About a half-hour ago, Nathanial had arrived and the two men had disappeared in the library. This was a rather preposterous charade as far as Charlaine was concerned. Of course, Caroline visited to see her fiancé, not that Charlaine blamed her for it, and Nathanial had come to call on her, Charlaine—she was certain of it! Why was it so important to stand on ceremony? Indeed, the ton was insistent upon upholding a myriad of rather ludicrous rules!
After Charlaine exchanged a few quick words with Caroline, the two men miraculously appeared as though they had not been waiting for her to arrive all along. While Caroline and Pierce were instantly drawn to one another like two magnets, Nathanial slowly drifted to where Charlaine sat. His gaze seemed glued to the gardens beyond, however, Charlaine could not shake the feeling that his interest was merely pretense. Why could he not simply admit that he had come to see her? After all, had they not become friends? “It is indeed a beautiful day, is it not?”
Charlaine laughed. “When we agreed on brutal honesty, did that include you as well?” She rose from her chair and came to stand in front of him.
Nathanial frowned. “What do you mean?”
Glancing at the love-struck couple to their left, Charlaine sighed. “You might not have lied, but neither were you completely truthful.”
“Pardon me?”
“Did you come to see Pierce,” Charlaine asked, her eyes holding his as she took a step closer, “or me?”
His chest rose and fell with an unsteady breath as he all but squirmed where he stood. It would seem Albert was not the only one unable to shed the doctrines of society’s iron grip. Then Nathanial swallowed, and his gaze steadied. “You.”
Charlaine rewarded him with a heartfelt smile. “Thank you.” She stepped away to gather her drawings together.
For a moment, Nathanial remained quiet before he moved closer. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
Charlaine turned her head to look at him. “I did.”
“Then why did you ask?” His frown deepened.
Straightening, Charlaine faced him. “To make certain you knew it as well.”
For a long moment, he simply looked at her, and she could see the thoughts churning in his mind. Indeed, it was in his nature to observe and analyze, to question and doubt everything before accepting it as true.
“Shall we dance?” Charlaine asked in order to distract Nathanial from his troublesome thoughts.
His gaze widened. “Dance?”
Charlaine nodded, then turned to look at Pierce and Caroline. “Would you like to join us? Emma said she’d play for us.”
Caroline’s smile brightened. “We’d love to.” Then she turned to her fiancé. “Do you dare?” she teased him.
Pierce cleared his throat, but could not quite manage to hide the smile that tugged on his lips. “I’m not much of a dancer,” he objected weakly.
Caroline’s gaze narrowed. “I recall how annoyingly insistent you were when we first met. You asked me to dance, and you wouldn’t accept any one of my objections.”
Pierce laughed. “As far as I recall, they were all excuses,” he replied as his hands reached for her. “I also recall that your insistence to refuse me won out.”
Charlaine smiled as she looked from one to the other. “She wouldn’t dance with you?”
Pierce cast his fiancée a meaningful look. “She stormed off.”
Caroline huffed out an irritated breath. “He came after me,” she clarified, trying to escape his embrace, but Pierce wouldn’t allow her to dance out of reach. “He pulled me into an empty room.” She slapped his shoulder playfully. “You almost ruined me.”
Pierce grinned wickedly. “If you’re expecting an apology, you’ll be waiting forever.”
Charlaine laughed. Nathanial, however, seemed uncertain how to interpret the moment they were witnessing. “Well, then let’s all dance now,” Charlaine exclaimed before the betrothed couple could lose themselves in an unnecessary argument. “Ah, there is Emma now.”
“Miss Glass,” Pierce greeted the young governess with a polite nod. “We’ve heard that you agreed to play for us.”
A hint of red came to her cheeks as she wrung her hands. “Miss Palmer asked if I would.”
Charlaine sighed and turned to look at Nathanial. “Why is it that some people have such trouble with intimacy?”
Nathanial’s eyes widened. “Pardon me?”
Ignoring the shocked look upon his face, Charlaine nodded toward Emma. “She calls me Charlaine all day long, but as soon as Pierce is around, I’m suddenly Miss Palmer again. Why do you think that is?”
Nathanial swallowed. “That, I do not know.”
Charlaine eyed him suspiciously. “Brutal honesty, remember?”
He sighed. “It is a sign of respect. One adheres to a societal standard in order to acknowledge another’s superiority or—”
Charlaine scoffed. “That is ridiculous! Do you respect me any less simply because you call me by my first name?”
“Of course not!” Nathanial looked utterly horrified at the mere suggestion of it. “That is not what I meant. I—”
“Perhaps we should dance,” Charlaine suggested before she turned to the betrothed couple. “Are you in agreement? Will you join us?”
After glancing at his fiancée, Pierce nodded. “What about you, Mr. Caswell?” he asked then, looking past her at Nathanial. “You do know that you have the right to refuse, do you not?” He chuckled.
Charlaine felt Nathanial tense beside her. “He does know,” she quickly replied. “However, he is too well-mannered to refuse me something I so dearly wish for.” She smiled sweetly at Pierce, who burst out laughing.
“And you take full advantage of that, do you not, dearest Charlie?”
Charlaine refrained from answering and merely batted her eyelashes at him. Again, Pierce laughed. Indeed, if he knew about Nathanial’s tendency to shy away from anything entertaining or adventurous, Pierce might not be so quick to judge her. After all, she was merely trying to tease the poor man out of his shell. He needed to live again, and dancing was a wonderful start. “Emma, if you please?”
Disappearing back inside, Emma took a seat at the pianoforte by the back wall. While the doors to the terrace remained opened, allowing her soft notes to drift outside, a heavy curtain hid her from their view as she preferred.
After all, it had taken all of Charlaine’s powers of persuasion to get her new friend to agree. Emma was painfully shy around guests, and even Pierce still made her feel on edge. Although he had only ever been kind to her, offering her a position in his household when Emma had been alone and without means, not knowing how to provide for her little girl, she still seemed to fear that all his generosity would one day come to an end.
Who knew what else she had suffered in her life that fear had been able to sink its claws into her this deeply?
Her fingers flew nimbly over the keys and a soft melody floated out across the terrace. Pierce pulled Caroline into his arms and, soon, they were moving together as one, their eyes locked and their thoughts no doubt far from the steps that carried them around.
“I promise I’ll do my best,” Charlaine promised Nathanial as she stepped toward him. “Perhaps I should take off my shoes after all?” She grinned at him.