Nathanial wanted to sink into a hole in the ground. Unfortunately, there was none around.
Instead, he was marching arm in arm with Charlaine around to the servants’ back door with two little girls hiding behind them. Charlaine’s skirts provided better cover compared to his own silhouette. However, together, they managed to reach the house undetected.
Not counting a few odd glances here and there.
“Why are we doing this?” Nathanial whispered to Charlaine as they stepped into the hall. Never in his life had he felt as foolish as he did in this moment.
She cast him a teasing smile. “Because it’s fun.”
“Is it?” Nathanial croaked as the tip of Daphne’s shoe connected rather painfully with his heel.
“Faster,” the girl hissed, her little hand curled into the side of his jacket, allowing him to all but drag her along.
Fortunately, the entry hall lay deserted as all guests had arrived and the betrothed couple had joined them in the back of the house. “The stairs are clear,” Charlaine whispered. “Run! Now!”
With a mad dash, the girls flew up the stairs.
Relief welled up in Nathanial’s heart before Charlaine’s hand closed over his wrist. “Come. Quickly.” Then she, too, rushed up the stairs, leaving him no choice but to follow.
Upstairs, they glanced up and down the corridor, then proceeded down to a door that opened up to a large, light-filled chamber. Dresses lay everywhere, on beds, over the backrests of chairs as well as on the floor. “Don’t tell me you tried all of these on?” Charlaine looked from one girl to the other.
Daphne shook her head. “We said we did, but we didn’t.”
“That’s when Mama got angry,” Susan said with a bit of a shiver.
“I’m certain we’ll find something fitting,” Charlaine told the girls before she once more grasped Nathanial’s arm and pulled him back out into the corridor. “Can you go to my chamber and find two necklaces for them in my jewelry box? My chamber is around the corner, three doors down on the left.”
Nathanial felt his jaw drop. “Me?” he croaked yet again. “I cannot go into your chamber, let alone go through your jewelry. It would cause a scandal if I were found. What would people think? What−?” His thoughts ran wild, and his pulse seemed inclined to catch up.
Charlaine pressed a finger to his lips. “Don’t worry. You’ll do fine,” she told him with a smile. Her eyes were luminous as they looked into his, not even a hint of concern in them. Instead, they sparkled with excitement and adventure. “Don’t think too much. This is supposed to be fun.”
Nathanial shook his head. “Are you certain? I cannot imagine−”
“Did you never play these games with your brother when you were young?” She grinned at him. “Remember the boy you once were.” Then she slipped back inside and closed the door.
Completely at a loss, Nathanial briefly considered simply taking his leave. Still, the thought of disappointing Charlaine when she was counting on him stopped him. After all, he was her friend, and she had asked him for a favor. A ludicrous favor! A potentially scandalous favor! But a favor nonetheless!
Inhaling a deep breath, Nathanial cast a quick glance up and down the corridor before quick steps carried him to Charlaine’s door. With another look over his shoulder, he slipped inside, closing the door behind him.
Nathanial was not certain what he had expected. The simple, brightly colored chamber was a perfect fit for the woman he was getting to know. Straightforward, honest and cheerful. A book rested on her nightstand, and charcoal drawings lay rather cluttered upon her vanity.
On them, Nathanial glimpsed smiling faces: an elderly couple, children playing upon a long beach, a young couple gazing upon one another with utter devotion. The black charcoal stood in stark contrast to the cream-colored parchment, giving the images a bit of a sharper edge that raised goosebumps on Nathanial’s skin. A strange sense of unease fell over him as he looked at them, noting a slight resemblance here and there to the woman who had drawn them.
Without a doubt, Nathanial knew that these people were Charlaine’s family.
The family she had lost.
The family she still mourned.
Running a hand through his hair, Nathanial marveled at the notion of what she had to have gone through. On her own. Without anyone there to hold her hand. At least not until she had arrived in England. Now, she seemed to have found a new family. Still, no family could ever be replaced by another, and Nathanial wondered if there were still moments when the grief over this loss was too much for her to bear.
