The Inventor's Secret (18 page)

Before anyone could intervene, Linnet had turned
Charlotte around and they were slipping through the
crowd, past dancers and servants and musicians, to the
opposite end of the ballroom. Linnet guided Charlotte
through glass doors that opened onto a terrace that led to
the palace gardens.
They left behind the lights of the palace and ducked
into the shadow-filled garden. Linnet stopped beside a
bench, reached underneath the hedge just behind it and
pulled out two traveling cloaks.
“Put this on,” she told Charlotte. “It’ll cover your gown
so we can take the trolley without drawing attention.”
Charlotte felt numb as she drew the cloak over her
shoulders. She followed Linnet along the garden paths,
sinking deeper and deeper into melancholy. After a while,
Linnet slowed, falling in step beside Charlotte.
“You know, if Jack’s that much to your liking, you
should just take him to your bed.”
Charlotte tripped over her feet. “Excuse me?”
“Why bother with betrothals and marriage?” Linnet
shrugged. “I wouldn’t. The Raj himself could offer his
hand, and I wouldn’t give it a second glance. Marriage is a
prison for girls like you and me. Nothing more.”
“Are you teasing me?” Charlotte asked. Even if the
other girl was winding her up, Charlotte was a bit grateful
for the distraction.
“Only a bit,” Linnet replied. “You wouldn’t consider
it?”
“Taking a lover rather than a husband?” Charlotte felt
scandalous just saying it out loud.
“Yes, that.”
“I’ve never thought about it,” Charlotte admitted. She’d
flirted with Jack once she’d stopped hating him, but her
thoughts hadn’t gone further than that. At least not that
much further.
“Never?” Linnet sounded skeptical.
“In the Catacombs, you think about the war. About
staying hidden,” Charlotte argued. “I wasn’t worried
about . . . that.”
“Until Jack.”
Linnet took Charlotte’s silence for an affirmative reply.
“Sorry, kitten,” Linnet said. “It was obvious where
you stood with Jack as soon as you got rankled when you
thought I might be something other than his sister.” A moment later, she added, “Don’t be too cross with him.”
“You don’t know what he did.” Charlotte bristled.
Linnet laughed. “I know more than you think. And I
knew it before I ever met you. You just sped up the clock
is all.”
“I don’t follow.” Charlotte frowned into the darkness.
“Jack set a trap for himself without knowing it,” Linnet
told her. “And he just sprung it.”
They had to crawl through a gap in the outer hedge
wall to escape the garden.
“What do you mean?” Charlotte asked as she wriggled
through the opening.
“Jack’s sole aim in life has been to avoid becoming like
his father,” Linnet explained. “He despises the admiral.”
“So I’ve heard.”
Away from the palace, the streets were quiet, the loudest sound came from their footfalls on the cobblestones.
“Jack knew his parents’ marriage was loveless,” Linnet said. “Arranged because it was an ideal match between
a powerful civil and equally powerful military family. So
Jack decided to avoid that doom by finding a wife of his
own before his father could make similar arrangements.”
“So he found Eleanor.” Charlotte’s voice was strained.
“And he loves her?”
“I’m sure he thought he did,” Linnet replied. “She’s a
very nice girl and all. But I knew that wouldn’t be enough.
I told him that you don’t find love—it finds you.”
“What did he say to that?” Charlotte asked.
“He told me to bugger off,” Linnet laughed. “Jack
never listens to anything I have to say.” She cast a sidelong
glance at Charlotte. “And now that love has found Jack,
he’s in a terrible fix.”
“You can’t know that he loves me.” Charlotte drew her
cloak more tightly around her body. She didn’t want to let
hope sneak into her heart. She couldn’t bear it.
“You’re right,” Linnet said. “I can’t know. Only you
can. But Jack isn’t the sort to play games with someone’s
feelings, not after what he’s seen his mother go through.”
“I’m surprised you’d defend him,” Charlotte admitted.
Linnet’s laughter was harsh. “Because he hates me?”
Charlotte cringed. “I don’t mean any offense.”
“None taken.” Linnet was still laughing. “Jack doesn’t
really hate me. He hates what our father did to his mother.
And I’m the living proof of what the admiral did. I understand why Jack resents my presence, but I also don’t
give him an inch if he tries to blame me for things I’m not
responsible for.”
When they reached the trolley stop, Linnet turned to
Charlotte. “So?”
Charlotte lifted her brows.
Linnet smiled wickedly. “Are you going to give my
brother a second chance?”
“I don’t know if I can.” Charlotte looked down at the
trolley tracks.
The trolley bell rang in the distance.
“Well, if you decide you can’t, that may be just as well,”
Linnet told Charlotte. “Because I’m fairly certain Coe
didn’t bring you to the palace tonight just to torment Jack.”
“He said he wanted to teach Jack a lesson,” Charlotte
said quietly.
Linnet shook her head. “That’s not it either.”
“What reason would he have?” Charlotte asked as the
cable car pulled up.
“Don’t you think it’s obvious?” Linnet said, stepping
into the trolley. “Coe wants you for himself.”

