The Coveted Countess

Chapter 2

"It is because I think so much of warm and sensitive hearts, that I would spare them from being wounded." Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

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Chapter Two

Charlotte sat in the drawing room at Ascot surrounded by a thousand different fabric swatches that, to her, were all white.

But according to Giselle Mornington they each had a different name. Giselle was a very fabulous woman, always draped in the finest fabrics and jewels. Her auburn hair was curly and pulled back into a fancy knot on the back of her head, with a flower garland surrounding it. The same flowers decorated her deep purple gown that emphasised her hourglass figure perfectly. Her honey-coloured eyes were very unique, and often fired with excitement when she was talking about gowns. "Now, I think this will look simply gorgeous on you," she said, holding up a sample of white fabric. "Ivory silk, isn't it just lovely?"

So it was ivory silk. Giselle held the material up to her face and sighed happily. "You've been blessed with such a lovely complexion, darling."

"Thank you," Charlotte replied half-heartedly. She'd never really been involved with the design of her gowns beforehand, to this extent. She'd often selected material based on colour and then picked a design out of a book and she was finished with it. She sighed and rose from the settee to stretch her legs. "Giselle, I've had enough for today," she informed her. "Really, you should choose everything. You know much more about this than I do." And she cared much more about it than Charlotte did.

She didn't think planning a wedding should be so tiresome. Her brother, Emmett, and his wife, Bess, had married almost instantly. Of course the circumstances were not the best, but a wedding still had been thrown together rather quickly. Herwedding, however, was taking an absolute age to plan.

And it was all Bess' fault.

For a woman who didn't care to do anything but braid her hair, she certainly insisted on planning every detail of Charlotte's wedding.

She and Eric had become engaged two months ago and the only thing that had been agreed on was the identity of the groom.

"Don't you want to design your own wedding gown?" Giselle asked, sounding quite surprised. "Bess assured me that you would want to be involved with every detail."

Of course she had. "I truly don't," she murmured. "I trust your taste." She wanted it over and done with. She wanted to be married and taken to live far away from Derbyshire. She didn't understand why she and Eric couldn't go into the village and be married by the vicar that afternoon! "Excuse me, would you?"

She felt guilty for being short with her future mother-in-law, but she wasn't in the mood to talk fashion. Charlotte exited the room and followed the voices of her family until she found them in the dining room enjoying luncheon.

Emmett sat at the head of the table playing with a grape between his fingers. Their mother, Marie, sat to his side and her younger sister, Rose, sat beside her. Bess was beside Emmett, lounging in her chair with their now seventeen-month-old son, David, sitting on her lap. Charlotte couldn't help but smile whenever she saw David. He was incredibly adorable with a cheeky smile and bright blue eyes.

But her happiness stopped there. "This is a nightmare!" she exclaimed, taking her seat beside Bess and helping herself to a generous glass of wine. Eric was so lucky to be called away on business.

She'd been so happy to make a friend like Eric. He was a kind gentleman who'd awkwardly asked her to dance during her first ball in London. They'd gotten to know each other as friends and a mutual admiration had developed. Once her season was over, he'd travelled to Derbyshire so that they could continue getting to know each other, eventually turning it into a courtship.