Of Trust & Heart by Charlotte Anne Hamilton

Author:Charlotte Anne Hamilton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Fiction; Historical Romance; Forbidden Love, LGBTQ; Lesbian; Lesbian Romance; Asexual; Aromantic; 1920s
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Published: 2022-05-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Over a week later, Harriet was out at the pictures with Rosalie.

Neither of them had planned to go to the cinema. In fact, their plan merely had revolved around meeting at Central Park and then going on an aimless walk around the city. She couldn’t really be seen doing much else, since she was now engaged to Henry Madson.

It hadn’t been announced yet, but they were going to announce it in Uncle John’s newspaper soon. It wasn’t the most popular one but it felt right to keep it in the family. However, it wasn’t to be done until after Henry’s mother and father had hosted a dinner with all their friends and family to announce it themselves.

She tried not to think about how soon that dinner was—how the days kept creeping up on her. It had all been arranged for the 18th July, her aunt had told her that morning as she took her parasol and left to meet Rosalie.

“You look miles away,” Rosalie declared as she shuffled in the seat beside her, trying to get more comfortable. The movie had yet to start and there were still people filtering into the theatre to find their seats. It wasn’t busy, due to the time of day, which was all the better. No one would look at them and wonder what was going on between them. “I hope you’re not upset with the choice of movie.”

In all honesty, Harriet didn’t really know which movie they were seeing. It had been during their afternoon tea at the first cafe they had spotted that this idea had even come up. Rosalie had been raving about the movie, saying how she longed to see it but sadly wouldn’t be able to afford it. She had been so animated as she spoke of the actors and apparent plot that Harriet couldn’t stop herself from offering to treat her.

“Not at all, my mind is where it always was this past week,” Harriet admitted as she crossed her legs at the ankles, letting one foot brush against Rosalie’s leg in a way that everyone would assume an accident. Everyone except the very woman she touched, who smiled and brushed her fingers over Harriet’s hand in return.

It was a game they had taken to playing—seeing how far they could go in public without anyone noticing. It allowed them the opportunity to feel like a courting couple without running the risk of appearing like such; the brush of fingers or a lingering look or being that bit too close to be proper.

“So that means you’re either thinking about me, Charlie, or your upcoming engagement announcement.” Rosalie turned her head, her voice lowering as the lights dimmed and the film began. She tilted her head closer until Harriet could feel her warm breath on her cheek. “Which is it?”

“All of it,” Harriet answered, moving her fingers so that her pinky could hook around Rosalie’s. It was as close as they would be able to get to holding hands in public, yet it always seemed to be enough.

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