Chapter 8
“Are you awake?”
Muffled voices reached Charity’s ears, and she woke up with a startle.
The first thing she saw was Augusta’s face close to hers, drawn tight with worry and irritation both, and Matilda’s behind her, pale and wide-eyed, hovering carefully.
Is this real?
Charity adjusted her eyes, focusing on what was in front of her. She blinked a few times and then shot up in her bed.
“Augusta… Matilda,” she said, remnants of sleep still lingering in her voice. “Is… you are here? Is this some dream?”
Giggles echoed across the room, and Matilda clapped her hand against her mouth.
“You are not dreaming,” Augusta assured.
Charity extended her hands out, and both of her sisters grabbed at them immediately. They huddled closer to each other and embraced. A few stray tears escaped Charity’s eyes, but she quickly wiped them off.
“How did you get here?” she asked, and then she reached for Matilda’s face with both hands as if she needed to feel her to be certain. “How did he….how did anyone…”
“Well…” Augusta said, sharing a look with Matilda. “I suppose that…”
“Oh, it was an entire adventure,” Matilda cut in, looking both rattled and excited by the experience.
“Yes, well, that is one way to describe it,” Augusta nodded. “We were taken right under Uncle’s nose from the east wing at midnight. Beforehand, we were told that we should prepare for it by a secret note.”
“Oh,” Charity said, surprised. Immediately, she knew that it was Duncan who was behind this, and a strange sense of warmth settled over her at the realization.
“So, I suppose, in a way we were taken away,” Augusta carried on. It was clear that she had some complicated thoughts on the matter. “I am not sure if I should use the rescue, though it does feel that way.”
Matilda, on the other hand, just looked happy to be reunited with her older sister and could not keep herself from smiling brightly.
“Well, I do not care how you got here. The only thing that matters to me now is that you’re alright now. Come here,” she said again. “Both of you, please. I have been thinking of you every moment, and I have been terrified.”
The tremendous relief that she felt in this moment could not be understated, and she owed it all to Duncan.
“You are bruised,” Augusta said abruptly when she pulled back, and her mouth settled into the shape of an O, “Your cheek is swollen, and your mouth. Oh my goodness, Charity, who has touched you?”
Matilda’s hands flew to her own mouth as her eyes followed the sight of the injury.
“Oh,” she whispered, staring at Charity’s face. “Oh no. I did not see it at first.”
Charity lifted a hand as if to smooth it away, though she knew she could not. She waved a dismissive hand in the air, as though it was just a paper cut.
“It is nothing,” she said, wanting to end that line of questioning at once. “At least it is nothing that you need to be worrying about. I am sure that it will be as good as new in just a few days.”
“What are you talking about?” Augusta’s eyes narrowed, and she leaned in for a closer look, “Who did this to you? Was.. it… is it.. are you safe here?”
Immediately, Charity realized what her sister was implying and took her head immediately.
“Yes, yes. I am no danger here, and neither are the both of you. You must take my word for that,” Charity said.
“But you have not told me where you got your injury from?” Augusta pressed.
“I told you already,” Charity said firmly. The moment was getting heated.
“But…” Augusta interjected.
Matilda’s gaze flicked towards the door and then back, as if she expected someone to burst in and punish them for speaking too loudly. “We should not be arguing. What if we get taken away again?”
“There will be no such thing,” Charity said quickly in a softer voice. “You both are safe here.”
“And who exactly is keeping us safe at present?” Augusta asked with folded arms, “We do not know what has happened to you, where you went, and who this man is. Only that he is somehow better than uncle, but that is not much of a high bar to begin with. Then, you have strange bruises, and you refuse to tell us anything about that either.”
It was not as though Charity wanted to keep things from them. More so, she just wanted to prevent them from getting overwhelmed. It was a lot to take in, and she just wanted to protect them in whatever manner possible.
There was a loud knock on the door, and without waiting for permission to enter, Duncan appeared a moment later. He had a serious expression, which was not unusual for him.
“Get dressed, we are to leave now.”
Charity felt something in her chest loosen at the sight of him. But her sisters did not seem to have the same reaction.
“If I can say something,” Augusta turned on him at once, clearing her throat. “You have only just met us, and you are already issuing orders. What is the urgency? If you could tell us that….”
Duncan’s gaze shifted to her slowly, not particularly surprised.
