand how a woman like her could have come to be. Then, he shook his head and huffed, retreating to a safe part of the house.