Anne Barbour (17 page)

Charlie crossed his arms and settled against the wall, and watched the proceedings sourly. Silk flowers, scarves, hair bows, and shoes—all went beneath the gavel of Lord Winstaunton, who acted as jovial auctioneer, until finally his lordship’s fingers touched on the little silver bracelet.

“And what am I offered for this charming bauble?” he called. Against his will, Charlie drew closer to the group surrounding the table.

Sedge started the bidding with five guineas, and when the others saw who was bidding, a few other voices called out in competition. Squire Jeffers, or Jeffreys, or whatever his name was, chimed in until the bidding reached ten guineas. He fell silent then. The bidding rose to twelve guineas before the other voices ceased.

“Twelve guineas, five shillings,” called Lord Winstaunton, and the crowd murmured, for this was the highest bid reached all evening. To Charlie’s utter astonishment he heard himself call out, “Aye!”

Out of the corner of his eye, he was aware of Sally’s astonished gaze on him. He was also made aware of a small disturbance arising from the gallery overlooking the ballroom, where several of the children of guests attending the ball stood watching the scene below. Among the young observers was Chloe, who had just wriggled her way to the front of the group. She was now waving wildly to Sedge, who, oblivious, signaled his intention to raise the bid to thirteen guineas.

“Thirteen guineas, five shillings,” croaked Charlie, and his body was suddenly covered in perspiration. What in God’s name was he doing? Sally would be furious with him! Sedge would probably try to destroy him bone by bone. Coming to himself, he heard his voice raise once more.

“Fourteen guineas.”

He was dimly cognizant of Chloe’s antics in the gallery, and apparently so was Sedge, for he turned and, lifting his head, favored his co-conspirator with a puzzled stare. Charlie looked at Sally, who had turned her gaze to him. He tried to read her expression, but her cinnamon eyes were opaque and her face was closed to him.

“Fourteen guineas,” Charlie cried again, and was surprised that his words were greeted only by silence.

Lord Winstaunton glanced questioningly at Sedge, but Sedge shook his head.

“Sold!” Lord Winstaunton held the silver bracelet out to Charlie, who stepped forward dazedly. He turned and moved almost without volition until he reached Sally’s side. He held the bracelet up, and slipped it on her wrist. She touched it gently with one finger before slipping her arm into his. As they turned away from the crowd grouped around Lord Winstaunton, Charlie caught a glimpse of Sedge, bidding on another token.

“I’m sorry,” Charlie whispered hoarsely.

“Sorry?” Sally replied with a smile. Her eyes were wide and held a disturbing expression in their depths. He could have sworn he saw a hint of laughter there. “Do you mean you do not wish to sit next to me at dinner?”

“No, of course that’s not what I mean.” The guests were beginning to move toward the dining room, and he placed his hand beneath her elbow to guide her through the crush. “I know you wished Sedge to buy your—token.” He could not utter the question that hammered in his brain. Why did you put up the bracelet I gave you for another man to possess?

She smiled again, but said nothing. Their dinner conversation was mundane, but all through the six lavish courses set before him, Charlie was aware of a simmering excitement beneath their commonplace chatter. At one point during the meal his hand inadvertently brushed hers, and it was as though he had been touched by a charge of electricity. Did she feel it, too? he wondered. Was Sally aware of the tension that seemed to simmer about them? Charlie felt as though by stretching out his hands in the space between them, he would create rivulets of lightening. He studied her covertly and noticed with some small pleasure that she was merely toying with her food.

After dinner, Sally slipped away to visit with friends on the other side of the room, and Charlie did not see her again until it was time for the ball to start. Contrary to custom, the first dance played was a waltz, and it was the first of the three dances granted to the young men who had purchased tokens. Laughing couples took the floor. Charlie found Sally deep in conversation with Sedge and Elizabeth. Joining them, he nodded awkwardly to Sedge. In his preoccupation, Charlie had not considered the puzzling fact of Sedge’s dropping out from the bidding on Sally’s bracelet, and now the gaze he turned on his friend was questioning.

“I see you decided against the bracelet, after all,” he said at last.

“I made a mistake,” Sedge answered calmly. Which really, thought Charlie, didn’t tell him anything at all. The music began then, and Sedge turned to Elizabeth.

