Charlotte House Affair 01 - My Particular Friend

been observing us was unknowable.
    Mr Simms’s whole body fell at Charlotte’s words. His resignation was obvious. He turned and opened the door behind him and bade us enter. I gave one last look back to the street for any sign of the children.
    We entered and climbed the stairs to the first floor where we met a maid who took our coats while Mr Simms waited. The maid’s duty done, he shewed us to a small sitting room where we saw a woman standing by the window from where she had observed us. She appeared several years older than Mr Simms but still comely.
    ‘Mrs Brown, I presume?’ Charlotte asked.
    The woman looked to Mr Simms, who sighed and said, ‘She knows all, Violet.’
    The woman’s expression turned to horror and she cried, ‘You will expose us!’
    ‘I shall do nothing of the kind, unless you fail to divulge all the particulars of your deception. I do not appreciate being used,’ Charlotte said, her voice tinged with menace, but then her tone softened somewhat and she added, ‘unless it is for the purpose of some noble cause.’
    Mr Simms rushed to her side. ‘I assure you it is a noble cause, no less than freedom from a man who would see my Violet again under his control and me dead, I am sure.’
    ‘Very well, Mr Simms, perhaps you should tell me about this man.’

The Story of Edward Gascoigne
    Mr Simms had us sit and then related the story. ‘His name is Edward Gascoigne and as his name would suggest, his family is from France, although they have lived in England a very long time. He is a younger son but he inherited his family’s fortune upon the death of his older brother.
    ‘My Violet was a young girl of sixteen when she met Gascoigne in Dorset. He was … one and thirty?’ He looked to her for confirmation, which prompted her to speak. #
    ‘He was very handsome and I thought him kind. He paid me every attention even though he was far above me. I came from a large and poor family and I was the youngest of four sisters. My prospects for marriage seemed bleak, but he proposed and we were married.’
    Charlotte said, ‘Ah, then Brown is an alias?’
    ‘Yes, after what happened … I could not go about with that name.’
    She turned away after saying this and Mr Simms said, ‘Let me tell it.’
    ‘No, just give me a moment.’
    We waited until she was composed and then she continued.
    ‘It was a workable marriage at first. I did not love him, but I appreciated what he had done for me and my family. He raised me up in society, taught me manners and refinements, even hired tutors for me. He praised me in every way and I would repay him for all this, but I could not repay him in the way he wanted most, a son.
    ‘I had two sons … stillborn. The second time, I nearly died. Sometimes I think I did die. Our marriage did die. His manner changed toward me and I could not bear the thought that I was unable to repay his kindness to my family and me. We kept separate beds, but he visited me when we … when we would try …
    ‘But it would not happen, and our lives separated but for this one duty. Then one day he left to see to his interests in America and his ship was lost. After a year’s absence, I mourned him as a widow. And my grief was made worse by the thought I could not have left him a son to carry his name. And without a son, his property descended to a cousin who, though generous to me, made it clear I was not wanted. He had a finer distinction of class than Edward.
    ‘So I left and found a small house and did well for myself. But Edward’s cousin was unwise and speculated and he lost the house and property, for the entail had ended with Edward’s death and the fortune, the house and the land were his to ruin. #
    ‘The years passed and then three years ago I was surprised when Edward appeared at my house. He had taken so long to return to England and the hardships he had endured left him a changed man, a very bitter man. He had returned home to find his fortune and his wife gone. The only thought he had was to restore his family and he demanded we resume as man and wife.
    ‘But he frightened me so. He was no longer a man I could admire and when he demanded … I hit him, with something, I don’t know with what and he fell dead again, or at least I thought him dead. And in my panic, I left the house and him lying dead. I travelled to Bournemouth and took another name.’ #
    At this she looked to Mr Simms and squeezed his hand. He continued the story.
    ‘We met and fell