Into Chaos Hurled (Book 2)

Eighteen - A Lonely Heart

September 1913

Charlotte

Things quieted down after Grace and the Duke recovered and eventually departed. Lord Radford came to call, but it was merely a social visit to Mama, much to Papa's consternation. No matter how many times she tried to convince him that he was the love of her life and not Radford, the other man's appearance seemed to bring out a side of Papa that was different. Even Wittenberg disappeared, and there was nothing so much as a peep from the Embassy. Petey said that was a good thing, but I wasn't so sure. After all, there were times where no news was worse.

     But I managed to forget about it for a while that late September morning. As I woke it occurred to me that today was Petey's birthday, his twentieth. This would only give him another excuse to take himself even more seriously. So when I was fully awake, I slid out of bed and scampered to his room, letting myself in and jumping onto the bed next to him. He groaned at the sudden rude awakening.

     'Happy birthday, Petey,' I said, ruffling his hair. 'And many happy returns.'

     'God sakes, Lottie, it's too early for this,' he mumbled into the pillow.

     'I can't believe you didn't remember, Petey!' I whipped the pillow out from underneath him, and that seemed to wake him up. 'You're twenty today!'

     'Twenty?' He sat up, rubbing both eyes. 'Why do I feel older than that?'

     'With everything that's been going on, I can't blame you. I feel the same.' I shrugged noncommittally. 'But we can forget about that for now. Mama and Papa will want to as well, just to celebrate.'

     'How can we have a party in times like these?' Petey got out of bed and raked a hand through his hair. 'It seems so...frivolous.'

     'Maybe that's the reason. Like I said, Mama and Papa will just want to forget about it for a little while. And twenty's a milestone, in my opinion. You're a man now, officially.'

     He opened his mouth, undoubtedly to retort, but then sighed and closed it again. After a moment, he spoke. 'Perhaps you're right. I've barely been giving thought to anything else but this in the past months. A distraction would do us wonders.'

     I grinned at him. 'That's the spirit. Hurry, though. Mama'll be wondering where you've gone off to if you take too long.'

     He rolled his eyes and made a shooing motion with his hand. 'Right. Now if you'll excuse me, it seems I must get dressed.'

     I gave him a wink as I went out. Today was his day. He could get away with it.

||

I beat him downstairs, finding Mr Lowell already in the dining room and setting out Papa's breakfast. That surprised me. Papa was usually the first to breakfast and the first to leave the table when he was done.

     'Good morning, Mr Lowell,' I said, and his surprised expression made me grin. 'Where's Papa? I thought he would be here.'

     'His Lordship said he would be a few minutes late this morning,' Mr Lowell answered. 'You seem quite happy today, milady. Any particular reason?'

     'Oh, Mr Lowell, didn't you know? It's Petey's birthday. He's turning twenty.'

     'Right,' he said, with a scoff that said he'd forgotten. 'I knew that.'

     Before I could reply, Papa came hustling in, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek as he passed. Mr Lowell quickly stepped back to allow him to sit.