Shaking off this thought, Nathanial carefully moved the drawings aside to reveal a small, wooden jewelry box with delicate carvings of birds and flowers upon its lid. He slid it open to reveal a few necklaces and rings, simple, and yet, elegant. Nothing the ton would treasure, but Nathanial knew they represented the woman who wore them perfectly.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed closer from the other side of the door, and Nathanial felt his pulse stumble over itself. For a second, he froze before his body seemed to act without thought. His hand reached inside the small box, closed over what he hoped were two necklaces and then quickly withdrew, dropping them into his pocket. Then he darted across the room toward the door just as the handle was being pushed down.
For a second, Nathanial feared his heart would give out.
Yet, his feet moved and he found himself pressed to the wall behind the door the moment it swung open, shielding him from whoever stepped across the threshold.
“Charlaine?” an unfamiliar female voice asked, a hint of impatience in her tone. She hovered on the threshold for a moment but, fortunately, did not step inside. Then she left and the door closed.
Nathanial exhaled a deep breath, and his eyes closed as he rested his head against the wall. “The woman is mad,” he mumbled to himself, realizing that it was not the first time he had thought of Charlaine thus. “She’s utterly and completely mad.” Still, the hint of a smile tugged on his lips, and rather unexpectedly, Nathanial found himself reminded of how he and Zach had tiptoed downstairs the night before their tenth birthday and surprised their mother as she had prepared their cake. She had just finished−something she insisted on doing every year, refusing to hand over the task to Cook−and their sudden appearance had frightened her so that she had dropped the treat.
It had hit the floor and been destroyed upon impact.
Nathanial remembered well the glower in his mother’s eyes, but it had lasted no more than a moment. Then she had broken down laughing, sinking onto the floor with tears streaming from her eyes. In the end, they had all settled on the kitchen floor that night, eating bits and pieces of their birthday cake from the floor.
It had been the best birthday Nathanial could remember.
Shaking off this bittersweet memory, Nathanial inhaled another deep breath and then carefully opened the door, praying that whoever had come looking for Charlaine was not waiting outside in the corridor. Fortunately, it proved to be empty, and so Nathanial quickly returned to the girls’ chamber, giving their door a sharp knock.
“Who is it?” came Charlaine’s hushed voice from inside.
Nathanial glanced up and down the hallway, his skin crawling with tension. “It’s me.”
In an instant, the door flew open and Charlaine’s hand reached out to grab him by the front of his jacket before she all but yanked him inside, closing the door behind him the moment he tumbled through.
Nathanial almost lost his footing.
“Did you find any?” Daphne peeped up from behind him, her little voice full of eagerness.
Straightening, Nathanial found himself looking into three rather expectant faces. “Well, I…” He reached inside his pocket and withdrew his bounty. The golden necklaces glittered in the light, and he saw the girls’ eyes grow wide with awe.
“I want the one with the pearl,” Daphne declared as her little fingers ran along the small orb’s shiny surface. “It’s so pretty.” Then her face scrunched up. “There are three.” She looked up at him. “Why did you get three?”
Hesitant, Nathanial turned to look at Charlaine. “Well, I…” She smiled at him with that knowing glow in her eyes, but refused to come to his rescue. Instead, she asked, “Yes, why did you get three?”
Nathanial could have strangled her. “Well, I thought…” he began as his eyes swept over the girls dressed in more appropriate attire considering the occasion. “I brought three because…” he swallowed, and then his gaze landed on a remarkably ugly doll with no hair to speak of.
Smiling, Nathanial looked at Daphne. “I thought Mary would like to wear one as well.”
Instantly, the girl’s face brightened. “Oh, what a wonderful idea!” She swooped the ugly doll into her arms. “Did you hear that, Mary? He brought you a necklace as well. Isn’t that sweet of him?”
Nathanial felt a hand settle upon his arm and turned to see Charlaine smile at him. “Indeed, it is very sweet of him.” Her gaze held his, and Nathanial felt his insides tingle at the warm glow in her eyes. “Thank you.”
