Charming Charlie

Lady Charlotte

This chapter is dedicated to my lovely friend who made the awesome cover!!!! xx

Charlotte's dress on the side -----> I know it's not a dress from that era, but that's how I wanted it to look!

Chapter 1

Ever since Charlotte was a child, she was expected to behave like a perfect little lady, so unintentionally she disappointed many people with her attitude, it was everything they had hoped it wouldn't be. The nannies would always scold her and send her to bed for ripping her clothes by climbing trees, wearing trousers instead of a skirt or dress, tying her curly red hair up, never wearing a bonnet, always being late, having awful table manners etc. If Charlotte had been a peasants child, then maybe it wouldn't have been so hard for her, she could have acted how she wanted all the time, but no, Charlottes mother and father happened to be nobility, a Duke and Duchess, therefore she was made to be brought up as a lady, it was honestly a waste of time and effort.

Charlotte, or Charlie as she preferred to be called, sat at her furnished ivory dressing table, now at the age of eighteen, her mother and father had insisted that Charlotte should attend as many balls as possible, in the hope that a young rich man would court her and maybe in the end marry her. Of course poor Charlotte knew this and kept out the way of most, declining offers to dance and standing idly at the sides of the ballrooms, much to the disappointment of her parents.

Charlottes nannies gathered around her, trying to get a brush through her wild red hair and put makeup on her face, this was the 9th ball in two months and she was getting tired of it all, she grunted in disgust,

"One should not grunt, it is unladylike." One of her nannies piped in, giving Charlotte a disapproving stare. Charlotte huffed and turned her head to the other side to make it more awkward for them.

"If your lady would be so kind as to stop fidgeting, I would be ever so grateful." The nanny suggested though it was more of an order than anything, annoyance clear as day in her voice. Charlotte rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, lady this, lady that, she found it so utterly boring. She hated the expectations everyone had for her, she hated how her every movement was judged, she hated how her main purpose in life was to carry on her family's bloodline and produce an heir. She swivelled her face back to the front again and stayed still as one of the nannies brought the tongs off of the fire, making Charlotte's curls a little less wild. Her face was then laden with many powders and a blood red lipstick was drawn neatly onto her lips, making her hair look even more vibrant than normal. Not given any warning, she was tugged into the middle of the room and told to keep still as the maids dressed her up. They pulled the corset breathtakingly tight around her middle then laced it up; a petticoat was put on, then came the dress. Much to Charlotte's dislike, even she had to admit it was a beautiful dress, it was a gorgeous deep blue colour that accentuated her eyes and had a sweetheart neckline, she wasn't sure if she liked that or not, it made a lot of her shoulder and back bare, her arms too. The bodice was exquisite, the blue corset type top was covered in intricate patterns made of silver thread and beads, it was magnificent. The fabric clung to her like a second skin, making her waist look even smaller. It gracefully flowed out at the bottom, layer upon layer of flowing silk, brought in at points to create a draping effect. The nannies squeezed her into the dress quickly, probably trying to avoid the tantrum they usually got when forcing her into a dress, though surprisingly, this time, there wasn't one. In the past she had vowed to herself that she would never voluntarily wear a dress, she found herself revoking that vow. The stockings and corset were probably the only things bothering her about this outfit, the gasping effect the corset gave her and the stockings' possibility of sliding down her legs and her having to hitch them up again. The maids giggled quietly with joy at the sight of Charlotte fitting the appearance of a noble for once, Charlotte raised an eyebrow at their annoying whispers but chose to ignore them.

The nannies then did her hair in a cascading waterfall down her back, making her look elegant and alluring, everything Charlotte wasn't. Finally came the mask, it was of course, a masked ball she was attending. The mask was the same material and royal blue colour of the dress, only covering the top half of her face, leaving the other half exposed to scrutiny. Charlotte proceeded to then lift up her legs one at a time as the nannies put on some little navy blue slipper shoes, Charlotte sighed with relief when she realised that they weren't going to make her wear high heels again, that hadn't ended too well last time...

The nannies nodded, pleased with their work as the butlers came in to escort Charlotte to the carriage, her dress trailing gracefully behind her. Charlotte's parents were waiting impatiently for her inside of the carriage, as soon as the door had been closed and the horses started to trot along, her mother finally spoke.

"Charlotte! We do not want to turn up late, again! Have you any idea how long we have been waiting for you? Not only that but Nanny Whetstone has informed me on how you rudely ignored Duke Barton when he came today, you know he could have been a suitor!"

Charlotte's eyes narrowed at the claims being hurled at her. "I can imagine you have been waiting for a while, for that, I am sorry, but I am not sorry for turning away Duke Barton. He is a rude, conniving, greedy and selfish good for nothing." Charlotte shivered a little as she recalled her encounter with Duke Barton earlier that day. He had not only been twice her age, but he had also been incredibly ignorant and crude.

Charlotte's mother sighed. "You know that there have been plenty of nice young men, asking for your hand, if you hadn't dismissed all of them so quickly, it wouldn't have come down to this."

"I had good reason to mother, none of them would suit me." Charlotte reasoned, though she knew her mother would disagree with her point.

Instead her mother's stern facial expression dropped as she admitted. "I guess you are right, I was very lucky to have met your father, in fact, it was at a masked ball as well. He didn't know who I was, so came and talked to me, I grew to like him and what do you know, quicker than you can say lickety-split we were married and with child."

At this point Charlottes' father leaned over and smiled softly, probably remembering.

"Your mother was the prettiest lady in the room, just as you are beautiful now." He smiled softly, tucking a ringlet of hair behind Charlottes ear, Charlotte smiled slightly back, not quite sure of what to say. Her mother cut in.

"We really don't want to pressurize you Charlotte, but you know that if you do not choose a husband in the next four months, before you turn eighteen, we have to choose one ourselves, and I don't want to choose the wrong person for you." Charlotte knew that the law was the law and that there was no use in trying to blame her parents, but she still did, otherwise who else was she meant to be angry at, what else would keep her sane?

Her mother reached behind her own neck and unclasped something from around it. She reached forward and clipped it instead around Charlottes neck, it was a beautiful silver necklace in the shape of a small bird with one small diamond set in the expensive metal as an 'eye', the necklace lay elegantly on her collar bone.

"Now you look complete, that necklace symbolises hope." She explained, she kissed Charlottes cheek and reclined to her powerful posture from beforehand. The rest of the journey was silent but not to the point of being uncomfortable. Charlotte's eyes widened when she looked out of the small glass window and spotted the venue, it was to be expected from a prince though. They trotted into the driveway of a rich estate, hills of green pastures and fountains surrounded the castle, this place belonged to the Royals, who were hosting the party. You see, normally she was made to frequent the balls by herself, but this one was special, in honour of the prince himself, hence why her parents were also invited. Charlotte just wanted it to all be over with and for her to return home again, but at that moment she was being helped out of the carriage and being led towards the huge golden barred gates, the entry to the royal ball...