Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Nine

TO BE FORCED APART

" I should have burned those dratted letters." Dominic smacked his fist into the open palm of his other hand. "I have been a complete fool and ruined everything for us both."

"You are hardly to blame. By her own admission, she contrived to find them. She lied to you, tricked you." Charlotte's hand brushed against her skirts, and Dominic suspected she had his letter tucked away.

"I would have thought you would be angry with me." Dominic looked at her, wondering why she was not cursing his foolishness.

"Why? You cannot help being tricked. She is a very convincing actress." Charlotte shrugged.

"Be that as it may, I blame my carelessness for the situation in which we now find ourselves," Dominic replied.

"Blame will do little good."

Her green eyes met his hazel ones, and he almost took a step towards her but stopped himself. He wanted to pull her close to him, to hold her, and tell her that everything would be well, but he did not want to lie to her.

"I am sorry," Dominic said.

"For what?" Charlotte asked.

"For all of this. That you have had to go through so much and now…" He trailed off, his frustration ebbing through. "I have been a fool. I should have been more careful."

He wanted her to ask him again about the letter, to demand if he had meant it. The silence seemed to stretch between them, thickening into something unpleasant and cloying. He opened his mouth to say something, to explain about the letter, but before he could say anything, Charlotte turned from him and spoke.

"It cannot be helped now. She knows our secret, and she has more than enough evidence to reveal it to everyone else." Charlotte gestured around them, moving further away from him as she did. "She could very easily have told the truth during that game and outed us then."

Dominic shuddered, thinking of how close they had come to that disaster. "I am glad she did not. I would not have wanted your reputation to be tarnished by this."

"I am not particularly concerned with my own reputation. I am more concerned with my sisters and their happiness. Though it seems they will both miss their chance." Charlotte looked utterly wretched, and it broke his heart.

"What about your own happiness?" Dominic asked.

Charlotte turned to him, her mouth open as she said, "I —"

A knock at the door interrupted whatever she was about to say, and a moment later, Dominic's valet asked, "Your Grace, might I enter?"

Charlotte's eyes flew wide with panic, and Dominic understood why. After all, they were alone in his rooms, completely unchaperoned. I am a fool — what was I thinking?

"Kindly come back in ten minutes, Mr. Harris. The room will be available then," Dominic called back as his heart skipped several beats.

"Of course, Your Grace," Mr. Harris replied.

Dominic listened to the sound of his retreating footsteps and glanced at Charlotte who had gone pale. They might have already been ‘engaged', but being discovered in such a compromising situation would mean there would be no question of dissolving the agreement.

"That was close," Dominic murmured.

"Indeed," Charlotte agreed.

Her look of panic and uncertainty gave Dominic a clarity of thought. She did not want to be tied to him; that much was clear. Anything else, he thought, was childish fancy. I must get a hold of myself, I would not have her forced to me against her will.

"I think he is gone; perhaps we might continue this discussion elsewhere?" Dominic asked, gesturing to the door.

"Is there much more to discuss?" Charlotte hugged her arms around her chest.

"I… What do you mean?" Dominic asked.

"Well, our options are rather limited. We have no choice but to withdraw from the competition." Charlotte looked at him, and he had the sense that there was something she was not saying or perhaps that there was something she wanted him to say.

"Perhaps we can think of some other plan." Dominic furrowed his brow and tried to think of other options.

"I do not see how." Charlotte raised an eyebrow at him. "Lady Andrea has made her position quite clear, and I cannot say that I blame her. I would not want to be married to Viscount Periwinkle, not for anything in the world."

"He is a rather unpleasant man." Dominic shuddered.

"I would not want to force her into such an unpleasant life." Charlotte looked at him, and Dominic sensed that she was holding something back.

She always thinks of others. It is one of the things I admire most about her. Yet what of her own happiness? "Nor would I," he replied.

"I suppose we both knew this agreement would come to an end eventually," Charlotte muttered, and Dominic thought he saw a glimmer of pain cross her face, but it was gone too quickly for him to be sure.

