AN: I know I said in my note to To See Wonderful Things that I wouldn't be updating this week, but I managed to pull it off at the last minute. :-) My apologies for how short this chapter is, but I did manage to get my outline straightened out, so we are now full steam ahead for the future!
"Mama," Charlotte began, stepping into the drawing room the next morning, "have you heard—"
But the rest of her inquiry about where Pamuk and Evelyn Napier had gone to froze on her lips at the sight of her sister. Eleanor was perched on the edge of the sofa, leaning into Cora's arms with her head on her shoulder, the wheelchair drawn close to the couch.
"I am sorry," Charlotte said quickly, sensing from their silence and Eleanor's red eyes that she'd intruded on something private. But before she could turn to go, Eleanor shook her head wordlessly, stood, and scurried from the room.
"Eleanor…" Cora called. She leaned forward as though to stand, her eyes staring after her younger daughter, and Charlotte easily read her hunger to follow.* But it was clear the other girl had no intention of returning, and after a moment, Cora sighed and settled back against her chair. Charlotte shifted awkwardly. Her instinct was to offer to push her mother where she wanted to go, but clearly, her sister did not wish for her to be privy to whatever conversation she had interrupted.
Cora gave Charlotte a thin smile that did not quite meet her eyes. "What is it, darling?"
Charlotte shook her head. "Nothing much. What's wrong with Eleanor?" She half-expected her mother to refuse to tell her, but as soon as Cora spoke, it was clear the news could not have remained a secret anyway.
"It's Evelyn," Cora said with a sigh. "He apparently came back to the house this morning and broke with her."
"What?" Charlotte had not thought she could be any more shaken than she had been by the previous night's events, but this was the last news she had expected to hear. "But they are engaged!"
"Not anymore, I'm afraid. It sounds as though it's quite final, and Evelyn is quite sure."
"Is this…because of me?" she squeaked. "And Mr. Pamuk?"
"It's not because of you, but it is because of Mr. Pamuk. Evelyn is ashamed—quite rightly, I think—of having brought him into his fiancée's home, and he does not think it is honorable to marry your sister after—"
"I don't think it is honorable to break his promise to marry her!"
Her mother sighed again. "Charlotte, your father—"
"Did Papa make Evelyn do this?" In truth she could not imagine Robert being so cruel, but nor could she believe that Evelyn had so easily abandoned her sister.
"No, he did not make him—he didn't have to. Evelyn spoke to Papa before he spoke to Eleanor, but I don't think there was any disagreement between them about what he ought to do."
"So Papa approves this? Papa told him it was right?"
"None of it's right, Charlotte, but your father feels that his poor judgement makes him a questionable match for Eleanor."
"And who does he think would be a good match? Or is she in my position now, but without the fortune?"
"Charlotte, this is not the time to find your sister another suitor. It—"
"And what do you think? Do you think Evelyn should leave Eleanor, all because he was assigned to look after a foreign diplomat who was no better than a common criminal? Is that his fault, or Eleanor's? Do you think she should be the one to pay for it?"
"Of course not, but—"
"Where is Evelyn now?"
"I imagine he's on his way up to London—he left here for the train station."
"So he'll be at Branksome House?"
"Charlotte, tell me you don't intend—"
"I do intend. But I'll be seeing Papa first."
"Charlotte—"
But she was already out the door.
"Papa, I think it's very unfair of you to send Evelyn away," Charlotte said, stepping into the library without so much as a hello. Robert was seated on the red couch facing her.
He froze, as though surprised at both her presence and her words, and then sighed. "I haven't sent him away, but this isn't the time—"
"He broke his engagement with Eleanor after he talked with you. Mama certainly made it sound as though you encouraged him." She knew that was not quite how her mother had portrayed it, but her father certainly hadn't discouraged Evelyn.
"I told him I agreed. I told him I was…disappointed in his judgment last night, in letting—" Robert broke his sentence suddenly and sighed again. "But never mind about any of that. His mind was made up before he arrived. But I can't discuss this now—"
"We must discuss it now," Charlotte insisted. "I intend to see it put to rights before the day is out. Eleanor's upset, and there's no reason to let this drag on. I'm going to London to see Evelyn; he can hardly continue with his bizarre notions of honor when I'm the injured party and I'm telling him to go on and marry her. I don't see how you can continue this way. I was the one Mr. Pamuk assaulted, and I don't want Eleanor and Evelyn to have to pay for that!"
Robert winced at her words just as Charlotte heard a choking sound from the couch opposite him, and she realized with horror that they were not alone. And then a blond head rose from the couch.
"Matthew," she breathed.
"I'll excuse myself," he said, his face stark white with shock. "You and Cousin Robert appear to need a bit of privacy."
*Reminder from The Broken Places that Cora can't move her own wheelchair—rather incredibly, old wheelchairs weren't designed for that. The assumption was that if you were wealthy enough to afford a wheelchair, you were wealthy enough to afford servants, and what wealthy person would have wanted to do the work of pushing her own chair? (Although I imagine that probably a lot of disabled people would have preferred to move on their own rather than have to wait for a servant!) Historically, wheelchairs that could be propelled by the user were being built and sold a few years before Far More takes place (although they would not have been available during the era of The Broken Places). However, I've decided to push that back a bit for story purposes that will be evident soon.