Charlotte sat up in her bedroom the day following the events that had taken place concerning Nate. He had gone. He had managed to escape and Charlotte knew that the family's finances would be in trouble. She had heard her mother and father arguing downstairs before she had snuck up to her own room. Diana had gone outside with her friends. She had heard Ruby, Anne and Jane come calling for her and they had gone out to play. Charlotte had opened the door to the three girls dressed in their coats and hats and had called for her sister to come from her room.

"Diana!"

Charlotte had curled up into a ball on the window seat, a book in her lap and her legs tugged up to her chest. Her mother's shrill voice echoed in her ears and Charlotte knew that she should tell her mother that Diana was outside, but she didn't move. She knew that Diana was supposed to be engaging in lessons on etiquette, but Charlotte didn't want to put her through that. She had gone through it and had been miserable, remembering how she had looked at her friends playing and had been dragged back home to learn how to walk like a proper lady.

"Charlotte, have you seen Diana?" Eliza asked, entering her daughter's room and finding her sat there silently.

"She's outside with her friends."

"Charlotte, you know that she has lessons today," Eliza said to her daughter, voice curt as she held onto her bedroom door tightly. Charlotte folded the top of the page of her book to mark her spot before closing it and placing it to the side of her.

"She's a girl, mother," Charlotte tried to reason with her. "It's the weekend and she wants to play with her friends. Why is that such an issue?"

"Because she is supposed to be learning how to be a proper young lady. She will never be accepted into society if she does not act like a proper lady," Eliza said. "And you know that our finances are dire, Charlotte. You know that we will never return to England and you know about our future now."

Charlotte sighed, nodding her head. She uncurled herself from the ball she had formed and stood up, her green skirts flowing down her legs as she adjusted the white shirt she had tucked into its waistband. She folded her arms over her chest and watched her mother for a moment, seeing her place a hand to her forehead in exasperation as she looked around her surroundings.

"Mother, the wages I earn from the school…you can have them," Charlotte said and Eliza looked to her, eyes widening as she heard her and she shook her head, flattening out the crease in her black skirt.

"Charlotte, we cannot let you do that."

"Yes, you can," Charlotte responded. It was the least that she could do considering she had been involved with Nate. She blamed herself for not spotting him for what he was before. She should have seen him for a con artist. She should have known, but she hadn't. She had been naïve enough to fall for his lies.

"It is your money," Eliza said.

"And this is my family," Charlotte retorted. "So I can spend my money however I want to, mother, and I want to spend it trying to help us. I do not know if it will help much, but I hope it makes some difference."

Charlotte was about to move towards her mother, but Eliza shook her head, holding a hand up and placing another hand over her mouth. She shook her head back and forth numerous times before turning on her heel and rushing from the bedroom, tears falling down her cheeks. Charlotte moved to the doorway as she saw Minnie-May being led to her bedroom by their maid. Charlotte stuck her tongue out at her as Minnie-May did the same. Winking at her, Charlotte moved down the stairs and heard her mother speaking with her father.

She was about to go and ask her if she was well, but she could hear them arguing about the new drapes that had just been fitted. Sighing to herself, Charlotte shook her head before she headed to the kitchen. She snacked on pieces of chocolate before hearing the door slam closed. Picking up some boiled sweets, she carried them back into the parlour as she heard the door slam open and shut.

"Charlotte!"

Elizabeth carried the paper bag of sweets towards the parlour and she saw her father sat in his chair, a newspaper in his fingertips. Charlotte kept popping the sweets into his mouth as her father peered at her over his newspaper. Looking to his eldest daughter, he watched her sink down onto the couch across from him, folding one leg over the other.

"Father?" she questioned what it was he wanted.

"Are you certain you should be eating sweets before dinner?"

"Don't tell mother and I'll let you have one?" Charlotte suggested to him and despite everything, his lips quirked and he nodded once. Charlotte stood up and moved to sit down on the arm of his chair. He took one from the bag as Charlotte held the bag towards him. "How are you feeling, father?"

