Charlotte House Affair 01 - My Particular Friend

walking about stiffly? I think he must have received a sharp blow in advance to have produced that amount of bruising. They must have been in great pain all the while … ah ha! which might explain their fondness for their flasks.’
    —&—
    The rest of that day we had hoped for a call from Mr Wallace to inform us of the outcome of the morning’s events, but he never visited. However the next day we received our first two callers.
    Charlotte made them acquainted: ‘Miss Bassett, may I introduce Miss Chivington. Miss Bassett is the friend of Mr Jenkins, who …’
    ‘I now have the honour to be his betrothed,’ Miss Bassett said, her eyes downcast in modesty.
    ‘Ah, I see. Well then, Miss Chivington is the friend of …’
    ‘I … I also have entered into a promise of marriage, to Mr Sunderland,’ that lady said.
    Charlotte gave them both her quick grimace of a smile. ‘Then felicitations to you both. Please, let us all sit and you may tell of the changed opinions that have led you to this happy state.’
    We all sat; Mrs Fitzhugh and I shared the sopha a little apart from Charlotte and the two women. I felt, I think we both felt, as if we were watching a play. By unspoken agreement, we remained quiet, content to let Charlotte act alone.
    But both women also remained silent and so Charlotte prompted them.
    ‘Miss Chivington, your new opinion puzzles me most. I had thought you quite hardened to Mr Sunderland.’
    She played with the linen she held in her hand for a moment before answering. ‘He has forever foresworn duelling, Miss House, and he is heartily sorry for the injury he has caused Mr Jenkins. I think him to be a changed man.’
    ‘I presume then you have called on him.’
    ‘Immediately after receiving your letter. I saw him, so horribly marked upon his face and it was as you said, Miss House. He could not call Miss … he could not agree with the claim that precipitated the duel, for he thought …’
    ‘There is no need to further elaborate,’ Charlotte said. ‘But what assures you he is a new man?’
    ‘From his words. He said that almost killing a man and almost dying himself have impressed on him the stupidity of his actions. He actually called it stupidity. And he said that were a man to take a wife, he must assume new responsibilities, especially now that he is to be the master of Langton Hall.’
    ‘Oh, I am sorry to hear of the death of his older brother. When did this news reach him?’
    ‘Just Saturday. He is to leave to-morrow for home, for he must console his mother.’
    ‘And now to you, Miss Bassett. May I assume Mr Jenkins has convinced you of his ardour?’
    ‘You shame me, Miss House, but I deserve your scorn. Yes, how can I refuse a man who would risk all for me?’
    ‘Well perhaps not quite all,’ she said, and then shewed them the pistol balls. She explained their purpose, and Mrs Fitzhugh and I watched as the two women shewed confusion, surprise and then outrage. I must have shown some surprise as well, for I did not anticipate Charlotte revealing to them the subterfuge.
    ‘How dare they attempt this callous trick!’ Miss Chivington exclaimed.
    ‘Calm yourself, my dear,’ Charlotte said, ‘and you too, Miss Bassett,’ she amended upon seeing her about to speak. ‘Let us please consider the motivations of these two men and see if their actions can be considered honourable.’
    Good luck with that,
I thought.
    ‘We begin with Mr Sunderland. You had repeatedly refused him, so he thought he must find a way to prove his love for you and retire from the relentless defence of his honour. By appearing to have nearly killed his opponent and almost dying himself, he can show the world—
as you had just stated
—that he has the integrity of a gentleman, and by foreswearing duelling forever, he can now claim wisdom as well. And do not forget that he was also willing to endure the pain of a red hot poker applied to his face.’
    She said this last with such drama that Miss Chivington put her hand to her mouth.
    ‘And now we turn to Miss Bassett, who now realizes her love for Mr Jenkins, stripped of any prejudice against his birth or his station. A man who has shown his passion for her—for he must be passionate to have endured the beating that explains the bruises upon his chest. You have both rejected honourable men, who have gone to this extreme to prove their worthiness.’
    Neither woman agreed to this assessment, but they both seemed to be weighing her words.