There was another beat of silence and Dominic found himself saying, "I wish we had more time."

The thought of not seeing Charlotte again turned his heart to lead in his chest. It made him want to cry out in frustration, but he knew he was being ridiculous.

Charlotte said, "I do not know that time would help."

"What do you mean?" He canted his head towards her. Does she not want more time together?

"Well time would not change our circumstance. Our lie has been found out. Lady Andrea knows that we are not the happy couple we have been pretending to be. She knows that it has all been a farce." Charlotte looked at him, and Dominic had the sense that she was searching his face for an answer to some unasked question.

Has it all been a farce? Her words sent sharp stabs of pain through him. He thought back over their shared moments, of Charlotte confronting him with the letter. She had seemed so determined to know if he had meant his words, but that did not mean she cared for him. After all, perhaps it was all part of their act.

He could not bring himself to ask her, not when he was uncertain of their future. He knew how much she cared for her sisters, for their financial stability, and he did not have the money to give them what they needed. My feelings do not matter — not if I cannot give her what she deserves.

"I must speak to my grandmother," Dominic said, glancing up at the door.

"To the Dowager Duchess?" Charlotte's eyes went wide.

"Yes. If I explain the situation, perhaps… Well perhaps there is something we might be able to work out." Dominic ran a hand through his hair, trying to think of exactly what he might say to his grandmother.

"What do you imagine she might agree to? The Dowager Duchess does not really strike me as the type of woman who can be talked into things." Charlotte chewed on her bottom lip.

"But you forget how charming I am," Dominic replied, trying to sound light and jovial, but his words fell flat. "Grandmother has always been fond of me."

"She does not seem to have a particular tolerance for lying." Charlotte frowned.

"No, she does not. Though I am hopeful I might be able to explain things to her." Perhaps it is not too late to be honest. Dominic began to pace.

"Should we go together? We could plead our case as one," Charlotte asked.

Dominic shook his head. He suspected his grandmother would be somewhat angry and had no desire to subject Charlotte to the sharp end of her tongue. Besides, there was a chance she would see the two of them together as some attempt to continue their deception.

"I do not think that would be wise." Dominic explained, "It would be best if I did this alone though I will need time to prepare what I will say."

"And what should I do?" Charlotte asked.

"I think it would be best if you returned to London," Dominic said, once more thinking of how harsh his grandmother could be when angry and wanting to spare Charlotte the pain.

"Oh." Charlotte shook her head. "I thought…"

"You thought?" Dominic canted his head towards her, trying to work out the expression on her face.

"It does not matter." She turned from him and began to walk towards the door.

Without thinking, he reached for her, grabbing her arm. She looked back at him, and he saw a cool expression on her face. "What do you think you are doing?"

"I wanted to know what you thought." He let go of her arm but did not look away from her.

"I have already told you it does not matter." Charlotte moved away from him, shaking her head

"Please, Charlotte, do not shut me out."

"It was just me being silly, that is all. You need not concern yourself. I had just… I had not expected that you would ask me to leave." Charlotte smiled, but it looked brittle to Dominic. "I will take my leave of you and return to London this afternoon."

"This afternoon?" He felt as though the air had left his lungs.

He thought he saw her stiffen slightly, but she turned from him and did not look back at him. Instead, she continued her walk towards the door.

"There is no sense in waiting." Charlotte's voice seemed cool and distant.

"I suppose not." Dominic half reached towards her and then drew his hand back to his chest, hugging it close.

"I shall, of course, speak to the Dowager Duchess before I leave and make my excuses." Her hand was on the doorknob. "Goodbye, Dominic."

"Goodbye, Charlotte," Dominic replied as the door shut behind her.

Their words to each other seemed strangely final, and Dominic felt an urge to run after her, but he did not. She had clearly told him what she wanted.

"I will make this right; somehow, I will give you the life you deserve," he vowed.

Though he had no idea how he was going to do such a thing.