very fatigued—he was not.
‘I am thankful for that,’ Charlotte said. ‘For had you felt more weary, you might not have agreed to walk with me.’
Lt. Roberts smiled. ‘What a dismal turn of events that would have been, my lady.’
‘Do you like to take the air, my lord?’ she asked. The transfer of the earldom to Lieutenat. Roberts had not yet officially happened, but she hoped using the title would endear her to him.
‘Very much so,’ he replied. ‘I sailed for many years, you know. One is most refreshed by the salty flavour of sea air. But failing that, country air suffices nicely.’
‘Oh, how fascinating,’ Charlotte said, turning to face him and allowing her gloved hand to brush his arm as if accidentally. ‘Do tell me more of your time at sea! Is it the end of the war that has led to your retirement?’
Lt. Roberts’s blue eyes flicked to the hand that had touched his arm, then back up to meet her gaze. ‘“Retirement” is not quite the term, my lady. I could be called back up at any time, should His Majesty require men.’
‘How exciting,’ the lady exclaimed.
‘And to answer your question, no. It is not the resolution of the war, especially considering it has been many years since I last served. Rather, the ship I served on, the HMS Triumph, had a run of ill luck. It led to a great deal of trouble, I am afraid to say.’
‘Trouble?’
Lieutenant Roberts touched the scar by his mouth. ‘A cargo of mercury we carried spilled and contaminated the ship. Many of us became very ill.’
‘Oh, how horrid.’
‘Yes. I was fortunate to survive, but ‘twas effectively an end to my naval career. Should the navy call up its half-pay officers, I doubt they would select me from among them.’
Charlotte stopped walking and gazed up into his blue eyes, schooling her own expression to convey innocent admiration. ‘How very glad I am that you are here now to tell the tale,’ she murmured.
And indeed, she was. Satisfaction filled her as she saw his eyes widen and his cheeks redden. Charlotte knew when a man had noticed her charms.
It was only a matter of time now, she told herself.
Soon enough, Lieutenant Roberts would ask for her hand, and her future was assured.
Chapter 21
Emilia straightened the bedclothes and switched Papa’s pillows to fresh ones which she fluffed and placed strategically to best support him. He was awake and sitting up, and she thought his face more expressive and less tense. He moved his hands more, as well.
‘You’re looking well, Papa,’ she said to him, and he nodded at her. She beamed back at him. ‘Is there some return of feeling, then?’
Another nod.
‘Well, I shall have Mrs. Gale bring your medicine shortly.’
With visible effort, her father moved a hand in the direction of the side table.
‘Would you like me to read, Papa?’ Emilia asked, taking hold of the Bible there.
This time he merely gave her a slow blink in response. He was already tiring.
‘Certainly, with pleasure,’ Emilia told him, seating herself and finding the last place they had stopped. ‘Second Corinthians, chapter three. “Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty...”’
I do wish I might take more comfort from this passage, Emilia thought. The vail had been taken away from her vision of Maximilian Emery, and surely seeing the truth was liberating, but she did not feel it to be so. It still felt crushing.
Emilia continued to read to her father, but his eyes drooped and closed. She thought to pursue the reading silently, but the late afternoon was very warm and the air very heavy, and she soon succumbed to sleep as well. And she began to dream.
Charlotte and Emilia sat side by side at the pianoforte in the music room at Ceastre. Charlotte’s fingers moved clumsily over the keys as she struggled to master Mozart’s Fantasy in D Minor.
‘Practicing one’s scales would help immeasurably,’ Emilia said with thinning patience.
‘How utterly dull practicing is!’ Charlotte declared, mashing several keys in a discordant noise of protest.
Emilia flinched.
‘I cannot bear it!’ Charlotte said, blonde curls swishing at her cheeks. ‘Heaven forbid I should spend a morning riding or taking the air! I despise practicing scales endlessly instead!’
Emilia opened her mouth to attempt to soothe the girl, but the Charlotte pressed on:
‘It’s a beastly way to spend one’s time, and I detest it! And