Chapter Eleven
Julian felt it best to make certain Charlotte understood the reality of their situation.
He’d not begun their interaction on a foundation of candor, and he regretted that.
The presentation of his calling card at her London residence was answered by the butler with instructions from Lady Charlotte that he be shown to the back garden.
It was a reasonable way for her to receive him despite both of them being unwed and unrelated to each other.
He made his way there and found Charlotte standing amongst the honeysuckle and climbing roses. Her eyes lit as he approached. He imagined his did as well despite having arrived to deliver unfortunate news.
“Charlotte.” Her name emerged softer than he’d intended, but his heart was heavy.
“You seem upset.”
He took gentle hold of her hand, grateful they had enough privacy to allow the gesture while also being enough in public to avoid scandal. “I feel like we’ve had this conversation before.”
“We have, though it was you who comforted me at the lending library when I was upset.”
“I fear, though I know you will try, that there will be little comfort to be had once I tell you the source of my distress.” He set his other hand atop hers, cradling it between both of his.
“I have learned that the wager we were depending upon to delay your nuptials and set my finances to rights is, in actuality, an old one involving a different Lady Charlotte and a different Lord Wesley. There is no forfeit to be had.”
A string of expressions passed over her features as she sorted out what he had revealed. “My aunt Tottie?” she finally guessed aloud.
He nodded. “And my grandfather.”
Charlotte pressed her free hand to her heart. “Poor Tottie.”
Julian set their entwined hands against his heart. “I will do all I can to continue helping you to avoid whatever unwanted matches your father might press on you, of course.”
“Any match my father might press on me would be unwanted.” She sighed. “He’s already told me that he considers you unsuitable.”
He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it gently. “I cannot say that I blame him, and I wish I knew how to change his mind.”
“So do I.” She closed the distance between them and leaned against him.
Julian set his arms around her. He likely would never be granted the opportunity again. How quickly he’d fallen in love with her. And how quickly that had fallen apart. He kissed her temple, closing his eyes in a vain attempt to prolong the moment.
Fate seemed inclined to undermine them; footsteps sounded on the path nearby.
Charlotte slipped back and out of his arms, looking as disappointed as he felt.
It was the earl who came into sight a moment later, and he didn’t appear the least surprised to see them there. Perhaps this location was not as private as he’d thought, despite the climbing roses and honeysuckle creating a bit of seclusion.
“Lord Wesley,” the earl said as he walked past, “I thought I might find you here.”
“Did you?” He had not indicated any intention to come to this house after his time spent at the club.
“I am not so oblivious as some might think.” Lord Tarrant sat on the bench tucked among the honeysuckle. “Come sit with me, Charlotte.”
She did so. Julian, not having been dismissed, remained nearby.
“I had the opportunity while at my club this morning to undertake a very enlightening conversation,” the earl said, “but also to peruse the betting books while I was there.”
Charlotte looked up at Julian, confusion and concern. He wished he had some reassurance to offer.
“I have discovered, Lord Wesley, why it is you did not realize the wager you stumbled across was not a current one.” The earl threaded his fingers on his lap just as he’d done during their earlier conversation. “The wager was not dated. Neither was it marked as fulfilled.”
“I had thought it odd that, after only half a glass of sherry, I was left so inebriated that I couldn’t comprehend what I was reading yet, somehow, remembered in great detail what I had read.”
With a lift of his eyebrow, Lord Tarrant said, “Perhaps you should keep to champagne.”
Julian laughed lightly. “That is likely very good advice.”
The earl seemed both surprised and pleased by that response.
“Were you able to have the wager marked complete?” Julian asked.
“I can’t. Only the one who placed it and the one to whom the forfeit was to be paid can have it officially declared completed.”
That was a difficulty. “Both of those gentlemen are dead.”
The earl nodded. “But their heirs are not.”
“We are their heirs.” Julian knew the earl realized that. There must have been more to it. “Could we not declare in their stead?”
The earl shook his head. “To do so, we would need to have some proof that our predecessors did as they pledged. But I am certain my father did not record the payment he made, as he would have been ashamed of the entire thing. And, considering how quickly your grandfather lost what he was paid, I don’t imagine he recorded it either. ”
“Likely not.”
“I cannot imagine any of this is legally binding,” Charlotte said.
“Yet,” her father said, “it is still binding in a very real way. The existence of the wager does not reflect well on either of our families. To be believed to be delinquent in the payment of it only makes the situation worse.”
She squared her shoulders. “If you think I will allow myself to be forced into an unwanted match so that your gentlemanly obligation can be met—”
Both Julian and the earl were quick to insist they would not countenance such a thing. That her father was not thinking of subjecting his daughter to such an unkindness set Julian’s mind a bit at ease.
“What is it you mean to do, Father?”
“I mean, in one week’s time, to pay Lord Wesley ￡1,000.”
Julian shook his head. “That is hardly necessary.”
The earl rose once more, moving to stand in front of Julian.
“I have spent much of the weeks since your arrival in our lives determined to believe that you were exactly like your father, and his. I ought to have been doing more to show that I was not like mine.” He looked Julian fully in the eye.
“You rose to my sister’s defense despite not knowing her.
You pleaded for my daughter’s happiness, even knowing you were unlikely to secure your own.
And even now, when you have found yourself in a position to receive a much-needed windfall, you objected to what you felt was an unwarranted burden on me.
You have led me to rethink a great many things. ”
“Your daughter has led me to do the same. She is a remarkable person.”
“Yes, she is.” He smiled quickly at his daughter. “And she seems to think very highly of you.”
Charlotte was watching Julian, her gaze uncertain but tender and gentle.
“Do you suppose, Lord Tarrant, that, in light of Lady Charlotte’s approval, I might be permitted to call here now and then? Perhaps join you some mornings when you ride in the park?”
Lord Tarrant dipped his head. “I would appreciate the opportunity to learn for myself if you are worthy of the good opinion she has bestowed upon you.”
Charlotte rose and stood at Julian’s side, facing the earl. “You have seen his good character for yourself, Father. You’ve only just said as much.”
“As your father, I will require repeated proof,” he said. “But I am not unwilling to allow him to provide it.”
Taking Julian’s arm with eagerness, Charlotte said, “You will soon have the money you need to set your estate to rights. At last you will be able to shed the burdens your family has left you with, and not merely the monetary ones.”
He set his hand on hers. “And I hope you have at last been able to shed some of the neglect of your own happiness you had resigned yourself to.”
The earl cleared his throat, pulling their attention back to him. “I am going to take a turn about the garden. That ought to grant you about five minutes of privacy.” On that declaration, he did precisely as he said he would.
The moment they were alone, Charlotte threw her arms around Julian’s neck, something to which he did not object in the least.
“Father will come around to accepting you, I know he will.”
Julian held her close. “I suspect you are correct, though it still feels like a miracle.”
“I have never been more grateful for a wager in all my life.”
“Neither have I,” he said. “Neither have I.”