Tempest in a Teapot by Kate Valent

Author:Kate Valent [Kate Valent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Valiant Ink
Published: 2022-04-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

She wore her thick hair pinned up in the back in a stylish bun, cushioning the back of her head from the carriage wall each time the carriage hit a pothole that sent her bouncing in her seat. She balled her lavender skirt in her hands. Not wanting to show up in the same dress she already fainted once in, she’d had no choice but to pay to have this dress modified to make it fashionable again. She bet Mr. Steepe’s mother never needed to worry about being out of fashion and not having enough dresses for social functions. The woman likely had far more dresses than Charlotte and her mother combined.

The carriage rolled to a stop, and the coachman opened the door and helped her out. The sight of the manor made her nerves explode as her palms sweat and her chest tightened. She didn’t feel ready for this dinner. Didn’t think she ever would. She couldn’t shake the feeling this dinner would be the end of her engagement at long last.

Laoise met her at the door. “I overheard Mr. Steepe’s cousin asking the stable boy about your address.” Laoise lifted a finger into the air. “Very clever getting dropped off and picked up at the bookstore.”

“It isn’t clever. My mother is convinced this engagement will end in a wedding and I need time to myself to breathe.” She glanced around Laoise. “Please tell me I’m not late.” The voices coming from the parlor were too faint for her to identify. A white streak ran through the entryway and toward the back of the house, its collar jingling. She did a double take. The creature looked like a rabbit, but its body was far too long to be a rabbit.

“What was that?” Charlotte asked, voice shrill.

“What was what?” Laoise looked about.

“The thing that just ran through here.” She pointed ahead.

Laoise turned, but they were alone. “The jingling? That would be Oolong. Mr. Steepe gave him a collar with a bell this week after Bertram tripped over him twice in one visit. If you hear the bell coming your way, watch where you are walking. He loves to get underfoot.”

“I don’t think … never mind.” She glanced back at where the creature had gone, but there was no sign of it. She was more stressed than she realized if she was imagining strange rabbits. For all she knew it could be another one of Bertram’s plots to discredit her, like with his cinnamon buns. She’d be the mad baker’s daughter who saw rabbits everywhere.

Laoise pointed toward the parlor. “The Steepe family is waiting for you in there.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Make Mr. Steepe faint this time.”

“Laoise,” Charlotte hissed. Laoise cast her a faux look of wide-eyed innocence.

Charlotte refused to give herself any time for second guessing and more worrying. She charged toward the parlor. When Charlotte entered the room, Mrs. Steepe laughed at something Bertram said, patting him on the arm with affection. Martin’s gaze caught on Charlotte, a wide smile breaking across his face as he stood.

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