"You can't give your heart to a wild thing." Truman Capote

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Chapter Three

Charlotte couldn't bring herself to go and see Giselle once again. Instead, she decided to occupy herself elsewhere for a few hours. She walked about the grounds and perused the spring flowers that had begun to bloom. She even snuck back inside via the servants' entrance to go up to her bedchamber and read for a while. But she couldn't avoid seeing Nate when the dinner bell was rung and it was time to change.

"Good evening, milady," her lady's maid, Samantha Foster, greeted happily as she arrived to help Charlotte dress for dinner. Samantha was the younger sister of Bess' maid, Anna. Samantha had arrived at Ascot a year earlier, fresh from taking similar courses as her elder sister. Anna had asked Bess to give Samantha a chance, and the kind-hearted Bess had complied. Samantha was well worth the chance though, and she was exceptionally talented with fixing hair.

In her hands, Samantha had a few roses from the garden and she set them down on Charlotte's dressing table.

"Good evening, Samantha," Charlotte greeted as she sat down before her mirror.

Samantha was quite a pretty girl and was a similar age to Charlotte, as she'd just had her nineteenth birthday. Her hair was the same dark brown as Anna, but her eyes were an unusual hazel green. "Downstairs is buzzing, milady, what with Lord Montrose's return and all. Isn't that little girl of his sweet?" Samantha quickly unpinned Charlotte's simple up-do and began to comb her hair.

"I'd rather not discuss Lord Montrose, Samantha," Charlotte muttered.

Samantha pursed her lips. "Of course, milady." Samantha wasn't aware of the goings on when Nate had left. She'd arrived when Charlotte had started to heal. Charlotte did indeed like Samantha, but she didn't have the relationship that Bess had with Anna. They weren't confidantes. Charlotte and Samantha had a mutual respect for one another, and a friendly relationship. "Is there anything in particular that you'd like me to do with your hair, or would you like me to surprise you?"

"Surprise me," Charlotte instructed. "Something pretty."

Half an hour later, Charlotte's dark hair had been combed, twisted and braided into an intricate bun on the back of her hair. One thin tendril was left hanging, falling over her shoulder, softening the hairstyle dramatically. Samantha then wove the roses into her hair as she'd selected a red gown to match. She stained Charlotte's lips ever so slightly and pinched her cheeks to add a little colour to her otherwise pale face.

Her gown was new and was a gift from Giselle. The bodice was incredibly tight and was a little too small for Charlotte, but because it was so pretty, she'd decided to brave it and tighten her corset. One would never let out a Giselle Mornington creation. The sleeves were off the shoulder and tight to her arms, finishing at her elbows with frilly pieces of gathered lace, fashioned in the style of trumpet sleeves. While the sleeves were a little old fashioned, nobody questioned Giselle's taste. The skirt flared from the waist with several layers of petticoats underneath.

Before descending the stairs, Charlotte took a few breaths to calm herself and lower her heartbeat. She could hear it thumping in her chest. Breathing was difficult though, as her waist was so restricted. She could only manage shallow breaths. That was not a good sign, seeing as she'd have to sit in the same room as a man who'd already caused her to faint.

She went downstairs quickly and made her way to the dining room. She could already hear comical conversation inside.

A footman opened the door for her and both Emmett and Nate rose from their seats as she entered. Her usual seat beside Bess was vacant, but she'd been seated beside Maggie. Sitting next to Rose was Nate, so he'd be in full view of her no doubt blushing cheeks all evening.

"Charlotte, you look beautiful!" exclaimed Bess, who was smiling widely.

"It's one of mine," Giselle said proudly to Nate, who was to his left. "My future daughter-in-law is the perfect canvas to work with, don't you think?"

Giselle had made that comment just as soon as Nate had taken a sip of his wine. He promptly coughed it back up and covered his mouth with his napkin. "Excuse me," he murmured.

Charlotte's chair was pulled out by a footman and she took her seat. She noticed that Maggie was staring at her curiously. Her pale green eyes were most inquisitive. "Are you a princess?" she asked, her question silencing the table.

Charlotte blushed a little. "No, no, I'm not a princess." The Wildes were distantly related to the royal family somewhere but they were not immediately royals themselves.

"Oh." Maggie pursed her lips. "You sure look like one. My Momma was real pretty like you. Daddy said you have a king and a queen here."