“You were brought here for your own benefit, and you are free to walk back to your uncle’s house if you wish, though I will not escort you there.”
Matilda made a small sound and reached for Charity’s hand.
“I do not wish to go back,” she said quickly, as if the idea itself frightened her.
Augusta shot her a look that said be quiet, then turned back to Duncan. “And who are you,” she demanded, “to speak of escorting us anywhere, as if we are your responsibility?”
Duncan did not step into the room to loom.
“I am the man who will keep you out if you do as you are told for the next hour, because your uncle’s men will notice your absence soon enough.”
Charity could see that her sister was conflicted. Augusta was not someone who liked being ordered or spoken to in an authoritative way. If Duncan were to continue, Charity worried that a scene would be caused.
She could not allow it to turn into a scene.
“Please, Augusta,” Charity said, in a half-chiding and half-pleading voice. Then gave her a look as if to say not now, please.
Augusta opened her mouth to speak, and then her gaze went to her sister's bruised cheek. Almost immediately, Charity could sense that Augusta had a change of mind. She gritted her teeth and swallowed her anger. Which was a great relief to Charity, even if it was temporary.
“Fine then. I will not ask further questions for now,” Augusta spoke. “But we shall speak of this later.”
Charity nodded, sighing. She knew that her sisters would not go without answers for too long and that eventually she had to give them an explanation.
They were owed some answers, though Charity did not know just how much of the truth she could tell them.
Duncan’s gaze moved to Charity then, and for a moment, the sharpness in his eyes eased as if he were checking her, making certain she was upright and not about to faint. The gesture was so subtle that she was the only one who noticed, and it sent a tingly feeling down the base of her spine.
Oh. Now was hardly the time to be entertaining thoughts such as these. She chided herself internally, but it was hard to let go of the feeling when Duncan addressed her in the very next breath.
“Charity,” he said.
There was just something in the way that he said her name. She swung her legs off the bed and stood, still a little unsteady.
She crossed the room and wrapped her arms around Duncan, pressing her face against his chest. Perhaps she was still a bit out of sorts, for it was not proper to hug a man like this.
But it felt like the only way for her to communicate her internal feelings.
She needed him to understand that she knew what he had done for her.
“Thank you, I owe you a lot of gratitude,” she spluttered out, “you actually brought them.”
Duncan was stiff at first, and she wondered if her hug had been unwelcome. But before any feelings of embarrassment could consume her, one of his hands came up to the back of her head. He was handling her so gently, as though she were a china doll that would break at any moment.
Surely, someone capable of such care and such concern was not who she first perceived him to be.
He is anything but a monster.
“Enough now,” he cleared his throat, “Get dressed, you can thank me by moving quickly.”
Charity pulled back, now embarrassed to have done it in front of her sisters. She glanced at Duncan, whose mouth shifted in a smile. It made him appear warm.
Augusta noticed it too, and Charity could tell by the way Augusta’s eyes narrowed that she stored the detail away for later.
Matilda however, seemed rather oblivious to everything that was happening.
“Charity,” she begun cautiously, “but can I ask you something?”
Charity knew that it was trouble to entertain any sort of questions from her sisters, but she could hardly refuse when she asked like that. She had the softest spot for the youngest one.
“Go on, then.”
“I don’t wish to be rude, really,” her voice dropped low, “but he’s… isn’t he a stranger? He really likes to order us around.”
Charity turned away quickly to gather her things.
“No, darling. He is not a stranger,” she managed, glancing over at him. He had the usual stoic expression on his face.
“So then…” Matilda bit down on her lip, “who is he, then?”
“The Duke of Blackford, and he has been helping me.”
There was a brief and stunned silence in the room.
“The Duke,” Matilda repeated, eyes widening.
“Right then,” Augusta shook her head, “of course. Why should it not be a duke? Our lives have already become absurd.”
“Augusta,” Charity warned. “Behave. If it wasn’t for him, then we would have been in a lot of trouble.”
“Sorry, sorry,” Augusta muttered sarcastically, glancing towards the duke. “Where are my manners?”
Duncan did not react to anything, which Charity appreciated greatly. If he had lost his temper, God forbid, then she would not know how to handle the situation.
She made a mental note to herself. Remains calm in stressful situations.
Duncan remained by the door as if he were guarding it, looking out into the corridor and then back.