Nathanial felt his head bob up and down like a fool’s. “You’re welcome.”
Smiling, Charlaine turned to the girls and helped them put on the necklaces. Then she straightened their hair and reminded them to be on their best behavior. “For Pierce and Caroline.”
“For Pierce and Caroline!” Daphne and Susan called like warriors riding into battle.
When they stepped back out into the corridor, Charlaine held him back as the girls hastened toward the staircase. “Later, you need to tell me what truly happened.” Then she grasped his hand and pulled him along.
Downstairs, Mary was settled on the mantel, half-hidden behind a large vase and given stern instructions by Daphne not to venture from this spot. Then the girls rushed to present their dresses to Pierce and Caroline.
“You look beautiful,” Caroline exclaimed as she ran a hand over Daphne’s curls. “Oh, and that pearl necklace! You chose wisely.”
Daphne beamed, and Susan rushed forward to claim some praise for herself.
Nathanial felt his mind still spinning from all the unexpected commotion. He barely noticed the other guests moving closer, observing the familial scene and whispering to one another. He felt Charlaine’s hand on his arm and turned to look at her, knowing that her unusual ways had once again brought about a wonderful moment.
She met his gaze. “You did good.”
Nathanial laughed. “I was almost discovered.”
“I suppose that was Emma, looking for the girls.” She grinned at him. “What did you do?”
“I hid behind the door.”
Her smile broadened. “Bravo! I’m glad to hear you’re not completely untalented when it comes to sneaking around. Perhaps you still do remember something from your childhood years.”
Nathanial laughed. “You bring out a rather troubling side in me.”
“Oh, no, not troubling at all,” she told him with that meaningful look in her brown eyes. “But freeing.” Her gaze shifted down to his chest. “Don’t tell me your heart did not try to beat out of your body.”
“Of course, it did,” Nathanial replied in a hushed tone. “It was deeply unsettling.”
Her smile deepened. “You’ll come to cherish it. I promise you.” She glanced over her shoulder at a young, blond-haired woman, who looked a bit flushed in the face and stood off to the side, a weary look in her eyes. “I’d better go speak to Emma and apologize for the girls. I’ll be right back.”
Nathanial nodded as she hastened away, then turned when he heard Lord Markham address him. “I see Charlaine has managed to include you in her…games,” the man said with a good-natured smile. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Nathanial couldn’t help but chuckle. “I cannot say that I do.”
Lord Markham shook his head as he looked after her. “Peter warned me that she was headstrong.” He looked at Nathanial and chuckled. “He even told me to lock the windows. What does that tell you?” Again, he shook his head. “But she has a good heart.”
Nathanial could not help but agree. “Peter?”
“An old friend,” Lord Markham explained. “He was married to her sister, and before he passed away, he asked me to look after Charlaine.”
Another puzzle piece fell in place. Nathanial wanted to know more, but he did not dare ask. Not today. Not with a nosey crowd gathered around them. Not Lord Markham.
Perhaps one day, Charlaine would confide in him. Perhaps one day, he could repay her for her kindness. After all, she had given him the greatest gift he could have hoped for: the gift of distraction. For whenever he was around her, Nathanial did not worry. He did not overthink things. He did not contemplate the bleak future that awaited him.
Whenever she was near him, he lived in the here and now.
And it felt wonderful.
“Have you heard from your brother?” Lord Markham asked, jarring him from his thoughts.
Nathanial cleared his throat. “I have, yes. He does write the occasional letter, and at least one of mine seems to have found him before they moved on.” He chuckled. “He wrote to say that they’ll be returning in time for your wedding.”
Lord Markham nodded, clearly pleased by these news. “Where are they at the moment?”
“That, he did not say,” Nathanial replied, remembering his brother’s rather short letter. Apparently, the man was currently otherwise occupied. “He did not write much at all.”
Lord Markham chuckled. “I suppose that is a good sign.”
Indeed, living in the moment proved a wonderful experience, however new the concept was for Nathanial. Still, he was willing to give it a try. After all, what did he have to lose?