"Thank you," Charlotte replied, accepting the compliment. "And yes, we do have a king and a queen. England is a terribly traditional country."

"I had a story book when I was little. There were pictures of a princess and you look just like her. It was about a girl who sleeps for a hundred years." Maggie smiled dreamily. She cupped her hands around her mouth and invited Charlotte to lean closer so that she could whisper. "And she gets a kiss!" she whispered excitedly.

Charlotte smiled coyly. "A favourite of mine also. 'The Sleeping Beauty,' by Perrault?"

"That's it." Maggie nodded. "I lost it though. Momma forgot to bring it back to Charlotte from her singing job in Raleigh. That's where I was born too. Charlotte, same as you!"

Charlotte wasn't aware that she shared her name with a city in America. "I have a copy in the library. You can have it if you like."

Maggie beamed at the thought and nodded eagerly. "I like books now that I can read. Daddy's been teaching me. I even read one of his letters on the ship."

"Maggie," Nate said sternly, hushing her.

Maggie smiled deviously at her father. "I'm not supposed to tell." Nate groaned quietly and rolled his eyes.

At that moment the footmen began to serve dinner, but it didn't escape Charlotte's attention that Nate had wanted to keep the contents of a letter secret. Was it from a woman? Did he have a woman? She didn't know. It wasn't any of her business anyway.

The first course was watercress soup. While everyone else started to eat, Maggie just stared at the bowl of green liquid.

"Are you not hungry, Maggie?" Rose asked, peering across the table at Maggie's untouched soup.

"You got any cornbread?" she asked hopefully, pushing the bowl away from her.

Charlotte smirked. She could imagine, as a child, green soup was not that appetising.

"Maggie, don't be rude," Nate scolded. "Eat it please."

Maggie pouted and pulled the bowl back towards her. She selected her dessert spoon but no one corrected her. She'd had several adjustments coming to a completely different country. She then scooped a miniscule amount of soup onto the spoon and slowly placed it in her mouth. One would think she was being force-fed poison by the expression on her face. She shrugged once she'd swallowed the soup. "Had worse," she admitted.

The entire table then laughed as they continued on with their dinner.

***

The dinner wasn't as bad as Charlotte thought it would be. Conversation was mostly superficial. Nate described some of the places he'd visited while Emmett filled him in on the few events that had occurred during his absence.

Charlotte's wedding wasn't brought up and the only thing Giselle contributed to the conversation was the names of the noblewomen she'd dressed. Giselle was very proud of her connections, Charlotte had found, which was why she, Charlotte believed, she was so eager for Eric's and her marriage to take place.

Aside from Giselle and Maggie's presence, one wouldn't have known that any time had passed. Nate was home and it was as if nothing had changed. Except everything had changed.

After the rhubarb tartlets, meringues and jellies had been served, a very tired Maggie was falling asleep on Charlotte's shoulder. Every so often she'd caught an affectionate smile from Nate. He was obviously happy that Maggie was getting on well with his adopted family.

Maggie was a good girl. Slightly outspoken and a little unorthodox, but still a good girl. She'd recently lost her mother, and by how she spoke of her, it was obvious that Maggie had loved her.

"I think it's time for us to retire home. She squealed when I showed her the bedchamber she'd be having." Nate chuckled as he came around the table to collect Maggie. As he lifted her into his arms, his hand brushed the bare skin on Charlotte's forearm. The hair stood up on the back of her arm and she tensed, the muscles in her stomach churning, which did not do well for her considering how tight her corset was pulled. She suddenly felt light-headed and she couldn't get enough air into her lungs. She put her hands on her sides and attempted to pull at the dress so that she could breathe a little easier but it was unsuccessful.

"Breathe, Charlotte," she whispered to herself. "Wait!" she called to Nate as he made his way out of the dining room, following the rest of her family. "The book!" As quickly as her oxygen-starved body would take her, she made her way past her family and into the library off the main foyer. Her childhood books were all stored on one of the many shelves. Her fables and folk tales were all stored in alphabetical order and she found 'The Sleeping Beauty' under 'T.' She hadn't looked at the book in quite some time, but as soon as she held it she could remember exactly where she'd gotten it. She opened the cover and found the inscription:

Dear Charlotte,

I wish you many happy returns on this your seventh birthday. I hope you treasure this story as my mother once did.

All my love,

Nate.

