Page 34 of Always the Chaperone
Charlotte swallowed. Her brother was an intelligent man. How direct could she be without him guessing the reason for bringing up such a topic? She did not want to reveal how she felt about William.
“Do you mean Miss Darby, the lady you encountered at our wedding?” Tabitha asked.
“Miss Darby?” Richard snorted. “I would not consider her a suitable acquaintance for you, Charlotte. Are you not bored to tears by her?”
“I would not say Miss Darby has become an intimate acquaintance,” Charlotte said slowly. “I accompanied her to the opera and on a separate occasion, a carriage ride with some gentlemen. It is actually the two gentlemen that I have become more acquainted with. One…one in particular.”
Tabitha sat up hastily, the blanket falling to the carpet. “Are you telling me you are being courted?”
“Of course not,” Richard said easily. When Charlotte did not respond, he leaned forward and repeated, “Of course not, that is not what you are saying at all. Is it, Lotty?”
Was it possible to keep calm in such an unexpected situation? “I said nothing of the sort.”
“But that is what is happening, is it not?” Tabitha asked eagerly.
She paused before responding. In truth, she was not entirely sure what she was to William. Her own emotions, at least, were more clear. She felt more strongly about him than anyone else and would not have permitted him to kiss her in the alleyway if she had not.
Perhaps it would not be prudent to reveal thatparticulardetail to her overprotective brother.
“I enjoy both of the Lennox brothers’ company. Have either of you been introduced to William or John Lennox?”
Apparently appeased by her calmness, her brother leaned back in his seat. “I once met the previous Duke of Mercia, a very elderly gentleman who rarely ventured into society. Arnold wished to make his acquaintance, so we both went, but it was a short and uninteresting visit. I saw no evidence of a wife, I must say, and was not aware he had a son.”
Charlotte made a personal note to find out more about this surprising inheritance line. Without really being aware that she was speaking aloud, she muttered, “Then I wonder how William–I mean, the current duke, received the title. Uncle? Cousin?”
It appeared that Tabitha was finally losing interest in the conversation. “As so many of them do, I suppose. Through a junior branch of the line.”
“Have you met William or John, Tabitha?” Charlotte asked.
Her sister-in-law frowned in concentration. “I remember there was some sort of scandal a few years ago—so I must have.”
Charlotte stiffened. It had not been her intention to stir up gossip about Honora, the sister who had so tragically disappeared from the lives of her brothers. William had been so clearly distraught at even the thought of her somewhere out there in the world.
“Scandal?” Richard said. “I do not like the sound of that. I am not entirely convinced you should be mixing with scandalous dukes, Charlotte.”
She sighed wryly. “I know the tale, Richard, and it is a sad one, not a scandalous one. I do not believe I would wish it on any family.”
“I cannot remember the exact details,” mused Tabitha, “but I can tell you that Major Lennox was an absolute rake.”
Charlotte’s heart turned cold in an instant. “A-a rake?”
Her sister-in-law nodded. “Oh, yes, a notorious womanizer. He had a favorite in every town and village in France when his regiment was over there, and tales quickly found their way back to England whenever they wintered here. Goodness, the stories my mother attempted to tell me, you would think they were a plot by Byron rather than reality!”
It was not possible, and yet Tabitha had no reason to lie. Charlotte attempted to keep her breathing slow and steady. She had asked the question because she wanted to know what kind of a man William was. She had to be brave enough to face the answer.
“And many of them wept when he left the country for good,” Tabitha was saying, oblivious to how her words were upsetting Charlotte. “He was their protector, of course, and by all accounts, a fine lover.”
“Tabitha!” Richard looked absolutely appalled.
“I am only repeating the gossip!” she said defensively, opening her eyes to look at her husband. “And Charlotte did ask, after all.”
“Yes, well, that is of no importance,” he said hastily, glancing at Charlotte. “We all have family members that we disapprove of and would not agree with, just look at Arnold, our brother. Damned fool if ever there was one. I am sure this duke that Charlotte has met does not mix with this Major Lennox.”
Charlotte swallowed. There was nothing for it. She would have to speak, and though it would shock her brother, it certainly hurt her far more.
“Actually, Richard,” she said quietly, “Major Lennox came to the title of Duke of Mercia a few years ago. They are one and the same man.”
There was a moment of silence.
