Chapter 10 #2
She felt herself growing more nervous.
“You mean about the wedding?”
“Yes… about…” she stuttered. “Our arrangement. I’ve brought my sisters here, and well, I am just as uncertain about their future as they are.”
“That’s a lot of topics to spring on me at once,” Duncan sighed. “So it would be better for us to start one by one.”
“Then we start with the wedding…” she said, nervously twisting her fingers together. “You said we would do it properly.”
“There is no other way to do it,” he said. “We are to marry not in secret, of course.”
“Yes, but…” she flushed. “Who will witness it, who will register it, who will write the papers, and…. how soon you intend it?”
“My solicitor, two witnesses besides. Your sisters, if you wish. The papers will be drawn before the ceremony and signed after. It will be soon.”
“How soon?” Charity asked.
“Days,” Duncan replied.
“And can I write to my friends?”
Duncan’s gaze narrowed.
“Who?” he asked.
“Those back home,” Charity said. "I need to have some contact with the world so as not to go entirely insane."
Duncan studied her a moment, then nodded. “You may write, but my solicitor will write as well.”
“And…”
“What else?”
“My sisters,” she said. “I worry about their fate, and their comfort and security are the most important things for me.”
“They will find that there are a number of activities for them to do around the estate,” Duncan nodded. “I do not think they’ll be bored with their time here, and in any case, it will be better than being trapped with the Viscount.”
“No, I…” Charity nodded, “I know that they’re better off here, but they need to see that as well.”
“Do you wish for me to instruct the staff to keep them busy?”
“Yes,” she said immediately. “I think so. I think that an idle mind is a troubled one, and they might feel more at ease when they have activities.”
“Very well. I shall arrange for that.”
“And then,” she bit down on her lip, “what will become of them after we get married?”
“Of course, they will reside here at the estate,” Duncan said. A wave of relief passed over her. “You look surprised. Did you think that I was going to send them off to the streets?”
“No, no. It’s not that,” Charity shook her head, feeling silly. “But more like, well, I did not know if you’d want them to stay for a prolonged period of time.”
“This will be their home,” Duncan said. “They will stay as long as they wish, or until they are married.”
That was the kind of security that Charity needed in her life. She began to look at the wedding with some anticipation. It would solidify her place in the estate and, therefore, make her sisters secure.
“And do you think…” she could not help but ask. “Do you think that in time, they will find suitable matches for themselves?”
“You are thinking too far ahead. I see that you have a knack of doing that,” he noted. “You are an overthinker. But if it puts your mind at ease, having an association with the Duke and Duchess will ensure that they find the best of matches.”
“I cannot help it when it comes to them,” Charity admitted. “My sisters..”
“Yes, they are the most important thing for you,” he finished her sentence for her, making her heart skip a beat slightly.
“They are, and I just want things to work for out for them. Augusta has been very difficult lately,” Charity admitted, even though she had initially decided against telling him. “I worry for her the most.”
“I know she is rather stubborn,” he nodded. “I’ve noticed her, but in time, her behavior will improve.”
“How can you say that with such certainty?” she asked. She had never had certainty like him for anything in her life, and it was something that she could stand to learn from him.
“Young people are like seeds, really. You give them the right conditions, and they bloom,” he said, “or they rot. But you will not have to worry about the latter.”
Hearing him say those words brought her immense ease. They ate for a few minutes without speaking, and Charity thought perhaps they might finish dinner without another fight, but then a footman appeared, carrying a letter on a tray. Duncan took it and broke the seal.
He began to read it, and Charity watched his face go still. Something was not right, and it did not look like an ordinary letter.
“What?” Charity asked, feeling her stomach drop at once.
Duncan declined to answer her immediately and instead went over the letter once again.
“Duncan,” Charity said, panicked. “What is it? Have you received word from someone? Is it.. can you tell me what it is?”
“Your uncle has written to us,” Duncan announced.
“Oh,” Charity felt sick to the stomach. “But how does he know that we are here?”
“I suppose it did not take him long to put the obvious together,” he noted.
“What does the letter say?” she felt as though her heart was going to leap outside of her throat.
“Well…” Duncan clicked his tongue, “he demands the girls returned. Quite the audacity he has, I might add.”
“He cannot take them now,” she said, yes? There was an uncertainty in her own voice.
“He can try,” Duncan said, “But they are in my land now, and it would be far more difficult for him to succeed.”
“Can we move them? We send them to someone you trust, someone far enough that we cannot reach them?” she said, mind spiraling.
“You think I cannot keep them safe,” he said, suddenly defensive.
“That is not what I said,” she said. “But he is their legal guardian still, and I suppose that he can get the constables involved.”
“Do you think he will resort to that?” Duncan questioned. “In that case, we will alert the authorities of his acts, which is that he tried to get a hold of your family's resources through nefarious means.”
Charity contemplated for a moment.
“My uncle does not fight fair. I think he will use anyone he can pay, and I think you, of all people, know that a title does not stop him from behaving like a madman, which I do believe he is capable of.”
“You forget that you are on my territory, and he cannot broach it,” he reminded her again.