Chapter Forty-Five
Robert Morton stood several paces back from where Charlotte sat, with a look of expectancy on his face.
Charlotte could hardly think what to do.
How dare he interrupt her private reverie?
Memories of his proposal flooded her with sudden rage, and she clenched her fists as she nearly jumped to her feet.
“What are you doing here? I should think you would have the grace and intelligence to know I have no desire to see or speak to you ever again,” she said in a shaking voice. “Please be so kind as to leave Haverstone at once.” When he did not move, Charlotte had no choice but to walk away herself.
“Miss Kendall, I beg you to allow me to speak,” he called after her. “I know I have behaved abominably and a thousand apologies would never be enough to warrant your forgiveness. But, I do not interrupt your solitary time now for my own purposes.”
Charlotte stopped in her tracks and turned back to face him. “I fail to understand you, sir,” she said stiffly. “What is your meaning?”
He took a few steps toward her, halting when she backed away. “Be assured I have no wish to upset you in any way, Miss Kendall. I come to speak on behalf of my brother, Frederick.”
Charlotte’s knees nearly gave way at the mention of her former fiancé’s name, and she quickly returned to the stone bench to sit.
As Robert again moved nearer, she held up a hand to stop him.
“Whatever you have to say can have no bearing on my decision. I made a mistake in accepting him. I am sorry that my subsequent refusal may have caused him any pain, but I hope it will be of short duration and that he may one day find happiness with another.”
“You have made a mistake, Miss Kendall, but it was not in accepting my brother. Rather, it was in believing Frederick was anything like me in regards to his motives for making you an offer. I know, thanks to village gossip, that you are now well aware that I was primarily interested in a wife with a generous dowry. I was desperate to save Brentwood from its debt and yes, your coming into the county looking for a husband was most advantageously timed for me. I pursued you and—I am ashamed to say—asked you to elope with me, rather than wait for a church wedding in order to get control of your dowry sooner, rather than later. At the time, it seemed my only solution.”
“And when I left to care for my father you persuaded another to do what I would not.” Charlotte could not keep the bitterness from her voice.
“Yes. I needed the money that quickly. Again, I am not asking forgiveness for my actions. They were reprehensible and not those of a gentleman.” He lifted his eyes skyward and exhaled.
“Does it, perhaps, make you feel any better to learn that I am now tied to a woman who is beautiful but without a single, sensible thought in her head? Phoebe and I are not well suited, and I shall likely spend a great deal of time in London while she remains here in the country. I have no doubt that you and I would have been better suited. You are intelligent and thoughtful. We could have had a good marriage. But, there is no point in discussing all that now,” he ended softly.
“No,” Charlotte said fiercely. “There is absolutely no point in it. And, there is no need for you to plead your brother’s case. I cannot trust him or any other man who may make me an offer. In the back of my mind, I shall always wonder whether it was my dowry they truly desired.”
“But, that is exactly why I am here. You believe Frederick to be like me, and I assure you he is not. He never has been. I tell you, Miss Kendall, my little brother has always been the kinder of us two—the more generous, compassionate, and sympathetic. Even as a young boy, he could not abide seeing an animal mistreated or a person bullied or ridiculed. He was tailor-made for the Church. Believe me—he is a good man, and he loves you not for your dowry but for yourself. He returned to Brentwood after speaking to your father, when Mr. Kendall shared the contents of your recent correspondence.” Robert moved to a second bench and sat, leaning forward toward Charlotte and giving her a rueful smile.
“After giving me yet another thorough dressing down for my treatment of you—which, I admit, I completely deserved—he came here to Haverstone to beg to speak to you. But, you did not see him.”
“No. There is nothing he could say that would alter my mind.”
“Is there not? Your fear is that he wants you just for your six thousand pounds. He came to assure your sister and brother of his sincere love for you and to ask them to withdraw their generous addition to your dowry. Frederick does not care for the money. He says he has a good living now at Clayton Parish and merely wishes for you to be his wife to complete his happiness.”
Charlotte stared at Robert. “He refused the dowry? What did my sister and brother say?”
A grimace crossed his face. “Frederick tells me he spoke only to your sister and that she…she declined his request. She said that she believes once you get over your heartache, you will be more than willing to marry some other gentleman who has been paying his addresses to you this summer—someone with an estate and an income far grander than Frederick’s. ”
Charlotte threw her hands up and gave a cry of aggravation. “Dorothea said that? I cannot believe it. Well, no—in fact, I can well believe it, Mr. Morton, because she has been determined to have me marry advantageously and a simple rector is not her idea of such a match.”
“What does your heart say, Miss Kendall?” Robert asked softly. “I believe you accepted my brother because you truly love him and because you know you are well suited to each other. I beg you to reconsider your change of heart and tell Frederick you will have him, after all.”
Charlotte narrowed her eyes at Robert. “You say he is not a fortune hunter, and yet, when he proposed, he did not bring my dowry up or tell me he would refuse it.”
“He told me he intended to do so later, especially if your family objected to the match. But, your father approved wholeheartedly, am I correct?”
“Yes. In fact, it was he who gave the living to your brother so that we would be in close proximity. I believe he hoped it would lead to an offer.”
“So, Frederick, who believed both you and your father to be aware of the increased dowry, was not expecting it to be an issue. Now that he has learned of the Gillinghams’ secret generosity, he comprehends why you would assume he was a fortune hunter.
Like me,” he added softly. “I assure you, he is not. Frederick will give it all up—even your father’s one thousand pounds—if that is what it will take to persuade you to accept him.
He loves you so. I have never seen him thus. ”
“I…I feel so confused,” Charlotte murmured, her voice thick with emotion. She covered her face with both hands and shook her head. “I do not know what to do.”
“I ask again, Miss Kendall, what does your heart say?” Robert asked.
Charlotte did not reply for a long time.
She uncovered her face and stood, gazing at Mr. Morton directly.
“I must think about all you have said because I am still uncertain as to the best course of action. My heart was given so easily to you and you wounded it most severely. You advocate for your brother in what appears to be a sincere manner, but are you truly to be trusted? Perhaps you have some hurtful motive to persuade us to marry that is unknown to me.”
“I am not quite the monster you would think me, Miss Kendall.” He gave a short laugh.
“Despite all evidence to the contrary. But, the last argument I can make is that Frederick does not even know I am here speaking to you, now. Since your sister rejected his offer to refuse your dowry, he has kept to his room. He plans to return to Clayton Parish tomorrow morning. I am sending him back in our carriage. Not that it should bear any sway on your decision, but if you do not accept Frederick, because of my disgraceful part in all of this, I fear I have lost him as my brother forevermore.” He shrugged his shoulders and rose.
“Well. I have done and said all I can to help you to see that Frederick loves you for you alone. For my brother’s sake, I pray you make the choice that I believe will lead to great happiness for you both.
” He bowed stiffly. “I shall leave you now, Miss Kendall. Thank you for the courtesy of your time.”
He hesitated a moment, waiting for some reply, but when none was forthcoming, he gave one last nod of the head, and exited the garden.
Charlotte stood as though frozen for several minutes, thinking over all Mr. Morton said. Then, a look of determination came over her face, and she swiftly returned to the house. When would Dorothea return? She must speak with her sister as soon as possible.