Fated Love

Chapter 1-4

A footman called for dinner and, being the only titled gentleman in the building, Marcus offered Lady Adina his arm and escorted their hostess into the dining hall. Lady Edgar and Aunt Beverly followed close behind them. Charlotte followed on the arm of Doctor Gowrey. Isabel and Miss Olivia walked behind them to the room across the foyer where an opulent display of china, crystal, and gold flatware was set at one end of a table that was easily forty feet long.

“I’m so glad you were all able to make grandmother’s birthday celebration,” the young miss said. “And you shouldn’t feel obliged to hunt if you’d rather not. I don’t. Can’t abide it myself.”

“Thank you, but my friends and I…”

“I know my cousin Penelope is mad for the hunt, as is her mother, and Lady Camden is renowned for her skills with a horse, so I assume Lady Charlotte is as well. But I was hoping I would find a kindred soul with Lord Glencairn’s sister.”

Isabel wanted to say something to correct the chit, but her upbringing, and her years out in society taught her well how to refrain from expressing the first thoughts that came to mind.

“I am very much excited for the opportunity to ride with your grandmother during this month. My aunts have revered her for years, praising her longevity with our favorite sport.”

“I didn’t know my Aunt Beverly was also your aunt.”

“She is my godmother,” Isabel said. “Aunt Beverly is as close to our family as any beloved aunt.”

“Oh, I wasn’t aware.” The other girl looked like a puppy that had been scolded? Had Isabel been curt in her explanation? She didn’t intend to be.

“I’m sorry, Miss Olivia,” Isabel said, “if I sounded terse. Perhaps I, too, am more tired than I thought after several long days of travel.”

“That is completely understandable, Lady Isabel,” Miss Olivia said. “Why just traveling by coach from Edinburgh is enough to exhaust me!”

They arrived to their seats and Isabel discovered she was seated next to Lady Adina, with Miss Gordon on her left, and next to Miss Gordon was Doctor Gowrey. Across from them, Marcus was seated on Aunt Beverly’s right, as she shared the head of the table with Lady Adina. Next to Marcus sat Charlotte, and next to her was Lady Edgar. Lady Adina conversed with Aunt Beverly, and the two were deep into their discussion of her husband, Lord Huddleston, and his whereabouts in his latest letter to her.

Lady Edgar, seated at the end of the table, brought up the subject that had been on Isabel, Charlotte, and Penelope’s mind since their arrival.

Addressing the countess, Lady Edgar asked, “When is Rathcavan due to return? And will Mr. Santiago be with him?”

Lady Adina passed a pointed glance from Lady Edgar to Miss Olivia. “The men will return as soon as they are able, Margaret.” She then gave Isabel a grin. “They are installing new equipment in the mill.” Lady Adina sipped from her crystal wine goblet. Her expression one of pride as she spoke of her grandson, the new earl. “My grandson is a charming rake with a singular obsession—industrialization of the country. Several years ago, before he inherited the title, he and his cousin purchased a copper foundry in Glasgow and converted it to an iron rail-producing mill for the expansion of the railroads across the country. They have recently taken a third partner in their endeavor, Mr. Santiago, freeing my nephew up to focus on growth and expansion.”

Lady Edgar, apparently unsatisfied by her mother-in-law’s reply, pushed the matter again. “Well, surely they will arrive before the festivities are to begin on Saturday? Mr. Santiago has a betrothed here whom he abandoned almost immediately after their agreement—”

Lady Adina didn’t miss a beat. She jumped into Lady Edgar’s display of temper. “They will get here when they get here, Margaret, and cease with this betrothal nonsense now. We both know neither one wants to marry the other.”

An awkward moment of silence hung over the party as several footmen cleared the soup dishes and others brought in the next course—a pâté of some sort on a bed of seasoned vegetables. When discussion resumed, talk had changed to horses, hounds, and hunting. Isabel wished dinner would end quickly so they could claim exhaustion and go back to their rooms. There was much to discuss with Penelope. Isabel was certain their friend waited for them to return and get the gossip from their dinner conversation.