"I've been better," William confessed. "But you shouldn't be burdened with any of this."

"On the contrary, I'm part of this family," she said. "I want to help you."

"Your mother said," William spoke and folded his newspaper in half, laying it down on the coffee table in front of him softly. "She said that you wished to give your money to us to help. We cannot ask you to do that. A parent should not rely on their child for money."

"On the contrary," Charlotte responded, "you are not asking me to do this. I want to do it. I want to help you."

"I know," William said.

"And if you discovered that I had found a million dollars then would you argue if I shared the money?"

"I would quite like to know where you found it," he retorted.

"That's not the point," Charlotte said and he chuckled, nodding his head. She nudged him in the shoulder and nodded her head firmly. "I am helping, father. I live here with you and so I will contribute. It is only right and I want to do it. Besides, mother is going to have her hands full now that Diana cannot go to finishing school in Paris."

William shook his head as Elizabeth went to sit back down on the couch across from him, picking up one of his old newspapers that was on the coffee table in-between them. She rested it on her lap and flicked through it.

"Finishing school," William drawled out. "You went to finishing school. Did it help you in anyway?"

"I…I guess so," Charlotte said. She remembered meeting Alexander there. She remembered him so well and she wanted him back. There wasn't a day that went by when she didn't regret not leaving him in Paris.

"Well, you are going to marry a teacher and move to Toronto so I suspect that it did help," William said.

Charlotte remained silent, looking as her father picked up his newspaper. How many more times did she need to tell them that this wasn't what she wanted? She didn't want to marry Mr Phillips. She wanted to leave and go back to Paris. She wanted a new life. But she was too scared to run away for that. She knew she was a hypocrite. She prided herself on being someone who never conformed to rules, but here she was, doing as her parents asked her.

And then she remembered their current situation. There might be a chance that Mr Phillips could help them. There might be a chance that by marrying him her family might not be gossiped about as much as they currently were because of Charlotte's unorthodox ways.

But Charlotte kept that to herself. She folded herself into a ball on the couch and read the newspaper in her grip. She didn't know how long had gone by before she heard her mother snap at Diana and Charlotte, leading them into the sitting room.

"Look," Eliza said in a haughty voice. "The girls have something to show you."

Charlotte looked up and saw her mother walk in with Diana and Minnie-May behind them. They had two books on top of their heads, trying to balance them as Charlotte shook her head at the sight of them. She placed the newspaper down and hid the sweets she had been snacking on behind the cushion, knowing that her mother would not be happy.

Diana's remained on her head as Minnie-May's fell off as they curtseyed and Charlotte chuckled.

"Yes, well, isn't that something," William said.

"Charlotte, show Minnie-May how you do that."

"Mother, is there any point?" Charlotte questioned. "You rarely curtsey anyway…I mean…I've never met royalty and needed to curtsey, never mind do it with books on my head."

"Charlotte, can you just not argue with me and help?" her mother demanded once more.

Charlotte sighed and stood up, taking the books from Minnie-May and placing them on the top of her head, remembering doing this in finishing school. Her father watched over his newspaper as Diana, Minnie-May and Eliza stood in a row. Charlotte walked up and down with the books on her head, arms stretched to the side of her as she pivoted and remembered the last time she had done this in Paris. She had showed Alexander when she had snuck out to his apartments after he had doubted her. She had climbed out of bed and wrapped his robe around her, balancing the books and moving around the room.

Moving back down the parlour, Charlotte dipped into a low curtsey, skirts to the side of her as she held them up and then stood up straight, the books not once faltering from falling from her head.

"See, that's how you do it," Eliza said and Charlotte grabbing the books, dropping them onto the couch behind her.

"But it's not important," she said, looking to her sisters. "Besides, it took me a long time to master that."

Diana forced a smile onto her face as Charlotte ruffled Minnie-May's hair and sat back down, wondering just what it was her mother wanted for her two youngest daughters.

