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It was one of the rare moments that Brimsley wasn’t following Charlotte.
She had excused him, and for once, he hadn’t objected.
Despite the fact that she found herself missing his presence, it was like being able to breathe freely for the first time.
She didn’t have a shadow.
Her footsteps were the only ones making a sound as she carried herself down the corridor.
“Shh.”
“I wasn’t making any noise,” a familiar voice hissed.
“We really shouldn’t be doing this here,” another familiar voice replied.
“Do you see anybody?”
Charlotte frowned and continued down the hallway until she reached the door the voices were coming through. She pushed it open slightly and peered into the room, where Brimsley had Reynolds pushed against the wall, kissing him fiercely.
Her heart skipped a beat, as shock rushed through her.
She had no idea that Brimsley preferred men over women, and she certainly never imagined him with Reynolds. But now that she saw it, and thought about it, it made sense.
“Hmm.” She took a cautious step back.
It wasn’t her place to judge, and she knew better than to interrupt the passion of love.
. . .
George may be going mad, but he wasn’t a fool.
He’d known since he was young that Reynolds wasn’t interested in women, and had been waiting for the day for the man to take interest in someone.
Several footmen came and went, seeming to get close to the mark, but none of them seemed to be exactly what Reynolds was looking for.
And then George became aware of Brimsley and immediately knew that the two of them had something going on between them. If it wasn’t the tension, then it was the subtle brushing of their hands or the looks they shared when they caught each other’s gazes.
George hid his smiles as he watched the two of them, more than pleased Reynolds had found someone to make happy.
. . .
It’d been weeks since Charlotte saw the scene between Brimsley and Reynolds.
Weeks of paying sharper attention to them, the way that they interacted with each other, and how they always seemed to disappear and reappear within moments of each other.
They never shirked their duties, but Charlotte had a plain idea of what they were doing in their free time.
She only wished she could talk about it with her husband, but it wasn’t her secret to share.
But she desperately needed to discuss it with someone.
“George, dearest, there’s something I need to talk to you about - something important.” She had finally given in to toeing the waters. George wasn’t an idiot, and he had to have some inclination of what was going on between their two men.
George looked up from his book and turned to look at her. “What is it?”.
Charlotte chewed her lip for a moment, thinking of the best way to bring up what he wanted to share. “It’s rather big.”
“I see.”
“I can’t say outright, though.”
“I’m confused,” he said, frowning slightly.
“You see it’s...well it’s something that involves both the heads of our staff.”
George nodded slowly and set the book aside. “I see.”
“It’s something you could have figured out on your own, and given how smart and quick you are, I’m sure you have.”
He continued to nod and smiled slightly. “Before you share with me what you have to say, would you mind ringing for Brimsley?”
“What?”
“Brimsley, my love, I have a question for him.”
“It is after hours.”
“He’s the Queensman. I am sure he would be more than happy to attend to you, the Queen."
“He’s probably sleeping.” Charlotte had little doubt in her mind that either Brimsley was in Reynolds's quarters or the other way around. "There is no reason to wake him."
“How you can be sure.”
She suddenly caught onto her husband's tone and realized that he may be toying with her. “Do you know something?”
“Do you know something?” He shot back.
“I might know something," she admitted.
“Well, I might know something too.”
“What’s the thing you know?”
“Oh no, my love, I cannot tell you until you tell me what you know.”
“I cannot tell you what I know.”
“Well, then I cannot tell you what I know.”
“Alright then.” Charlotte leaned back in her pillows and cast her gaze around the room.
George leaned back as well and kept his gaze forward.
They sat in silence for several moments, before they both turned their heads to meet each other’s gaze.
George quickly looked away.
Charlotte narrowed her eyes. “You do not know.”
George shot out of bed. “Fine. I am going to find Reynolds - I am going to walk into his chambers and I will see the thing that I think that I know is actually the thing that I think that I know.”
Charlotte gasped and sat up on her knees, pointing his finger at her husband. “You know!”
He pointed right back at her. “And you know!”
“Of course, I know!”
“Reynolds and Brimsley!?”
She nodded her head and sat back on her heels. “Reynolds and Brimsley.”
George came back to the bed and sat next to her. “How long have you known?”
“Too long - weeks!” She grabbed George’s hand. “Oh my God, I’ve been dying to talk to someone about this for so long! We simply cannot say anything about it to anyone else.”
“I know, Charlotte.”
“How long have you known?”
“I haven’t known for sure, but I’ve had my suspicions for a few weeks now. The two of them are like magnets.”
“And we kept pulling them apart,” Charlotte said with a light laugh. “Living in different places, like we did.”
“Oh, you have a point,” George groaned, putting his face in his hands. “I’m a monster.”
Charlotte gave his shoulder a push. “You are not. It’s simply a shame that they are bound to their duty more than they can be bound to each other.”
“But all those times they showed up one after the other -”
Charlotte nodded, "Yes. And the times Brimsley didn’t resist being sent away from my presence. Or the times when we would be together, and they would volunteer to do tasks together.”
George shook his head in amazement. “Brilliant.”
Charlotte settled back into her pillows. “They’re in love.”
“Well, we cannot know that.” George settled back in as well.
“No, they are,” Charlotte mused softly. “I can see it in the way they look at each other.” She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “I sometimes catch Brimsely looking at Reynolds in the same way that you look at me. He’s completely besotted.”
“Hmm.” George ran his fingers down her arm. “I do know a thing or two about being besotted.”
Charlotte turned her head and smiled at him. “As do I.” She placed her hand on his cheek and stroked his chin with her thumb. “I am glad they have found each other.”
“As am I.”
“We can never tell them that we know.”
“I know.”
“I wish we could though,” she said softly. “So that they would know that it is okay for them to be together."
“Not everyone thinks that.”
“I know. But we do and can do what we can for them.”
“Perhaps we could give them an evening or two.” He intertwined his legs with hers, and leaned over her, pressing her gently into the pillows. “I’m sure we could occupy ourselves just fine without them.”
Her smile widened, as her hand found the back of his head, and pulled gently at his hair. “My thoughts exactly.”