Page 49 of A Lady's Dangerous Secret
Infatuation, that’s what it was. She had put him under her spell, and he had become blind to what was so obviously in front of him.
As he hurriedly moved from one carriage to the next, the yells of angered coachmen filtered through the night air. He eventually reached the end of the line, winded and frustrated.
There was no sign of Lottie.
He leaned over with his hands resting on his thighs while he caught his breath. He took a moment to process what had just happened and then buried his face in his hands.
Lottie was a murderess.
The carriage rattled along the streets of London. Charlotte kept looking out the window expecting James to be coming hellbent after her. She thanked her lucky stars that when she dashed out of the Stanhope estate, she was able to find Nate’s carriage with the Pulverbatch family crest on the side. The coachman had previously worked for the family in Shropshire, so with her veil removed, he took one look at her panic-stricken face, and they were on their way back to the city posthaste.
She still did not see James trailing the vehicle, which gave her a small sense of relief; however, it did not assuage the overwhelming terror she felt.
He knew.
Just one word from him to the magistrate and she would be swinging from the gallows. Every worst-case scenario flashed through her mind. It did not help that she was in a carriage, which brought her back to that fateful day.
She had managed High Crest Hall’s ledgers and discovered the new man of business, Roberts, was skimming money from her family. Claiming to be Arthur, she had forged a letter demanding a meeting. Roberts had denied her request, so she decided to go in person and confront the man.
Charlotte figured he would refuse to meet with a member of her family, given his earlier rejection of the letter, so she came up with the disguise of Mrs. Gibson. This poor widow had just lost her husband and was looking for a capable man to manage her affairs. Could she please meet with someone as highly recommended as Roberts to help her?
It worked like a charm, and she had gained entry to his office with a pistol stowed in her reticule as a safeguard. Being ignoredby her parents as a child had an occasional perk, and had left her free to learn how to shoot like her brothers. Roberts quickly realized her identity when she accused him of stealing from the Earl of Pulverbatch. He attempted to kill her, and she reacted by shooting him in self-defense.
Charlotte fled.
She had clambered into the unmarked coach and ordered the driver to get her back to High Crest Hall as quickly as possible. She had been in survival mode, doing whatever was necessary to get out of Roberts’s office alive, but once she was alone in the carriage, reality sank in.
She was a murderess.
Roberts had bled from the gunshot wound.
And she had been the cause of it.
As the carriage rattled away from the masquerade, as it had that horrible day, she used every ounce of energy left in her body to wrestle her thoughts from the past and focus on the present. Arthur always told her reason ruled the day. She focused on the black veil she held in her hands. It was a stark reminder of the day she had killed a man.She could feel the edges of panic and yanked the vine from around her neck and started counting each leaf. Her breathing eventually slowed, and she tried to think through her quandary. She needed to marry the Duke of Westcliffe soon.
Otherwise, she was out of options to save herself.
Charlotte did not trust anything James had told her about the Duke of Westcliffe being connected with Roberts. It had to be another ruse to get her dowry.
Return to reason.
Fact: tomorrow night, the Duke wanted to announce their betrothal.
Problem: how swiftly could she marry the Duke?
Solution: a special license.
Problem: how could she convince the Duke to obtain this sacred document?
Solution: she could feign excitement over the nuptials and proclaim she did not want to wait for the banns to be read.
Charlotte mulled this solution over while she toyed with the vines, the silkiness of the leaves providing a soothing effect. The Duke seemed to want to move forward with the marriage without unnecessary pomp.
Arthur was right, reason was a salve to her emotions. Her betrothal would be announced the next day at the Rowley Ball and then she would encourage the Duke to procure a special marriage license.
No.
Charlotte would write to the Duke in the morning so that he could begin the process of obtaining a special license even sooner. In the meantime, Charlotte would have to avoid James until she became the Duchess of Westcliffe and was protected.