…

Standing at the front of the classroom, Charlotte watched as the children filed out one-by-one. She had told Diana that she should go ahead and walk home with Anne if she so wanted. Mr Phillips was cleaning the chalkboard as Charlotte filed the papers on the desks. She was sat down on top of a desk, legs dangling in front of her as she kicked them back and forth and finished placing the papers into alphabetical order.

"I'll mark these this evening," Charlotte said to him, looking over her shoulder as she jumped down from the desk and placed them into her satchel. She closed the flap and buttoned it. "And I was thinking that it might be for the best if we brought the spelling test forwards by a week considering it is almost the holidays."

"If you so wish," Mr Phillips said to her and he looked at her with his hands behind his back.

Charlotte looked over to him and he moved slowly towards her. Reaching out, he moved his hands to pick up the papers that he had to take home, but his fingers brushed Charlotte's as she also made the motion. His fingers were cold against her owns and she pulled back after a moment before he let his eyes roam over her.

"I was hoping that you might be willing to come to dinner with me this weekend?" he asked from her.

"Oh, this weekend," Charlotte commented. "I...I suppose that I could."

"I would like that," Mr Phillips said to her, his hand moving towards hers once again and he took her fingers into his, holding them softly as she watched him lift her hand upwards and he pressed his lips to the back of hers. "I believe your father and I are intending to talk this weekend too."

"I see," Charlotte said as he kept hold of her hand and walked around the desk, standing in front of her. She watched him as he continued to stare down at her, his other hand moving upwards and stroking loose strands of hair behind her ear. His fingers remained on her cheek. They were cold and spindly, dancing along her cheekbone and into her hair and back.

"I believe it will almost be time soon," he said. "That is, for me to formally propose."

Charlotte didn't know what to say, feeling a lump form in her throat. She wanted to tell him what she thought, but she daren't. She had told herself that this was the right thing for her to do. She had to do this.

"Do you think so?" Charlotte questioned from him, her voice shaking slightly as she let her free hand twitch by her side.

"I know so," he said, voice sounding rather smarmy as he continued to look down to her and she wondered what he was doing as his thumb moved over her bottom lip. "And you are the most beautiful girl in all of Avonlea. I will be the envy of the entire town when our engagement is announced."

Charlotte said nothing back to him. What had she expected? Had she expected some romantic gesture? The way he spoke made it sound like his status was the one being elevated. It made it sound as though Charlotte was simply a stepping stone for him. There was hardly any romance, despite him knowing, or rather having an inclination, that Charlotte wanted that.

"I don't know about that," Charlotte chuckled darkly.

"I do," he said back to her and bent down, his head lowering to press his forehead to hers as his lips landed on hers. Charlotte kept her eyes open as he closed his and she knew he was uncertain of his movements. She remained still as he varied the pressure of his mouth against hers, but he didn't bother to deepen the kiss. He moved a hand to her hip, pulling her closer to him and feeling her front press against his, becoming accustomed to the way her curves felt against him. He pulled back after a moment and opened his eyes.

"Hmm," he hummed and Charlotte nodded.

"Rather," was all that she could offer him.

"Charlotte…"

Turning her head over her shoulder, she saw Diana stood in the doorway as Mr Phillips removed his hand from her hip and stood back, his other hand dropping from her cheek. She turned around and picked her coat up from the desk along with her satchel.

"I will see you tomorrow, Mr Phillips," Charlotte said.

"Yes…of course, Miss Barry."

She left the classroom, pulling her coat onto her body and draping her satchel on her shoulder. She took hold of Diana's shoulder and turned her around, leading her from the school. Buttoning up her coat as they left, Charlotte moved a hand over her mouth, wondering if it would stop her lips from tingling.

"I thought that you were walking home with Anne?" Charlotte asked from her.

"I was," Diana said. "But mother is out looking for you…she…she knows, Charlotte."

Standing still, Charlotte looked to Diana and her face contorted with confusion. "Knows what?" she asked.

"She knows about you and Nate," Diana said. "She knows everything."

…

A/N: Not sure if anyone is interested in this story, but if you are then I would love to know what you think!