Chapter 5 #2
“Especially as you will be in such close proximity to one another.” Charlotte took a sip of her own tea.
“Not really, my house is not very close to his London one. Aside from the occasional ball or social event, I am sure it will be altogether too easy to avoid one another.” That is a comforting thought. She nodded to herself.
Charlotte canted her head towards her. “You do not plan on living with him?”
“I told you, Charlotte. This is not a real marriage. We will live separate lives.” Andrea noted it down on the paper before her.
“That is why we agreed to it in the first place. I will get to keep my freedom, and he will avoid the apparent torture that is every eligible woman in the ton throwing herself at him.”
Charlotte chewed on her biscuit, covering her mouth with her hand. “I am not sure that the Dowager Duchess will be thrilled with such an arrangement.”
“She knows that I was looking for a match of convenience. She even gave me a list of eligible bachelors.” Andrea shrugged.
“And I take it her grandson was on this list?” Charlotte asked.
“Well, yes. Though I had not actually intended to pursue him.” She ate a biscuit, more to distract herself from the amused look in her friend’s eyes than anything else. “But we are getting distracted. Now, was there anything else you agreed to with your false engagement?”
“Not really. We agreed that we would part ways after the competition, but that is not really applicable to you as you will be marrying him.” Charlotte rolled her shoulders, shifting her neck from side to side.
“Perhaps that was your problem. You did not have enough of an agreement between you.” She stroked her chin thoughtfully. “If we have more rules, a clear understanding of what we want from the marriage, then we shall be able to enforce them.”
“In my experience, a heart cares very little for rules.” Charlotte said mildly.
“You had very few rules to care for.” Andrea pointed out, standing up and nodding to herself. “Thank you, Charlotte. This has been most helpful.”
Charlotte opened her mouth as though to say something, closed it and shook her head. Andrea wondered if she should offer to help her friend to her feet, but what if she asked her to hold Benedict?
She froze midway through the act of asking and before she had time to reach a decision, Charlotte had stood up. Perhaps less gracefully than she would have done without an armful of baby.
“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Charlotte asked. “You could spend a little more time with your godson.”
Andrea hesitated. She could see the hopeful expression in her friend’s eyes. She glanced at Benedict whose eyes had started to open. He peered at her, burbling softly, blinking sleepily. For a moment, she found herself reaching towards him.
But then he wriggled, his burbling becoming louder, closer to a whine as she held his gaze. His face crumpled slightly and Andrea let her hands fall, moving away.
She shook her head. “No, I really must get home. I have rather a lot to plan.”
“Weddings do take rather a lot of work, it must be said.” Charlotte agreed.
“And I have an agreement to draft and formalise.”
“You sound as though you are going to see a solicitor.” Charlotte looked at her quizzically.
“Of course not, but I think having our terms of engagement written down would be no bad thing.” She gave her friend an affectionate squeeze on the arm. “Perhaps I will add something about no pet names.”
“That may be for the best. Though the though of Frederick calling you something like my dainty little pudding pie is rather amusing.” Charlotte was jiggling back and forth, cooing softly to Benedict.
“I suppose there are worse things to be called.” Andrea admitted.
As she made her way to the door, she hesitated and then turned to face her friend. “You are not upset that I asked Cecily to be my maid of honour are you?”
“What? Of course not!” Charlotte gestured to the babe in her arms. “I would be a poor maid of honour even if you had asked me.”
“I just thought I would check. I… Well, you know I love you very dearly.”
“I know.” Charlotte carefully moved towards her, and Andrea let her friend give her a one-armed hug. “And I love you too. It will be nice for us to officially be family.”
“I will be your cousin-in-law.” Andrea smiled. “Who would have thought this is how things would turn out, when we met three years ago?”
Charlotte laughed. “Definitely not me. But I am glad this is how things have turned out. It just goes to show, joy can often come from the most unexpected places.”
Andrea nodded. “Indeed. I will see you at the wedding.”
“See you at the wedding.” Charlotte waved to her as Andrea clambered into her carriage.
As she pulled out of the drive, Andrea looked down at her notes. Charlotte was right, of course, joy could come from the most surprising places.
“After all, just think where I have managed to find my freedom and joy.” She laughed to herself. “From Thornback to the wife of the Ton’s most eligible bachelor. Will wonders never cease?”