The Marquis and I (The Worthingtons #4)(38)

Burt gave the man another coin. The information would save him a lot of time. All he had to do was find Biggleswade somewhere in Bedford.

He traveled until dark, then found a room at a posting inn. The next day, shortly after noon, he arrived in the market town of Biggleswade. The first tavern he came to was the Dog in a Doublet, on the High Street.

No ostler ran out to help him with the horses, but there was an iron ring on the side of the building. After tying his leader to an iron ring, he entered the inn and headed for the bar. “I’m lookin’ for a room and board for a day or two.”

“Yer in luck,” the innkeeper said. “I got one chamber left. Tomorrow’s market day and the whole town’ll be full up.”

“Looks like I got here in good time.”

The man signaled to a younger man to take his place. “I’ll show ye up.”

“I got a coach and pair too,” Burt said.

“My son’ll take care of them. That’ll be extra for the carriage and horses.”

He nodded, not minding the expense. Miss Betsy was good about paying him back.

The room was small but clean. There were two windows; one overlooked the street, which suited him just fine. “Thank ye.”

“Dinner’s at five. Anything else I can do fer ye?”

“I was told to look for a gentleman with a shiny black coach. Have ye seen him?”

“We got a lot of them coaches going through here. His lordship at the big house is having one of his house parties. Ye might find yer man tomorrow. He likes to bring his guests to the market.” The innkeeper pulled a disapproving face. “By the way some of them London women acted, ye’d think they’d never seen a market town.”

That didn’t make a lot of sense to Burt. Even he knew most ladies lived in the country a lot of the year. But the landlord had said women, not ladies. Before he could think of a way to ask about it, the man went on, “Last time his lordship was here, my wife and most of the other women in town went to the rector about the gentlemen who were visiting. His lordship’s got to bring his own maids with him now when he has one of his parties. None of us will let our daughters go.”

Burt gave up trying to understand Quality. It didn’t make sense that Lady Charlotte would be allowed to go to such a thing.

“They even stop at the White Hart and have ale!” the innkeeper said, clearly scandalized.

Well, if that’s where they went, that’s where he’d be. What Miss Betsy wanted she got.

*

Not long after Lord Kenilworth had left, Charlotte made her way to the morning room for tea. The house had been unusually quiet, which meant Matt had most likely taken the children to the Park and they had not yet returned.

Just then, the sound of the front door bursting open, the tromping of feet, and Daisy’s bark, sounded down the corridor.

A moment later, Mary and Theo appeared in the doorway.

“Daisy and Duke are getting married,” Mary called to Charlotte.

She shook her head, trying to clear it. “I beg your pardon?”

“We’re going to have the wedding tomorrow,” Theo confirmed as she and Mary held hands and danced around the room.

“We’re going to make Daisy the most beautiful bonnet ever.” Alice grinned while Eleanor and Madeline nodded excitedly.

“I have a feeling I’ve missed something,” Charlotte said more to herself than anyone else.

Augusta came up beside her and whispered, “Daisy has gained weight in her stomach. Theo and Mary noticed it when we were at the Park.”

The mystery cleared. “Puppies.”

“That’s what Matt thinks.” The corner of Augusta’s lips curled up. “Hence the wedding. He did explain to the children that we would not be going to church for the ceremony.”

“Thank the Lord for that.” With five weddings in half as many months, their family had given Mr. Peterson, the young clergyman at St. George’s, a good deal of business this Season, and the ton a great deal of entertainment.

It occurred to Charlotte that the coming out party Grace had started planning for her, Louisa, and Dotty had never taken place. The weddings kept interfering.

Daisy ambled into the parlor, her tail wagging. She really was increasing. It seemed as if everyone Charlotte knew was expecting, except Dotty, and that was only a matter of time.

If only Harrington had proposed before leaving town, Charlotte might be looking forward to a Happy Event sometime in the not-so-distant future as well. If she had accepted him, that is, and she was not sure she would have. There just seemed to be a quality of feeling or something missing whenever they were together. She had experienced more of a reaction to Kenilworth, before she knew who he was, of course, than she ever had to Harrington. Not to mention Harrington took her for granted, and as Louisa had said, that would not do.

Charlotte gave herself a shake. She was being a goose. If she had been betrothed to Harrington when she was abducted, then she would be in the position of being seen with Kenilworth while engaged to another man, which would have made all of this vastly worse than it already was. Maybe she should just stop thinking about any of it.

Then again, that was hard to do when it—and he—seemed to be controlling her life at the moment, and Charlotte did not like the situation one little bit. In her wildest dreams she never thought she would be betrothed to a gentleman she did not wish to marry.