There was something reassuring to Charlotte about the familiar chaos that greeted her as she walked into the family parlor later that same morning. Ares had apparently stolen one of Aunt Penelope's shoes and hidden it. Aunt Gwendolyn, in a feathered bonnet, gray silk dress, beaded pelisse, and the other shoe, was sending all the servants and her husband on an emergency hunt.
"You have more shoes than any woman I have ever met," Uncle Humphrey muttered. "Three cobblers have retired in Chistlebury from your business alone. Why is this shoe so essential?"
She straightened one of her feathers. "Perhaps this missing shoe is a message from his master. The dog may have been instructed to hide it from me for a reason."
"A message from his master?" Sir Humphrey glanced at Charlotte in exasperation. "Do you suppose Strathmere has taken to wearing women's shoes in the afterlife?"
"He might be giving me a sign," Aunt Penelope said.
"A sign?" Her husband shook his head in bafflement. "With your shoe?"
"Yes. A shoe could be an occult representation of the next step Strathmere wishes me to take to help him."
Sir Humphrey threw up his hands. "I wish to God he'd help me. An occult representation. A shoe."
Paulina stuck her head into the room. "We're going to be late to church. Do hurry, all of you."
Charlotte had to smile at that. Paulina was always a slugabed who found any excuse to avoid going to church on Sundays. This change of attitude could only mean that love was in the air, that her cousin hoped to meet Colton there to continue the romance that had been sparked at the previous evening's ball. She felt a faint pang of envy. Charlotte was never going to have a normal courtship with a sweetheart gazing at her like a moon calf from a church pew.
No, she thought wistfully. Her own courtship consisted of a man dressed as a highwayman whisking her off for an illicit interlude, which, now that she contemplated it in the aftermath, really had begun to take on a rosy glow of romanticism. She could hardly believe they had danced together, made love with such desperation. And yet she could still feel the hard weight of Benedic's body on hers, his hands in her, on her face.
"We are looking for your mother's lost shoe," Sir Humphrey informed his daughter. "The misguided woman refuses to leave the house without it."
"I saw her shoe in the middle of the stairs just a few moments ago," Paulina said.
"Was it going up or going down?" her mother asked.
Paulina shrugged her slender shoulders. "What does it possibly matter? Do hurry, Mama."
Charlotte wandered over to the window and gazed outside. Where was Benedic now? She ought to be furious at him for putting her in this situation. Even if she did decide to ask her brothers to help, there was no guarantee any message she sent would reach them in time to save him. He might have confronted Edward before they left London.
"Are you coming, Charlotte?"
She glanced around at the sound of her uncle's voice. They remained alone in the room, and she could hear the carriage drawing to the front of the house.
"Yes. I'll be right there."
"Anything interesting outside that window?" he asked quietly.
She managed a wan smile. "There doesn't seem to be. Did Aunt Penelope ever find her shoe?"
He frowned at her in concern. "Your head is up in the clouds this morning. Paulina
just told us it was on the stairs. Didn't you hear?"
She moved past him with her gaze averted, aware that he knew her better than anyone in the house. After last night, with Benedic occupying her mind, she must seem more than a little distracted. "Come on. Let's suffer the parson's sermon for the sake of our souls."
He touched her lightly on the shoulder as she passed. "Charlotte, my dear, if you ever need someone to help you, I shall be here."
Uncle Humphrey involved in a scheme of duplicity and murder? Charlotte could not resist turning to smile at him, regretting that her secret had built a wall between them. "Thank you. You have been kinder to me than I deserve."