Heart's Desire

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Lady Wrotham," a voice from Charity's past said behind her. "My, but don't you look the fine lady in that gown?"

From her seat on a fainting couch, Millicent gasped. "You shouldn't be here." Her warning was cut short by a coughing fit. The stress of the evening and now this was all too much for her fragile health.

Charity turned and saw the beautiful blonde roll her eyes at her friend's distress. The maid who'd been helping to repair her skirt rose, a wary look entering her eyes. The other ladies watched on with keen interest.

"I can go wherever I wish," Georgiana Fraser said with triumph once the coughing had died down. "I'm pleased to announce that I am a widow." Walking to her cousin, she waggled a finger under Millicent's nose. "I should punish you for wedding me to a man as old as Methuselah. It makes one feel as though they are unwanted, especially when said man lives in Scotland." A subtle shudder ran through her body.

"You've become quite mad." Charity didn't like the woman, who had come wholly unhinged, near her friend.

As she hoped, Georgiana spun on her delicate heel and gave Charity her undivided attention. "If I am indeed mad, it is in no small part your doing. You are living my life, after all."

There were nervous twitters from the other ladies at this revelation. Charity heard some of their whispered comments, true but no less painful. They surmised that the beautiful blonde must be one of Lord Wrotham's conquests. Georgiana also heard and smiled, treating the scandalized musings as if they were accolades.

"What rot," Millicent huffed, turning the madwoman's attention toward her once again.

Georgiana threw off her shawl and lifted her skirt. Shocked by the motion, Charity found herself wondering what the crazed woman was about. Then, she noted the long and wicked-looking knife Lady Fraser pulled from her garter. Waving it beneath her cousin's nose, she said, "Watch I don't teach you a lesson in manners."

All hell broke loose in the small room. Ladies screamed, no longer amused. In a panic, they rushed for the door. Charity was knocked into a wall. Her back collided with it hard enough to force the air from her lungs. She was still trying to catch her breath when she noted the room was empty of all but the three of them.

Millicent was bent over due to another coughing fit. Fear was evident in her watering, powder blue eyes when they looked across the room. Charity wanted to go to her, but Georgiana stood between them with that deadly knife.

"Why have you come back?" Charity asked, trying once again to gain the madwoman's attention. "There is nothing for you here."

"Nothing?" Georgiana shrieked and came toward Charity, leaving Millicent to recline weakly on the fainting couch. "Everything is here for me! My children and once I'm well and truly rid of you, my husband. As God intended."

The other woman pressed the tip of her dagger into Charity's rib cage. "I will see you dead. Finally," she added in a breathless whisper. "But not here where anyone can come to your rescue."

Holding Charity in place with her free hand, Georgiana urged, "Be a dear and get the door?"

Millicent straightened and made to protest, but Charity shushed her. "I'll be fine," she tried to assure her friend.

Feeling the knife pierce her skin, Charity tried not to wince at the pain. "No, you will not," Georgiana assured. The grip on Charity's upper arm tightened as the madwoman pressed her forward in a not-so-subtle form of communication.

Charity turned before Millicent got it into her head to try and save her while she was trying to save her friend. Opening the door, she felt the knife shift, so it pierced her back. The blood from both wounds would surely stain the dress where the punch hadn't, she thought morosely.