Page 37 of Charlotte's Kisses

Feeling utterly defiant, Charlotte settled her hands on her hips. “I know you ruined my dresses.”

Lady Chesterhill wrinkled her nose indignantly as if Charlotte was insane for making such an accusation. “We must speak about Mr. Fletcher.” A spindly digit jabbed in Charlotte’s direction.

Good heavens, Lady Chesterhill’s fingers were demon-like. They could pierce a heart with one swish.

“You have been sneaking to his cottage. Last night, you spent the night there.”

Denying the accusation seemed pointless. “Why are you spying on me?”

That insidious finger pointed at a chair. “Sit.”

Although she wanted to do exactly the opposite of what she was being ordered to do, Charlotte’s legs shook uncontrollably making it difficult to hold herself upright. She lowered herself as gracefully as she could with her nerves aquiver.

“Mr. Fletcher is a dishonorable beast,” the devil hissed.

Charlotte rolled her eyes.

“I knew Hugh before I married your father. I sought him out the other day to tell him not to play his roguish games with you. But he…he forced himself upon me.”

Since Suzannah had been married to her father for ten years, was she suggesting she knew Hugh when he was a young lad? What in the devil was the woman up to?

“My lady, you are an untruthful talebearer.” And a conniving sorceress of the worst sort. “Hugh would never do such a thing.”

Lady Chesterhill folded her hands in her lap and exhaled. “Charlotte, I know that we do not always see eye to eye. But you need to know, I love your father very much. It has been hard to fill your mother’s shoes, and you look so much like her.”

See eye to eye? “Pfft.” The woman abused Charlotte to no end.

Lady Chesterhill’s eyes filled with tears. She blotted the wayward drips with her handkerchief, even going so far as to blow her runny nose. Although a terrible stepmother, the woman would make a splendid stage actress.

“I know I can be a bit jealous. But I do love you like a daughter, and I do not want to see you hurt. And make no mistake, he will break your heart.”

If Charlotte was a man, she would bellow an unseemly word. “Please excuse me. I would like to retire to my chamber.” Charlotte stood and headed toward the exit.

“Leon will escort you,” Lady Chesterhill called to her back.

Charlotte faced her stepmother, and teeth clenched, snarled, “Bugger off!”

Dash it all, it felt good to express herself with the impolite phrase. No wonder Alexander tossed it about like a ha’penny. It was so fulfilling to murmur the expletive that Charlotte might add it to her everyday vocabulary.

Lady Chesterhill took advantage of the lull in conversation to rush toward Charlotte and grasp her hand in an icy grip. “When I was your age, I also would have been drawn to Hugh. I learned the hard way that one must beware of handsome men.”

Was that an insult to Father? Because it sure sounded like one. Charlotte found him quite attractive for a man in hismiddling years. She wanted no more of this ridiculous conversation. “Good day, my lady.”

“Did you know Hugh is in trouble with the magistrate?” Lady Chesterhill said so quickly her words ran together.

Although she knew, the wind was sucked from Charlotte’s lungs. Against her better judgment, she cocked an ear and waited for the rest of the story.

“Just the other day, a man encountered Hugh about the affair he was having with his wife. They fought in the street where everyone witnessed it.” Lady Chesterhill held a hand to her heart. “It brings me no joy to inform you that Hugh was asked to leave his position as a Bow Street Runner.”

Was that true?

Nay. It was a lie.

However…? When she had asked Hugh about his past, he had changed the subject. The truth hit Charlotte with the force of a tornado decimating a Robin’s nest. She had allowed herself to fall for a man she barely knew.

“Even if you cannot forgive me for my jealousy, please heed my warning,” Lady Chesterhill said.

Charlotte balled her fists, squeezing until her fingernails dug into her palms. The air had become too thick and heavy to breathe. She needed to get out of that suffocating chamber and away from her stepmother.