Charlotte closed the door behind Isabel when they had both entered Penelope’s room after dinner. The two had begged to be excused from the evening’s after-dinner entertainments because of lingering fatigue. And, while they were truly tired, they also wanted to be spared Penelope’s cousin’s singing and pianoforte playing. She was sure the girl was satisfactory at both, but Charlotte had no desire to listen.

And her cousin Marcus was acting strange—as though he was interested in the chit. Yes, the girl was passably pretty. But it didn’t warrant paying her that much attention. Marcus couldn’t take his eyes off her abundant cleavage when he thought no one was looking. To make things even more strange, the betrothed miss was acting just as besotted with Marcus. The hussy! They just met that very evening.

Charlotte could not envision Olivia as Marcus’ marchioness and forced the image trying to form out of her head. She’d have to talk to him, maybe shake some sense into him, or do something to get him to see through the chit’s helpless miss act. Because Charlotte got the feeling that Miss Gordon was a manipulative little brat. One who’d set her sights on the fortune, title, or both.

But first she had to share with Penny the interesting behavior of everyone else at dinner—not herself or Isabel, of course. Then she’d tell her friend about the handsome doctor. The cousin to the new earl.

“I find it interesting that the very morning after he decided he would marry Miss Olivia, Mr. Santiago left Lyden for Glasgow with the new earl.” Isabel spoke in a hushed tone as she sat opposite Charlotte on Penny’s bed. “And Miss Olivia! Her behavior all through dinner!”

“You noticed, too?” Charlotte whispered. “I was hoping I wasn’t the only one who saw that. Your brother must be careful, because I sense that one is trouble.”

“I was thinking that same thing,” Isabel replied. “I’m planning to talk to him.”

“Miss Olivia is a prodigious flirt,” Charlotte added. “Indeed, she is a flirt of the first order. I know she is your cousin, Penny, but she is unlike anything I’ve ever encountered.”

“I’m relieved to know that there is no betrothal,” Penny replied. “But why didn’t he write?” she mused, more to herself than to Charlotte or Isabel. Charlotte wondered if Penelope was well because she looked as though she was in a fog.

“From what I overheard when Lady Adina was talking to your mother,” Isabel said, “the earl received new equipment at his mill and he and Mr. Santiago left immediately to supervise the installation and the start of production using this new equipment.”

Penny’s gaze snapped to Isabel when she heard Mr. Santiago’s name. Charlotte hoped she wasn’t back sliding into the emotional turmoil that she’d been in during the year she’d not heard from the man. And on top of that, for the past six months Charlotte witnessed her friend’s renascence—a reawakening of her spirit that had been dormant because of her broken heart.

“Then he really went to help his friend, and is not betrothed to Olivia?” Penny asked, the look on her face falling with her spirit.

“I overheard a conversation she was having with Marcus,” Charlotte added, “and she is making it sound as though Mr. Santiago abandoned her after her aunt caught him kissing her.”

Isabel nodded.

“That is suspicious,” Penny said. “Why would she do that?"

“I think,” Isabel said, “Miss Gordon is desperately trying to find a way out from under her aunt’s thumb. And she sees a rich, single young man as the only avenue to her independence.”

She and Isabel both nodded. Then it hit Charlotte, clear as the sun on a summer day. She now understood! There was a pattern here… Mr. Santiago was running from Olivia also—just as he had Penelope. He told Penny he loved her and then disappeared. He probably told Olivia he loved her as well, then disappeared on her. The man truly is fickle and cannot decide if he wishes to get married or not. But Charlotte couldn’t tell Penelope this just yet. She wanted to confront him first, if he even came to Lyden Castle for the party, which Lady Adina expected he would.

Charlotte hoped she was wrong, though she saw the similarities in both stories—a growing affection, a stolen kiss, then the man disappears. She’d always considered herself a fairly good judge of character, whether human or equine. And Mr. Santiago seemed the most respectful, honest, and sincere young man when it came to his affections for Penelope. Could it be because he still cared for Penny? Could that have been why he fled Olivia’s grasp? But if he did still love and desire Penny, then why did he not write to her? That was the thing that boggled Charlotte’s mind. She’d been witness to their blossoming relationship during those weeks before the season started last year when Penny was staying with her.