“My dance, I believe, Miss Elizabeth,” he said, whereupon he led a shyly smiling Elizabeth out on the dance floor.

“My dance, I believe, Miss Berners.” Charlie made her a low bow and stretched out his hand to her.

Sally, raising her head to gaze into Charlie’s eyes, felt the lilt of the music pulse through her veins. She lifted her arms and as his hand settled at her waist, gave herself up to the feelings that surged within her.

Charlie was dancing with her! And if she were not very much mistaken, there was little danger that he mistook her for his sister. There was an intensity in his gaze that had never been there before. And a measure of confusion, she thought, and smiled to herself.

“I see you have not forgotten your lesson,” Charlie said after a moment.

“The lesson? Oh—the other night.”  Sally could feel heat rise to stain her cheeks at the memory of Charlie’s lips pressed against hers in the candle-lit workroom. “No, I have not forgotten our—our dancing lesson.”

“You waltz beautifully—we must do this more often.” Charlie’s arm tightened around her and an odd breathlessness crept into his voice. ‘‘Sally, why did Sedge give up on the bidding?”

“Why? Do you object to sharing the evening with me?” She fluttered her eyelashes in what she conceded to herself was probably a futile effort to appear ravishingly coy.

Charlie did not take the bait. Instead, he stared at her through narrowed eyes.

“What game are you playing at, Sally?” he demanded suddenly.

To Sally’s vast relief, the music ended, and she prepared to disengage herself from Charlie’s embrace. Charlie, however, had other ideas. They were on the periphery of the dance floor, and, keeping her hand in his grasp, he pulled her from the group of dancers into a corridor leading away from the great room.

“Charlie, what ...?”

“I thought you might like to take a turn in the conservatory,” he said grimly, opening a door leading from the corridor.

Once inside the warmth of the moist, vaulted chamber, he swung on her.

“What’s going on, Sally? You and Sedge have hardly spoken to each other all evening. Have you quarreled? Or have you already come to an—an arrangement and simply do not wish to broadcast the fact until his lordship has a chance to notify his parents!”

“Charlie!” Good God, she thought wildly. Charlie was glaring at her as though she were his worst enemy. Had she been mistaken in him? Was he angry that she had not wrung a public declaration from Sedge? “Charlie,” she repeated, failing miserably to suppress the quiver that arose in her voice.

“Sally.” He gripped her shoulders. “Why did you put up your bracelet for the auction?”

She dropped her eyes. “I wondered if you would recognize it,” she said softly.

“Of course, I recognized it,” he growled. “How could you just—toss it down for Sedge to claim?”

Sally lifted her eyes once more. “But, he didn’t claim it, Charlie.” She drew a deep breath. “Would you have cared if he did?”

For a long moment, Charlie simply stared down at her. Then almost without volition, his hands left her shoulders to encircle her, and the next moment his mouth had come down on hers. Sally’s lips parted beneath his and her pulse throbbed to the beat of a joyous song that flooded every cell of her being. She had dreamed of this moment, and now that it was here, she pressed against him, memorizing with her heart every line of his body.

“Oh, God, Sally,” gasped Charlie, when at last he drew back. “I’ve thought about it and thought about it, but I just cannot face the rest of my life without you. Would you—that is ... Oh my God, Sally, I don’t want you to marry Sedge, I want you to marry me!”

Sally’s eyes were clear and bright as sunlit pools. “But we decided years ago that we would not suit. Didn’t we?”

“But that was before I—Lord, Sally, I’ve loved you for years, but I was too stupid to understand that until it was finally brought home that I was really about to lose you.”

“Do you, Charlie? Really love me?” Her gaze was piercing in its intensity, but he did not falter before it.

“Yes.” He had not released her from his embrace, and now he tightened his arms around her. “I know I’ve acted the colossal fool for a number of years, living like a care-for-nobody. But all that time, I did care for you. I thought it was just friendship that bound us together—and I guess that’s what it was during our growing-up years. But you grew into a magnificent woman, while I—I grew up to be an idiot.”

“Oh, Charlie, no.” Sally raised a hand in gentle protest.

“Well,” he grinned uncertainly. “Anybody who falls in love with a girl and doesn’t even know it can’t be very bright.”