Above his message was his mother's Christian name: Georgina. It was only fitting that the book found its way back into the hands of Nate's daughter, and Georgina's granddaughter.

She clutched the book in her hand and brought it out to the foyer. "For Maggie," she said quietly, handing the book to Nate.

He accepted it with his free hand, as he supported Maggie with only one arm. He grinned, flashing her his dimples. "I gave you this," he remembered. "When you were little."

"Maggie's age," Charlotte informed him. Maggie had very proudly told them that she was seven years old and that she was practically grown up. Charlotte placed her hands on her hips and attempted to steady herself, feeling truly faint.

Never mind the silly rule about never letting out a Giselle Mornington gown. Charlotte could never be as thin as Giselle thought she was.

"Are you alright?" Nate asked, sounding terribly concerned.

His question caught the attention of her family who immediately crowded around them.

Charlotte shook her head and gasped. "I really don't feel well. I can't breathe!" Her eyes suddenly went blank and her world went black.

***

She awoke just as soon as the pressure was relieved around her torso. Her lungs controlled her as she gasped in as much air as she could.

When she was able to focus, she realised that she'd fainted again! She was lying on the floor in the foyer and she felt very exposed. Upon closer examination she realised that was because her gown was in pieces and her corset laces had been severed up the middle.

Her family stood around her, looking completely panicked, while Nate kneeled before her with a broken candelabra in his hand. It looked as though he'd smashed the top off the candelabra to create a sharp edge. She then realised that she was lying on the floor in her undergarments.

Maggie was the first to speak. "Are you trying to get a kiss like the princess in the story?"

Laughing hurt her sides. The corset's tightness had most likely bruised her. Charlotte pulled the pieces of her red gown towards her so that she could appear decent.

"Bloody hell, Charlotte." Emmett shook his head. "You've nearly killed me twice in one day. Let's not go for a third." He helped his sister to her feet and then slipped his coat around her as the remains of her dress and corset fell to the floor.

"The dress was too tight," she explained, her throat dry. "I couldn't breathe."

"You know what they say, dear. Every bite you don't take is a waist inch you can forsake," Giselle commented as she surveyed the tatters of her creation.

"Quiet," Nate snapped, his tone uncharacteristically icy. "That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You're actually encouraging such rubbish in front of my child? Shame on you." He pulled Maggie back into his arms and abandoned the candelabra. "She's a woman. She should look like one."

Charlotte was suddenly filled with pride as she heard Nate defend her. He was right. She shouldn't have to forsake any meals just to squeeze into a gown. Perhaps she should be like Bess and abandon the uncomfortable corset. Bess looked lovely anyway. So what if her gowns had to be let out a little.

"We suffer for perfection, sir," Giselle replied coldly. "Charlotte needs to be perfect for her wedding gown. I've never dressed a tubby bride."

Charlotte felt her stomach self-consciously. She'd never before thought herself as 'tubby.'

"Giselle!" gasped Bess, clearly outraged at her comment. Emmett wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his side protectively.

"She's already perfect," Nate seethed. "She doesn't need you telling her to stop eating so that she could fit into some silly dress." Maggie mirrored her father's look of disdain.

Charlotte couldn't believe her ears. She felt warm.She actually felt as though the sun was shining down just on her. Perfect? He thought her perfect? Even if, according to Giselle, she was tubby?

"A Giselle Mornington creation is not a 'silly dress,' young man!" Giselle exclaimed, outraged.

"And anyone who references themselves in the third person is a conceited twit, in my opinion," Nate shot back.

Maggie nodded once, a stern expression on her face. "Conceited twit," she agreed. Charlotte hoped she didn't know what it meant.

"Goodnight all," Nate said to all of them, throwing Charlotte a last glance. "Thank you for a pleasant evening."

Nate disappeared into the night and the door was closed behind him.

"You were well out of line, Giselle," Emmett growled.

"How dare you talk of poor Charlotte's waistline when your dress nearly killed her!" Marie added, equally angry.

Charlotte hadn't contemplated that. Nate had just saved her life. She could have suffocated! She needed to thank him, and then she'd be able to properly move on. In some ways his homecoming had given her a little closure.

Rose quickly came to Charlotte's side and began to lead her towards the stairs. "Are you alright?" she asked quietly.

Charlotte could see Giselle looked a little embarrassed. She was glad her son was not as materialistic as his mother was. "I'm fine, Rosie," she replied. "Perfect."