It had seemed obvious to Charlotte that Mr. Santiago was besotted with Penelope. She and Isabel had been about to press their mothers for invitations for Nathaniel. He was the grandson of a British nobleman, even if his father was in trade. His mother now resided in Bath with his aunt, and both ladies were widowed. His uncle, the earl of Chawsbridge, was the one who’d found Mr. Santiago his position as a translator for some government official in Egypt, India, or some such.

Penny and Isabel were her two best friends. Charlotte would do anything for them, including protect them from men whose only intent was to break their hearts. She wouldn’t even have to ask to know that instinctively they would do the same.

“I don’t know what to make of it,” Penny said, her voice flat and hollow-sounding. When she sat up on the bed, eyes glazed over with shock of the evening’s revelations, Charlotte realized her friend was still in a great deal of pain. Penny’s eyes were swimming in tears, and the dark circles from the previous year had returned. “While I think I’m happy there is no agreement between them, I have many questions for him.”

“I also have questions,” Isabel mused. “But it would be considered ill-mannered of me to ask Miss Olivia directly.”

Charlotte agreed. “Could it be that he is still on his mission, and that is why he hasn’t written to you?”

“I think he said he was to leave the country,” Penny said. “That he had to go somewhere to do this translation work for the government.”

“Scotland is technically another country,” Charlotte added. “But what is he translating, Gaelic?”

“His specialty is the various dialects of the Arab countries,” Penny said. “I was under the impression that his mission was very secret and dangerous. But that doesn’t explain—”

“—What he’s doing with your cousin in Glasgow,” Charlotte finished.

“Do you think if you went to Lady Adina,” Isabel said, “and asked her what brought Nathaniel to Lyden that she might tell you? It seemed to me that she knew much and intentionally divulged little.”

“I got that same feeling, too,” Charlotte said. She thought about the countess’ treatment of her daughter-in-law and granddaughter, and added, “Did you get the impression that Lady Adina just…” Charlotte struggled for the right word, “that she just tolerates Lady Edgar and Olivia? As though she didn’t seem to take them seriously.”

“I did,” Isabel said. “And it boggles the mind.”

“He’ll be arriving soon. I can feel it.” Penelope’s voice cracked, which meant she was going to cry again. “What do I do if he doesn’t remember me, or care? What if he is returning because he wishes to win Olivia’s hand? She is beautiful and young…”

As her friend began to cry, Charlotte took the kerchief from her pocket and handed it to her weepy friend. Penny was the first of the three of them to experience a broken heart. Charlotte and Isabel had yet to set their hearts on any man. And with the way Penny had been for the past year and a half, Charlotte wasn’t so sure she even wanted to fall in love, much less get married. Eventually she wanted to have a child, but being in the family way meant she’d have to give up riding for the duration and that wasn’t something she wanted to consider just yet. She also didn’t want to ever be the watering can that Penny was right then.

“He cannot possibly want to marry her, Penny,” Isabel said. “I spoke with her, and she has a brain filled with goose feathers. All she spoke about was shopping, her season in Edinburgh and how she wanted to have one in London next, and how handsome Marcus is. Then, she specifically said she was not fond of riding, and your Mr. Santiago sits a horse like he was born on one.”

“What on earth can they possibly have in common?” Charlotte asked.

“I know that I will have to take part in the festivities when they begin,” Penny said, “but until they do, I wish I could stay in my room.”

“We haven’t yet told you about Doctor Gowrey,” Isabel said.

“Oh, Penny,” Charlotte gave her friend a sorrowful stare, suddenly remembering. “Lady Adina has asked him to come see you tomorrow if you are still ill.”

“This doesn’t have to be a bad thing you know,” said Isabel. “The young doctor from Edinburgh is handsome. And Mr. Santiago just might realize what he’s passing up if he chooses Cousin Goose Feathers over you.”

Penelope laughed—a nervous sounding titter—through the tears. This freed Charlotte to laugh, then Isabel.

Before Charlotte left Penny’s room for her bed, she resolved that she would confront Mr. Santiago for the pain he caused her friend. He owed Penny an explanation and an apology.

And Charlotte was going to make sure he did both!