Page 48 of Loving a Noble Gentleman
Chapter 23
“Mary?”
Mary slid from the bed and made herself sit when she heard Charlotte’s voice. Everything had been feeling too difficult for days now; she could barely even force herself awake and get dressed. Being asleep was preferable because while she was asleep she could imagine that she was not trapped inside a nightmare. It was only when she was awake that she truly had to face reality. No money, no home, watching her sister suffer through a terrible marriage ... all of it was getting to her, bringing her down. Mary was starting to feel like soon there would be nothing left of her at all.
“Mary, how are you feeling today?”
Mary shrugged. She could not even drag her eyes off the ground to meet her sister’s gaze. As soon as she saw that sympathy, she would fall apart all over again.
“I have something to tell you,” Charlotte continued, knowing that she had to persevere, even though it felt incredibly challenging to do so. “Something important and ... well, I am not too sure if you are going to like it or not.”
That was enough to get Mary’s attention. There was only one thing that she understood at the moment, and that was bad news. It kept coming at her like a tsunami, a never-ending wave that she did not know how to prevent. “What now?”
“It is nothing terrible.” As Charlotte saw that familiar look on Mary’s face, she realised her incorrect choice of words. She had to stop beating around the bush, to just dive right into it. “There is someone downstairs who wishes to speak with you.”
“Is it Walter?” Still, even now Mary could not let go of hope. It was only a gossamer- thin thread, but it was all that she had. “Has he come at last?”
“No, no it is not.” Charlotte felt ice-cold guilt run through her as Mary’s face fell. “It is actually ...” She gulped loudly. “It is His Grace, Duke Smith.”
“What?” Mary’s head fell back onto the pillow. She suddenly felt absolutely certain that she was still right in the middle of a nightmare. “What do you mean? What is he doing here?”
“Well ... he wishes to speak with you.” Charlotte’s heart raced; maybe this was not the best plan after all. “I know you probably do not wish to speak with him, but I believe he might be able to help us.”
Mary propped herself onto her elbows to glare at Charlotte. “Why would he be able to help us? And how does he even know where I am?”
“I ... I told him.” Charlotte could feel her cheeks heating up as she spoke. “I sent him a letter informing him of what Mr Thompson had done.”
Mary felt sick to her stomach at her sister’s betrayal. She could not believe that Charlotte would go behind her back like that. Had they not grown close recently? Had they not gotten to a stage where they did not keep secrets anymore?
“He did not need to know that.” Mary stood and paced across the room to the window. She wanted to look out the window because nature was a better sight than her sister’s guilty face right now. “That was nothing to do with him.”
“But he was part of the inheritance; I thought he deserved ...”
“He deserved nothing,” Mary interrupted angrily. “He was supposed to be a part of the inheritance only in the way that he had to marry me. The home would not go to him.” Even Mary knew that he would have control over it because he was the man, but that point did not help her argument right now. “He did not need to know about Walter. You forget what he did to Lady Hartmon.”
“I have not forgotten anything.” Charlotte was so used to being yelled at, but when it was Mary doing the shouting, it hurt her deeply. “I am sorry; I can get rid of him if that is what you prefer ...”
Mary did not feel like she had the energy to face Edmund right now, but there was a deep pull in her chest encouraging her to do so anyway. She could not stop herself from feeling intrigued by his reasons for arriving. He had obviously come to see her for something, and she did not think he would come all this way just to be horrible to her. No matter what he had done, he was not a nasty, spiteful person with his words.
“I suppose I should see him,” Mary finally agreed. “He might simply want some practical information about how all of this affects him.” She sighed loudly. “I can just tell him that he has nothing to worry about and that he can continue with his life in the same way as before.”
“Right,” Charlotte replied a little hollowly. “Yes, of course.”
“I shall just get dressed.”Mary walked over to her dresses and made a show of looking through them, “Then I will be downstairs. Maybe if you could ask Jennifer to make him a drink while he waits.”
Charlotte was slowly growing used to Mary knowing Jennifer by her first name. She thought it rather nice, actually, not that she had found the confidence to call her that herself.
“Oh, before you go.” Mary turned to look at her sister curiously. “What did you say in the letter? To His Grace, to get him here.”
Charlotte heard the warmth in her sister’s tone, and she sensed that she had been somewhat forgiven. Of course, it would not be that simple; it would take some time to fully regain Mary’s trust, but it was a positive start. “I just gave him some vague details about what happened with Walter, nothing more. Luckily, that was enough to make him come.”
“Hmmm, luckily.”Mary rolled her eyes in an overly dramatic fashion. “I think I will be the judge of that.”
***
Mary’s heart skipped a beat when she saw Edmund. Her body continued to react to him after all this time, despite the fact that she had done her best to spend the last few weeks hating him. She felt her mouth run dry, her stomach burn, and her pulse flutter.
“H ... hello, Your Grace,” she stammered. “Thank you for coming to see me again.”