HOUGH CHARLOTTE COULD
hardly believe it possible, the next morning
proved worse than the night before.

For a few blissful moments after she
woke, Charlotte didn’t remember anything
that had transpired at the Governor’s Palace. Then the
world came crashing down on her. She pulled the sheets
over her face and shut her eyes tight. She didn’t want to
be here. She wanted to wake up and be back in the Catacombs, having never seen the Floating City, met Lord
Ott, or entered the House of Winter. And most of all, she
wished she’d never admitted that she loved Jack.

When it became clear that no amount of wishing would
send her back in time, Charlotte threw off the covers and
set about preparing to face the day. She dressed in a clean

The house was quiet. Charlotte wondered if Ash had yet
returned. When she’d arrived at the mansion with Linnet
after midnight, Charlotte’s brother had already departed
for his first meeting with the city’s contingent of rebels. A
little relieved she was spared having to explain the night’s
events to Ash, Charlotte had bidden Linnet farewell and
then collapsed into Meg’s arms with a wail. It was for the
best. Meg let Charlotte sniffle and weep and condemn Jack
to every awful fate she could imagine. Charlotte didn’t remember falling asleep, but she knew Meg had stayed with
her until she’d cried herself past the point of exhaustion.

If Ash had been witness to Charlotte’s heartbreak, he
might have challenged Jack to a duel on the spot. While
Charlotte didn’t ever want to see Jack again, she wasn’t
sure she wanted him dead. Meg would be able to convey
the necessary information to Ashley in a way that might
just convince him to let Jack go on living.

Though it meant risking an encounter with Lady Winter, Charlotte went to the courtyard. Lady Winter wasn’t
in the garden, but Charlotte found Grave sitting on a marble bench watching the jewel-embellished peacock parade
around its home.

Grave looked up when Charlotte approached.
“I’m sorry I ran away,” he said. “And for hitting Jack.”
“Don’t be sorry about Jack,” Charlotte said. “And as

for running away, I’m just glad you’re safe.”
Grave nodded and returned to admiring the bird.
“Do you know why you ran?” Charlotte sat beside him.

