She stared at him in horror. “And have people see me in the same gown twice in one week? I think not!”

“It’s a lovely gown, Charlotte,” Patricia said quickly. “I’m sure no one would think any less of you for wearing it at my wedding as well. I think it’s rather romantic, actually.”

Charlotte glared at her, but transferred her glare to her husband when he added, “I doubt if anyone from our wedding will be in attendance at Patricia’s, unless she’s added Messrs. Rosencrantz and Windlestop’s circus to the invitation list.”

“No, indeed, I haven’t. So you see, Charlotte, you will have nothing to worry about. You may wear your lovely gown and no one will know.”

“I will know,” Charlotte muttered to her breakfast. She looked up in time to see the pain in Dare’s eyes before he threw down his cloth and pushed back from the table, making his excuses as he strode out of the room. Charlotte half rose in her chair, prepared to apologize for her comment, ashamed that he should see her acting like a petulant child, but he escaped before she could say anything. She sat back down, frowning. It wasn’t fair. It just was not fair. How was she to know Dare hadn’t any money? He looked just like every other rake in the ton, well-dressed but careless with his clothes, an air of noble negligence clinging to him just as it clung to every other family of blue blood. It was only the upstarts, the new money, the mushrooms who flaunted their wealth. How was she to know Dare really was on his uppers?

“If I’d have known that from the beginning…” she threatened, then stopped.

“If you’d have known what?” Patricia asked.

“Nothing.” Charlotte sighed, unable to lie to herself. She had always wanted Dare, wanted him before she was married to Antonio, and wanted him a hundred times more after she returned to England. For a moment the visions of lavish balls and a dazzling wardrobe shone brightly in her mind. Then the warm, intimate memory of the evening past returned. Clothes and balls were, she thought with some surprise, only things. There was joy to be had in them, true, but the taste of bliss she had found with Dare filled her with a strange yearning for something more, something that went beyond the pleasure a pretty gown provided. Regretfully, she tucked away her dreams and braced herself to face reality. Lowering her expectations would not be easy, but she was never one to shy away from a challenge.

Righteousness and determination flared within her. “Your brother told me several years ago that I was nothing so much as a very pretty spoiled child. Well, he will not find me so now. If there is one thing I’ve learned over the past few years, it is that wanting something seldom makes it so. We will simply have to economize,” she said firmly, tapping her knife on a peach. “I’m not quite sure how one goes about economizing a household, but I’m sure I can do it. It can’t be that difficult. And besides, the servants are economizing already, so that will be of some help.”