“That’s true,” she said gravely, only the lurking brightness in her eyes belying her words. Charlie traced the curve of her cheek with one finger and bent his head to hers once more. Some moments later, when she emerged breathless and shaken from this embrace, Sally felt as though her blood had been replaced by the finest, bubbliest champagne. She laughed up into Charlie’s eyes, only to discover that his own were penetrating and somewhat somber.

“Sally, I practically forced you into a betrothal with Sedge. I must know—how do you feel about him? How do you feel about me?”

Her own expression grew serious, or at least as serious as she could manage with the joy that surged within her. “Oh, Charlie, I have loved you since before I could walk or talk, I think. It’s always been you and only you, my dearest.”

“But—when our parents wished for us to marry, you said ...”

“I know what I said, but I lied. Well, not lied exactly. I said I did not wish to marry you, and that was true—at least at that time, for I realized you did not want it. I could only hope that one day you would come to know your heart and that there would be a place in it for me.”

Once more, Charlie drew her into a crushing embrace, drawing back moments later to utter a stifled exclamation.

“Sedge! Oh, God, Sally, what are we to do about Sedge?”

“Oh, that.”

“Yes, oh, that. My dear and only love, I want to marry you with all possible speed, even if it means losing out on the tontine. I shall find some other way to support a wife. Do you fancy the diplomatic life, my dear?”

“Well, as to that...” began Sally, dropping her eyes once more, but Charlie interrupted.

“I do feel badly about Sedge. After all we went through to make him fall in love with you, to suddenly turn him off like a tap ...” He sighed. “You were right, my dearest love, we have served Sedge very ill.”

“As to that,” Sally said again, “there is something I must tell you, love.”

At this, Charlie felt compelled to kiss her once more. “I do like the sound of that on your lips. Will you always call me ‘love,’ even when we are old and toothless?”

“Even when you grow bald,” replied Sally, her eyes alight with tender laughter. “But let me continue—love.”

Obediently, Charlie stepped back without releasing her hands.

“About Sedge,” she continued. “It may be that...”

“There you are,” called a voice from the conservatory entrance. In a moment, Sedge hove into view from behind the shrubbery bordering the path on which they stood. With him was Elizabeth and, Charlie noted with astonishment, they were holding hands.

“Elizabeth!” cried Sally, running to her sister. Elizabeth turned a glowing gaze toward her. “Are you ...?”

“Yes, Miss Berners,” answered Lord Walford, bending a tender glance upon the girl beside him. “Elizabeth has promised to become my bride.”

“I’m so happy for both of you,” breathed Sally, hugging first Elizabeth and then Sedge.

“But—” said Charlie.

“I spoke to your mother late this afternoon,” continued Sedge, oblivious, “and received her permission to ask for the hand of the dearest, most beautiful, most precious young woman in the kingdom.”

“Goodness,” interposed Elizabeth softly, the light in her face almost blinding in its expression of love, “Chloe almost ruined everything. When Sedge began bidding on Sally’s bracelet, I thought my heart would break.”

“But—” said Charlie again.

“I couldn’t imagine,” Sedge spoke in a burst of laughter, “what Chloe was about, waving from the gallery to me, after I had already inveigled the information I needed from her. The silly chit,” he concluded, “made a mistake. She told me that Elizabeth would put up a silver bracelet and that the velvet rose lying near it was Sally’s, but it was, of course, the other way around.”

Charlie stepped forward and grasped Sally’s elbow. “Is anyone,” he asked in an ominous tone of voice, “going to tell me what is going on?”

Sally and Sedge exchanged glances, and Sedge turned to Elizabeth.

“I think these two would like to be alone, my love. Let us seek out your mother to tell her our news. And we must discuss with her the date we have set.”

After one quick look at Sally, Elizabeth lifted her face to Sedge, and the light that filled her eyes seemed to flood the room.

After the two had left, Sally turned again to Charlie.

“Charlie,” she began tentatively. “I have some rather lengthy explaining to do.”

Charlie said nothing, but drew her down on a stone bench set next to a small fountain in the center of the conservatory.

“As you can see, we need not feel badly about Sedgewick,” Sally’s voice held a degree of laughter, and Charlie eyed her suspiciously. “I have to confess to you, my darling, that I never intended to make him fall in love with me.”

Charlie’s brows shot skyward. “What? But you said ...”