“Did you remember something?”
“I just knew that I’d been that afraid before,” Grave
answered. “I thought that if I didn’t run, I would die.”
Charlotte considered that, then asked, “Where did Linnet find you?”
“I wasn’t sure where I was,” Grave said. “But Linnet
said I was walking toward the Hive.”
“You were wearing the clothes of a Hive worker when I
met you,” Charlotte told him. “I think that must be where
you came from.”
“But the people at the temple will be able to tell me for
sure?” Grave sounded neither happy nor sad.
“Meg’s mother seemed to think so,” Charlotte replied.
“Will we go there today?”
“We have to wait for Ash to tell us.” Charlotte rubbed
her temples. She hoped they would go to the temple that
day, solve the mystery of Grave, and then leave this city
and never come back.
“Charlotte!”
Recognizing Jack’s voice, Charlotte wanted to crawl
under the bench. Instead, she sat up straighter and looked
toward the sound of his call.
Jack crossed the lawn, slowing when he saw Charlotte
wasn’t alone.
“Hello, Jack.” Grave stood up. “I’m very sorry I hit
you.”
“Don’t worry about it, mate,” Jack said, then added,
“Actually you can make it up to me by giving me some time
alone to speak with Charlotte.”
“I don’t want to be alone with you,” Charlotte snapped,
not caring that Grave heard her anger.
Jack came to the bench and dropped to one knee.
“Please, Charlotte. Give me a chance to explain.”
“Fine.” Charlotte hid her trembling hands under her
shawl. “But Grave stays.”
“I don’t think—” Jack began.
“Grave stays, or you can leave,” Charlotte interrupted.
“I want his opinion on whether what you have to say has
merit.”
Grave’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know that I’ll be very
helpful.”
“I’m sure you will.” Charlotte patted Grave’s hand. In
truth, she needed Grave to stay put because she was certain
Jack wouldn’t try to kiss her with the other boy present.
She was equally certain that if Grave left them and Jack
did kiss her, she’d be lost.
Turning to Jack, Charlotte told him, “Say what you
will.”
The annoyed glance Jack threw at Grave gave Charlotte a bit of satisfaction.
Jack lowered his voice. “I was going to break it off.”
When Charlotte didn’t say anything, Jack added, “The
engagement. I was going to end it last night.”
“You
were
going to?” Charlotte asked archly. “Does
that mean you’re still pledged to Lady Eleanor?”
“I don’t want to be.” Jack sidestepped the question.
“But you are,” Charlotte said. “Even now that I know
about her, you didn’t end it. And that’s all that matters.”
“That isn’t all that matters,” Jack insisted. He looked
at Grave. “Are you sure he has to be here?”
“Yes.” Charlotte stood up. “You should have told me.”
“I didn’t know how.” Jack rose and faced her. “I thought
I could end the engagement quietly and you wouldn’t have
to be bothered with it. I didn’t want you to think poorly
of me.”
“Well, that was bad judgment on your part,” Charlotte
said. “Because I think very poorly of you now.”
“You said you loved me,” Jack pressed. “Doesn’t that
mean anything?”
Grave turned around on the bench and concentrated on
the peacock.
“That’s not fair.” Charlotte’s throat tightened. “You
lied to me. You never told me that you were tied to your
life here. Jack, you’re pledged to marry her! Last night, before the ball, I thought you wanted—” She couldn’t get the
words out, but Jack finished for her.
“You.”
Charlotte looked down. The grass beneath her feet
pooled and eddied as her vision was blurred by tears.
“I do, Charlotte,” she heard Jack say. “I want you more
than anything.”
“Then why didn’t you call off your engagement?” Charlotte didn’t lift her face.
There was a long pause before Jack answered, “I needed
to talk to you first.”
“So you could be certain I’d still want you?” Charlotte
turned away from him. “And if I didn’t, you could go on
with your Eleanor as if none of this ever happened?”
“It’s not so simple as that,” Jack said. “Eleanor is
a sweet girl. We were barely more than children when I
asked for her hand. It was foolish—I know that now. But I
don’t want to disgrace her without cause.”
“Without cause?” Charlotte glared at him, no longer
caring if he saw her tear-streaked face. “You claim to want
me, to love me, but you’ll still marry her if I can’t forgive
you.”
Jack shook his head. “You don’t understand what it’s
like here, Charlotte. There are politics and social expectations to consider. It’s no easy task to end an engagement
without causing a scandal. I’m trying to act with honor.”
“I do understand, Jack.” Charlotte glared at him. “You
want me, but you don’t want to tarnish the perfect future
you’ve been building. You can keep your honor and your
pretty fiancée. I want none of it.”
“Don’t do this.” Jack reached for Charlotte, but she
drew back.
“I haven’t done anything,” Charlotte said. “All this was
of your making. But your brother put it plainly enough—
remember, Jack, you’re not playing in the woods anymore.”
“Coe never should have said that.” Jack’s hands balled
into fists. “He knows nothing about us.”
“I think your brother grasped the truth about us very
quickly,” Charlotte countered. “What’s done is done. Now
please leave.”
Charlotte returned to her seat on the bench, but didn’t
look at Jack again. Having confronted him, she knew
that it wasn’t a matter of wanting Jack as a lover or a husband—before last night she would have welcomed him
into her heart either way, but he hadn’t responded in kind.
Charlotte would have risked everything to love him. When
it came to love, Jack had long been hedging his bets. That
was something Charlotte wouldn’t abide.
Beside Charlotte, Grave stood up and faced Jack. “You
should go. She heard what you had to say, and now she
wants you to go.”
Charlotte listened to Jack’s retreating footsteps, and a
fresh wave of tears spilled down her cheeks.
Grave sat beside her and frowned. “That was rather
awful, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.” Charlotte sniffled. “Thank you for staying.”
He surprised her when he said, “I’ll always do what you
ask, Charlotte.”
“Why?” Charlotte blinked at him through her tears.
“Because you’re the one who saved me,” Grave replied.