The Corinthians Series: Rules of Masquerade

Chapter Thirteen

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Chapter Thirteen

“William.” Charlotte called and waited for the name to echo in her room. The name felt unfamiliar to her tongue as she kept calling his name over and over again. Ever since their encounter under the shelter of the apple trees that afternoon, she felt some form of metaphorical wall had crumbled between them. So if he was adamant in calling her by her first name, what was stopping her from doing the same?

“Williammm…”

“Milady?” Fanny squeaked and Charlotte absent mindedly twirled her hair with a finger. Fanny was sitting on the bed where she was giving her a foot massage. The afternoon spend frolicking in the garden had tire her significantly and the dinner affair even more so. After Fanny had tore away the dress she had worn in the evening, Charlotte quickly crawled onto the bed and prettily asked for a massage.

“Mhmmm?”

“Has anything happened between you and his lordship?” Fanny applied pressure on her ankles and Charlotte moaned in sublime pleasure. Charlotte sunk deeper into her pillow and wriggled her bottom against the cozy mattress.

“Hmm… which lordship?” Charlotte muttered sleepily and Fanny giggled.

“The marquess of Sheldrake of course!”

“Nothing.” She lied easily and sighed. Settling deeper into her mattress Charlotte closed her eyes.

Rain had poured out of the sky in late afternoon and the party had relocated their merrymaking in the salon. Some guests excused themselves to rest while others – and by others Charlotte meant the daughter of Duke of Warwick, Lady Orchid along with Viscount of Lovell’s daughter The Hon. Clarissa Dershingham – had chosen to remain in the salon to stalk Lord Paris Thornton while he was engaged in a game of vingt-et-un with Edwin.

The two ladies had arrived in Moonhurst with their sights set on the eligible duke and it seemed that His Grace was enjoying the attention thoroughly. However, in Charlotte’s opinion it was most unwise of the duke to indulge the advances of besotted ladies in such manner, especially since the rumor of his betrothal to young lady from Scotland was hanging in the air. He could have the decency of squashing the gossip but had yet to neither deny nor confirm the truth. Whereas Orchid and Clarissa had chosen to gain the interest of Lord Thornton, Charlotte had noticed Lady Samantha’s inclination towards Edwin. Lady Samantha William was the only daughter of the Marquess of Pemberley who spent most of her life in the country. She was quiet and often kept to herself, considerably pretty but dreadfully shy. Charlotte was quite surprised Lady Samantha had showed up to the sojourn in the first place.

The two other ladies, Lady Hyacinth – vivacious older sister of Orchid – and Leticia Barrington had had their eyes on the prize, none other than the devil marquess himself. She had not missed their attempts catching his attention during dinner where Hyacinth was engaging Lord William’s in a discussion regarding horse racing. No doubt Hyacinth had done the research pertaining Lord William’s likes and dislikes beforehand.

Leticia Barrington however, chose a different approach entirely. She had decided to attract the marquess’s eyes by parading around in one of the most scandalous evening gown Charlotte had ever set her eyes on. The crepe silk dress sported a daring plunging neckline, clean cut silhouette with not a scrape of lace to offer some sort of illusion of concealment to hide her modesty. Her décolletage was practically spilling out of the dress! The gown was caramel brown because Leticia attempted to match the shade of her dress with the color Lord William’s eyes. In Charlotte’s opinion Leticia failed terribly because everybody knows, Lord William’s eyes were like yummy chocolate bonbons: which was darker and infinitely more sublime when compared to caramel candies. Nevertheless no one can say that Leticia’s effort went to waste because Oliver wasted no time at all to introduce himself. It was quite shameless if truth be told.