Page 16 of Wager on Love

“Yes,” Alice added. “Let’s walk.”

Charlotte looked to Jane, but she just shrugged. Charlotte supposed she was outnumbered. They would walk. Although, she would have preferred a ride, walking out of doors was an acceptable substitute.

* * *

7

Alice had been right, it was a very lovely day, a little brisk to be sure, but perfectly enjoyable. There were plenty of other fashionable people taking the air by the time the Keenings arrived at the park. Charlotte was content to let the others chatter about the various people they noticed, while she reflected on her conversations with Sir John Ashbrooke the night before. Lost in reverie, Charlotte suddenly found herself jostled and she stumbled.

“Oh, good heavens, I beg your pardon, my lady,” gasped a voice and strong arms held her steady. Charlotte found herself looking into the startling blue eyes of the object of her musing.

“Why, Sir John,” she exclaimed, feeling as though she had somehow accidentally conjured him merely by thinking about him too strongly.

“Lady Charlotte, of course you would be a witness to my clumsiness,” he said, flushing with evident embarrassment. “I am exceedingly sorry. I fear I was lost in thought and not looking where I was going at all. I tripped over my own foolish feet and came crashing back to earth rather suddenly.”

“That happens to me all of the time, and it is always most disorienting,” said Charlotte sympathetically. He looked so handsome, and so mortified. It was endearing, and she was filled with the urge to reassure him.

“You are very kind to say so, but I doubt that you would ever be anything less than graceful, my lady.” Sir John said with a bow.

“Oh, I would not be so sure of that,” Alice put in saucily, intrigued by her older sister’s expression when she looked at the handsome gentleman. “I have seen Charlotte be less than graceful any number of times.”

“Alice,” Jane murmured in mild censure. “Will you introduce us, Charlotte?”

“Oh, of course,” Charlotte said quickly. “Sir John Ashbrooke, may I present my brother’s wife, the Lady Keegain. And my younger sisters, Lady Helen and Lady Alice Keening.”

“It is my great pleasure to meet all of you,” Sir John said with another, more formal bow. “I do apologize for interrupting your walk.”

“Think nothing of it,” Jane said graciously. “Please join us, Sir John.”

“Indeed, we were all longing to catch a glimpse of the gentleman who sent such lovely flowers to Charlotte this morning,” Alice added. “Myself especially, because the others were bound to see you at Almack’s, but of courseIwill not. I won’t be out until next year. Mother says I still need refinement, but I don’t think so…”

“Come along, Alice,” Jane intervened. “I believe you are in need of walking at a faster pace, since you have such excitable spirits this afternoon,” she said, taking Alice’s arm in hers and forcing her to walk a little ahead of the others.

“You must excuse Alice, Sir John,” Helen said in a low voice. “She is terribly impatient for her own Season.” Helen moved ahead with the others, leaving Charlotte and Sir John the small privacy of a few paces distance.

Torn between annoyance at her younger sister and enjoyment of the ridiculousness of the situation, Charlotte risked a glance up at Sir John to see his reaction. He seemed to be schooling his features into a serious expression with some difficulty.

“Ah, so may I assume that the flowers that I was so bold as to send were not overly-presumptive?” he ventured.

“You would be rather foolish to assume anything else, after hearing my little sister prattle on,” Charlotte laughed. “I am glad to have the opportunity to thank you for them, sir. Alice is right in saying that they were lovely.”

“I am glad to hear it from your lips, but it is you who are lovely,” he added quickly. Charlotte flushed at the compliment. “May I ask a bold question, Lady Charlotte?” Sir John continued.

“Oh dear, I ought to refuse, shouldn’t I? That would be the proper response, I am sure, but my curiosity will hardly allow it. Suppose we make a trade? You may ask me a bold question, only if I may ask you one in return.”

“That sounds perfectly reasonable and I will gladly make the trade. My bold question is,willI see you at Almack’s next week?”

It was not so bold a question, but it did indicate his interest. Charlotte felt a little thrill of delight.

“You will if you attend,” Charlotte answered promptly. “But that was not so terribly bold, nor was it worth making a trade, in my opinion. Aren’t most fashionable young ladies to be found at Almack’s, especially right at the beginning of the Season? You would have been quite safe in assuming I would be found there.”

“Perhaps you are right, but I do not believe I could endure the wait of an eternally long week without some assurance to set my mind at ease,” Sir John said, with such a warm tone in his deep, rich voice that Charlotte felt an answering warmth rising up within her. She made no response, but kept walking at a pace that kept them both a discreet distance behind her sisters.

“Is it your intention to keep me in suspense?” he asked at length. “I have asked my bold question, I am quite prepared to answer yours in turn, if only you will ask it.”

“Oh, was I supposed to ask straight away?” Charlotte teased, her eyes sparkling with merriment. “That was never agreed upon.” She laughed again at his exaggerated groan, before she continued. “No, I will not be so cruel as to leave you with such a thing hanging over your head. My bold question is, what were you thinking of just now, when you were so lost in thought that you stumbled?”

“Now thatisa bold question, and one I am rather loathe to answer,” Sir John said ruefully.

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