Page 40 of Wager on Love

“Fine then, I shall say you were right if that is what you want to hear, brother.” When she sniffed again, he silently handed her his handkerchief.

Charlotte declined the offer with a horrified look and patted her nose gently with her own, although the delicate lace cloth was hardly up to the task. It was clear that the appendage needed an indecent blowing rather than a subtle pat.

“Get upstairs with you, Charlotte, and lie down before you fall over,” Keegain ordered.

“Youareinsufferable, Ruddy,” Charlotte said, but with a final weak smile at Sir John, she did as her brother suggested.

Sir John waited as Lady Charlotte rose. He bowed slightly. “I hope to see you soon, Lady Charlotte, when you are feeling better.” He smiled as she left the room.

Keegain spoke then. “Sir John, we were just planning an informal gathering for next week and were wondering if you would care to join us? My eldest sister Sophia is in Town with her husband and children. Some of our close friends are also in residence, and we thought to have a dinner and perhaps some card games afterwards. Mostly, it will be family and close friends, and exceedingly informal, but I think Charlotte would appreciate your presence.”

“That sounds marvelous, I should enjoy nothing more,” Sir John replied fervently. The invitation was precisely what he wanted, as it might give him a chance to speak to Lord Keegain about his intentions towards Charlotte. For all the indulgence that the earl showed his sister, a marriage would still be impossible without the man’s consent and approval. The gentleman was an earl after all, and would have high hopes for his sister’s marriage. It was one thing to convince Charlotte of his sincerity, and quite another to convince a man of Keegain’s social standing.

* * *

Lady Charlotte collapsedinto her bed, allowing her sister Helen, who had just returned from her charity work, to tuck her in cozily. She felt miserable, but elated at the same time.

“What on earth can you be grinning about?” asked Helen. “I thought you were sick.”

“I believe that Sir John truly loves me, Helen,” murmured Charlotte, smiling beatifically. “And he lovesme,not my fortune or my status. I feel the truth of it down in my very bones, and it is wonderful, Helen. I had nearly stopped hoping that such a thing might be possible, and then he came along and proved me most delightfully wrong.”

“You sound feverish,” Helen said mercilessly. “Stop your rambling on and go to sleep. You might have been able to attend the ball tomorrow evening if you had not insisted on pretending you were well enough to receive callers today. Now, you shall most certainly miss it. Indeed, you will be lucky if that is the only event you miss.”

Charlotte knew that her sister’s gruff attitude was only because of her concern and she could not be cross.

“Iamlucky,” Charlotte murmured contentedly, snuggling into the bedclothes.

Helen patted her sister lovingly. “I shall have some tea brought up,” Helen promised, but Charlotte was asleep before the tray arrived.

* * *

18

Sir John Ashbrooke made straight for the club that he and his friends most frequented, and was relieved to find them all within.

“Why, here he is.” Lord Weston hailed Sir John enthusiastically. “We have scarcely seen you in a fortnight, at least. I take that to be a sign that your courtship of Lady Charlotte has been proceeding according to plan?”

“That is just why I came looking for you all,” Sir John replied uneasily. Glancing from one face to the next, he could not get a clear idea of how they might respond to the request he had in mind. It was, of course, not gentlemanly to wheedle out of a wager.

“Oh, indeed?” asked Lord Edward, looking amused at his friend’s nervous appearance.

“Surely you do not mean to say the lady is unresponsive to your attentions, Ashbrooke,” added Lord Blakely. “Her marked favor for you has been noticed by nearly everyone in theTonalready. And I myself, have been employing your prescribed methods with a marvelous degree of success.”

“Blakely is right; surprisingly,” Lord Henderson laughed. “Your impending match with Lady Charlotte is already taken as a foregone conclusion by most, and Blakely is indeed finding more favor with the current object of his affections than he has ever experienced before.”

“I suppose I must congratulate you then, Blakely,” Sir John said with a slight bow. “To answer your question, the lady is by no means unresponsive to my attention. Quite the opposite, as a matter of fact. I wanted to speak to you all because I myself have encountered an unexpected difficulty with our wager.”

“What on earth could that be?” asked Lord Blakely. “Everything seems to be progressing wonderfully for you.”

“Perhaps too wonderfully?” suggested Lord Edward. “Perhaps our friend here has encountered that particular difficulty of falling in love? Which would be quite an impressive feat, considering he does not believe in the phenomenon.”

“Have your laugh then,” Sir John replied, doing his best to keep his annoyance out of his tone. Afterall, it would hardly do to antagonize his friends when he was requesting a favor of them. “It is just the outcome you hoped for, and I am compelled to admit that I was in the wrong. I cannot deny the existence of love any longer. I believe that Lady Charlotte has feelings for me as well, but I cannot deny that I have fallen thoroughly and completely in love with Lady Charlotte.”

“How marvelous.” exclaimed Lord Henderson. “We are all delighted to hear it, I am sure.”

“Truly,” agreed Lord Edward. “And not only for the satisfaction of being proven right. It is a great thing to see a friend happily encumbered. But what compels you to confess this development to us? Surely you are now even better positioned to win our wager.”

“I am, though I do not flatter myself to say so,” Sir John frowned. “I hope to speak with Lord Keegain by this time next week to receive his blessing on the union. He has invited me to a family gathering so I have no doubt that if so chose to do so I could win our wager, in the technical sense. But I would instead ask that we might dissolve it altogether.”

---