Charlotte House Affair 01 - My Particular Friend

room and then returned to me, his face now downcast and I had to resist the image in my mind of a bereft lobster.
    ‘Have you never spoken of this with her?’
    ‘I dared not, for I am not worthy of her love.’
    ‘Well, I hate to be blunt, Mr Cuthbertson, but if that is your attitude then it is perhaps best that she marry Mr Worcester.’
    ‘What? I thought you sympathetic.’
    ‘I can hardly take sides, sir. I do not know you or Miss Blankenship and have only recently met Mr Worcester. But I do know that harmony in marriage requires a union of equals. Naturally a man can make claim to strength, position, wealth and knowledge. I do not question this, but none of these matter if the man does not believe himself equal to his wife.’
    ‘Worcester is not the equal of Evelyn. In a million years he could never hope to be.’
    ‘But
he
believes himself to be or else he would not have sought her hand, Mr Cuthbertson. I am sorry; I have upset you.’
    ‘No, no, you tell me things I should hear. Do you think me worthy of her?’
    I sighed. ‘It does not matter what I think. If you are worthy of her, go to her and ask her hand.’
    ‘Yes, I most certainly shall.’
    I allowed a few seconds to pass silently before I said, ‘When?’
    ‘Directly.’
    ‘She is presently standing outside this room, quite alone. Look, she sees us and is waving.’ I lowered my voice. ‘Go to her now.’ I may have placed my hand behind his back and given him a little shove, but I will not swear to it.
    He left the room without a word and half a minute later I saw him on the other side of the windows.

A Complication
    I left the arboretum, not wishing to intrude on the happiness taking place outside, and went in search of my friends, but after a half hour with no luck went to the drawing-room, which was now empty save for Mrs Fitzhugh.
    ‘You have done it, Jane?’ she asked as I entered.
    ‘Yes, I left Mr Cuthbertson proposing to Miss Blankenship and with luck Mr Potterthwaite has already asked Mrs Walthorpe for the living.’
    ‘That is wonderful. Mr Worcester can now be at ease.’
    ‘Yes,’ I said doubtfully, ‘and yet … but here is Charlotte.’
    I caught her attention as she walked by the drawing-room and she joined us.
    ‘At last I find you,’ she said laughing. ‘And before you ask, Mr Potterthwaite has the living. He has it in writing, with myself as a witness.’
    ‘He was not afraid?’ I asked.
    ‘Hardly! I don’t know what you said to buck him up so, Jane. He found us here in the drawing-room, asked politely to have a word and made an excellent argument why he deserved the living. He had obviously practiced his speech many times, lacking only the nerve to deliver it. I must say he has hidden depths that should serve him well as a vicar. He appealed to her vanity, used her friendship with his vicar and told her of his plans for a benevolent society.’ #
    ‘And he did not break or upset anything?’ Mrs Fitzhugh asked.
    ‘Nothing other than a figurine of the Infant Samuel that I managed to conceal.’ #
    Mrs Fitzhugh was about to say something when we heard the sound of someone running. Through the open door we saw Mr Worcester fly by. I would have called out to him to join us but he was already gone.
    ‘Why is he running?’
    ‘No doubt he wishes to avoid either Mr Potterthwaite or Mr Cuthbertson, Margaret. As we warned him, our plan to goad those gentleman implied some risk to his person.’
    We heard sounds again and this time we saw Mr Potterthwaite running in the direction taken by Mr Worcester.
    ‘Apparently it was Mr Potterthwaite he was fleeing. Well, let us now address the endgame. You are aware of the remaining difficulties Jane?’
    ‘Yes, I think so. Mr Potterthwaite must still ask Mr Stilton for permission to marry his daughter and as you said before, Mrs Stilton will still favour Mr Worcester over Mr Potterthwaite, even with a living.’
    ‘And we still have done nothing to improve Sir Walter’s opinion of Mr Cuthbertson,’ Mrs Fitzhugh added.
    Charlotte nodded and said, ‘And although Mr Worcester’s various proposals should soon be returned, it would still be impolitic were the various parents to be aware of the … various proposals. Neither do we want the ladies to inform their parents of their actual intent until we have laid the groundwork …’
    A head looked into the library and Mr Cuthbertson asked, ‘Have you ladies seen Worcester?’
    Charlotte pointed in the opposite