Chapter One
James woke up to bright sunlight on a bed which was missing a very important person, his mistress. He blinked a few times before he was finally able to open his eyes fully and he turned to the door when he saw Charlotte's maid hurry into the room with a tray for breakfast and the morning paper. She set it on the table next to him and curtsied quickly before leaving the room. James was a little bewildered by the maid's behavior, but he shrugged it off and took the paper.
It was opened and an announcement was circled carefully several times. Now that must be the reason Charlotte had not accompanied her maid with the breakfast tray. He never took her for being the jealous type of mistress, but then he should not have assumed simply because she was not prone to hysterical fits that she was not a typical woman. He put the paper down and grabbed a piece of toast, leaning back on the headboard.
His mistress, then, decided it was a good time to burst into the room. "Who is she?" she asked, not sounding frantic, but calm as he would expect from her. "I thought you said you weren't the marrying type." Charlotte frowned and it marred her pretty face. "I didn't even know you were even looking for a bride."
She had no reason to think so since he'd escorted Charlotte to every social event, no matter the gossiping tongues waggling in their direction. "I'm not," he said and bit into the toast. "I am as surprised as you are by this."
"So you didn't make the announcement?" Was that relief in her voice?
"I am guessing my father did." He added some milk to his tea and stirred it with the small, silver spoon. "The girl is his ward."
"His ward? Wouldn't she be dreadfully young then?" Charlotte asked, looking concerned.