"Fan."
"Oh, because I'm fanning myself with my hand? I'm sorry but these heavy clothes are hot."
Charles lowered his eyebrows. "But I'm afraid using your hand in such a fashion in front of the ton simply won't do."
Isabella shrugged. "Then what should I do?"
"Use a fan, of course."
"You mean an actual fan?"
He nodded. "Precisely. All the ladies use them, and there are certain ways to hold and move them."
Isabella sighed. "Of course there are. I'm guessing I'll need fan lessons next?"
"I'm afraid so. We'll get to it later. Right now, I would like to know more about you. Your heritage and your people."
"There's not much to tell. My mother is a gone and I'm an only child. My father… let's just say he and I aren't speaking. I have friends, of course, but no one close."
He reached for her hand. "But why would that be? Why would someone as beautiful and vibrant as you not have intimate friends?"
"Intimate? I don't have a, uh, man in my life."
He smiled. "Intimate means close. Trusted."
"Oh. Where I'm from, intimate means, well…" Her cheeks reddened.
"Ah, I see." He cleared his throat. "So you have no husband, then. No intended?"
"No." She shrugged again. "Just me."
"With whom do you share your home?"
Isabella frowned. "What do you mean?"
"A woman can't live alone without a chaperone."
"Trust me, Charles, women do it all the time."
He shook his head. "Fascinating. Truly fascinating. But you and I will need to come up with something different to tell the ton. May as well give them a story they find believable. There will be fewer questions that way. At least one can hope."
Isabella nodded. "Well, I find a lot of things here fascinating, too."
"Such as?"
"Women here seem to be deemed a lower class than men." She stared pointedly at Charles.
He ran his finger around the inside of his collar. "You know, I think you're right. It is getting warm in here."
Isabella laughed. "Aha! Now I've got you."
Oh, she had possession of his attention, all right. But what he would do about it, he had not the first clue. As attracted to her as he was, she wasn't staying. And even if she did, could she ever be happy here? Things seemed so different from her time and place. He and Isabella were mismatched. Charles' heart felt heavy at the thought.
"All right. What else, Isabella? Surely more fascinates you about 1812 than that."
She frowned. "Well, there are certain things, basic things you don't have, which I'm used to in my time."
He leaned forward. "What things?"
"Electricity for one."
He leaned back again. "Oh there's electricity. I've read about its discovery. That isn't new."
She pointed toward the candle. "But you don't have indoor lighting."
"Indoor? You mean as in this home?"
She nodded.
"Preposterous."
The corners of her mouth curved up. "No, Charles. It's not. Where I live, I flip a switch on the wall and the room lights up."
He opened his eyes wide, as well as his mouth. "Incredible. Amazing."
"Yes, it is. But it's a fact of life for me, as well as listening to music in my house and my car."
"Car?"
"Uh, I guess you'd call it a horseless carriage?"
"How on earth is that possible?"
Isabella shrugged. "There are so many things that have happened since, well, now, that you'd find hard to believe."
He leaned toward her. "Tell me."
"Aside from cars, there are airplanes that fly in the air, and rocket ships fly through space."
He shook his head. "I've read of amazing things in books written from an author's imagination, but to have such things be real… my stars in heaven, I never thought I'd hear the like."
Isabella squeezed his hand. "Now you see why I miss where I'm from. It's so vastly different from here." She sighed. "Also, there's a position where I work that is promised to me. All I have to do is show up for a meeting."
Charles lowered his eyebrows. "I see. And when is this meeting to take place?"
"Right after Christmas. I… it's something I've always wanted. Something I've worked toward ever since I was a young girl."
He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand. "And what will change for you, once you receive this position?"
Isabella's eyes sparkled. "Total independence."
"I don't understand. Did you not tell me you live alone and work in an office? That you have no husband or intended? Is this not independence?"