Page 6 of A Marriage Most Convenient

“Precisely what I’d been thinking,” Charlotte admitted.

“Do you believe he was waiting for you?” Meg asked.

Charlotte’s heart skipped a beat at the thought. “No, I don’t. He actually seemed as if he were on his way out. I’m not even certain he made an appearance that night. I never heard anyone mention it.”

Willow tapped a finger on her lips. “There was nothing about it in the papers,” she said. “At least not for the Maybrook ball. There was a report that he robbed a group of ladies at a concert that very evening.”

“You read the papers even during your wedding?” Charlotte asked.

“Certainly not during the ceremony, but one should keep abreast of the world around them. It would do me no good to lock myself away in a room with James and not pay attention to anything outside,” Willow said.

“Ah, but it would be fun,” Amelia interjected with a wink.

Willow shrugged, but could not hide a smile. “That I cannot deny,” she said quietly.

Ugh. Charlotte didn’t want to listen to her friends discuss their wedded bliss. Yes, that made her selfish, but that seemed slightly better than envious. She was happy that her three dear friends had found love matches in their perspective husbands, but sometimes it was painful to observe their unrestrained happiness, knowing the grim future that awaited her.

“Back to our plan,” Charlotte said trying to redirect their conversation. “I suggest that at future social engagements, I make myself available, so to speak, and see if he does not seek me out. Now that we’ve spoken, perhaps he’ll feel less guarded.”

Meg snorted. “I suspect he’ll want more than a conversation next time. Perhaps he’ll steal a kiss.”

Charlotte felt her cheeks warm and knew she blushed. It wasn’t something that happened often. She’d done her very best to desensitize herself to embarrassment because she was so fair-complected that a blush was like a spotlight on her cheeks. Thankfully Amelia interjected.

“Make yourself available? How shall you do that?” she asked.

“I suspect she means to stand around alone as much as possible,” Meg said.

“Precisely,” Charlotte agreed.

“That might present a significant challenge,” Willow said. “You tend to be surrounded by suitors quite often.”

“They are beginning to lessen,” Charlotte admitted. She’d noticed it more and more lately. One man here, another there, her crowd was thinning. She’d finally done precisely what her mother had been warning her about for years—made herself so unattainable no one even tried to win her. But at least that had kept her family’s secret quiet. If people assumed she was a shameless flirt out to snag the perfect gentleman, then she’d welcome that assumption. It was better than the alternative. “Frannie has been getting more than her share of attention now that she’s come out. In fact, I do believe Lord Blaire has set his cap for her. We will both be joining him in his box at the opera later this week.”

“You could still have your pick,” Meg assured her. “All you would need to do was tell the right sort of people that you were ready to wed and the men would line up. The gossips in this town would eat up that tidbit.”

Amelia and Willow nodded.

Charlotte, however, was not so certain. She waved them off, not wanting to further discuss her marital status.

Amelia eyed her, then nodded as if she sensed Charlotte’s need to change the subject. “So the plan is that you will try to make yourself more available to our dear boy, Jack, in hopes that he will speak with you again?” Amelia asked.

Charlotte nodded.

“Then what?” Willow asked.

“Well, I suppose I shall endeavor to persuade him to come close enough for me to tear off his mask,” Charlotte suggested, trying to hide her pounding heart. Last night she’d been close enough that she could have ripped off his mask and yet she hadn’t. She’d been too entranced by his kiss.

“He might be prepared for that,” Willow said.

Amelia’s brow wrinkled. “You should be careful with such a plan though. If you get too close, he could take liberties.”

Charlotte scratched at her cheek.

“That would be quite damaging to one’s reputation,” Willow pointed out.

“True, but Jack is so fashionable,” Meg said. “Compromised with the Jack of Hearts, can you imagine?”

Charlotte had no intention of compromising herself with anyone. She might be the only one among her friends left unmarried, but she would not use trickery to snare a husband.

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