Chapter Thirty-Four #2
Elsie cocked her head to the side as if puzzling out a particularly confounding sum.
“But it was not out. Alexander and I were in London only a week ago. Of course, there was some talk of Benjamin’s interest in you after you were seen together around town.
But since your departure, there have been at least three more scandals for the ton to gnaw on.
I cannot see how the Chesterfields would have found out only just now. ”
“Perhaps the post was delayed.” Charlotte threw up her hands, frustration born of desperation giving her words an edge.
“What does it really matter? They know—likely, so do many others. And not only that, I was seen to be entertaining a courtship. Look, there—” She pointed to the line but did not have to read it out from the page.
It was already seared into her memory. “It has come to our attention that you have been conducting a highly improper affair with a man of ill repute. We are sure you can understand that, though it is not their fault, we could not possibly house Marcus and Henry over the summer after their sister behaved in such a vulgar manner. We expect no further correspondence from you or your family.”
The words had cut through her like a knife the first time she read them, and they hurt just as acutely now. Her worst fears had come to pass. Her selfishness had ruined her family.
“Yes, well… That is rather damning, is it not?” Elsie was still chewing her lip, going over the letter again and again.
“Indeed.” In any other situation, the understatement would have made Charlotte laugh.
“It does not much matter how they came to have this information. They do now. And now my family is ruined, and the twins are going to be left out in the cold in less than a week’s time.
” Her voice rose with each word until the shrill tone hurt even her own ears.
“The townhouse is let already. The new family is moving in the Sunday next. I cannot welcome them back there. I must return and find lodging for them—and I cannot possibly leave them alone in London, so I must stay until I can find something better. Certainly, staying with me will only make the situation worse for them. But I do not see what else can be done. Perhaps I will bring them back here. It will only be a few weeks until they can return to school.”
Charlotte thought doubtfully of her small room at the boarding house—the all-female boarding house. Mrs. Walters was kind, but she doubted she would allow two rambunctious youths to run rampant through her establishment. No, she would have to think of something else.
“Charlotte. Charlotte!” Elsie’s voice cut through the manic whirlwind of thoughts swirling around her head. “Charlotte. Why can your brother not take care of them? He is the earl, is he not? Would it not be best for you and them if he found an arrangement for them?”
Charlotte scoffed at the idea—tempting though it was.
“I could not possibly trust Frederick to take care of them. He can hardly take care of himself. Besides, I do not even know where to find him. He never wrote a response to my last letter informing him that I was to leave, and the house was being let to pay for the boy’s schooling.
No, I must return to London and collect them.
What I do from there…” The uncertain future yawned before her in a dizzying void.
“Well, I am sure I will think of something. I always do.”
She brought her hand up to rub the thrumming pain between her eyes.
Elsie did not look convinced. “I know you will not listen to me, but I am not sure a mad dash back to London is the most reasonable solution. If you would let us, we could write to our contacts back in London to discover more about the situation. I cannot imagine Benjamin—” She stopped at Charlotte’s sharp inhale of breath.
“Well, if it were that dire, he would have written to tell us. I am sure.”
Charlotte shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “Even the Master of London’s Secrets cannot know everything. Besides, you said it yourself; he was out of sorts. Maybe he has been off his game. He is not privy to every thought and private correspondence of the ton.”
Elsie gave her a dubious look, but she stood to ring for a footman anyway. “Kelly, please have the duke’s carriage prepared for a journey to London. Lady Charlotte will be leaving this evening.”
Any protests from Charlotte had fallen on deaf ears, and an hour later, she had been shown to the carriage with her trunk already strapped to the back and a pile of wool blankets, heated bricks, and a basket laden with food packed inside to ensure her comfort.
Elkington and Elsie had bid her farewell, insisting that she write as soon as she arrived to apprise them of the situation.
Now, with the impenetrable dark of a Scottish night upon the conveyance, she had nothing to do but lie back on the generously upholstered bench and hope the restless fits of sleep that took her would somehow make time move faster.