“If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a concert to prepare for,” she said.
Frazier nodded. She left the room and found her way back to the music room. Charles certainly had impeccable timing for doing something a young boy might do. Still, she understood why, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.
Sitting down at the elegant glossy black piano, Cathryn took a deep breath and began to play as though she were in front of the Prince of Wales and his wife. Putting everything she had into each piece, she didn’t stop until all six pieces were played.
Then, sitting quietly with hands in her lap, she critiqued her work. How well had she played? What needed to be workedon and improved? Overall, she knew she’d done an excellent job. Three of the pieces, two picked out by the royal couple, were complex and harder than the others, but that’s where she thrived.
Reminding herself she was her biggest critic, Cathryn readied herself to play it all again. When she finished, she would walk away for the day, no matter how she did.
Then there was the matter of Charles and where he’d disappeared to. While he was known to disappear when he had something on his mind or just needed to get away from people, Cathryn worried. He didn’t know the estate yet as well as he knew the one on Wight, and she was afraid of where he might be. Except for the forests, the large pieces of natural land left untouched, Cathryn didn’t know where he could be. She worried he might encounter a wild animal and couldn’t defend himself. As far as she knew, he hadn’t taken a gun with him for protection.
She would have a horse saddled and take a groom with her and go in search of her husband. If they couldn’t find him, she would pray he was fine and simply needed time to himself.
Thinking back to the words they had exchanged made her tense. How could he not understand how important the evening meant to her? She was sure his colleagues would understand. After all, it wasn’t every day a gentleman’s wife was invited to play for royalty.
First, she had to find him in order to try and make him understand. She needed to be less demanding and more herself.
She went to her dressing room and changed into something appropriate for riding. As she was on her way upstairs, she asked a young boy in the kitchen to go on ahead to the stables and have her horse readied, along with a groom the stablemaster could spare to go with her. The young boy jumped up and went through the open door and down the path.
If it was any consolation, Charles knew how to survive. Survive. It was as though he was off in some exotic foreign land when he was on his own estate. Frazier wasn’t too concerned, even with Charles being in new surroundings. If he wasn’t concerned, maybe she was overreacting. Still, the idea that he spent the night outside rather than in the comfort of his own home was nerve-wracking to her.
She would look for as long as she could, alone. Not comfortable in anyone besides Charles’s valet knowing, she didn’t want the rest of the household discerning the real reason she would be riding today.
Chapter Seventeen
Charles had beenup since the new day began to break. His first thoughts weren’t about Cathryn or about the disagreement they’d had the day before. Having spent the night next to a fallen tree, he was ready to explore some more. The tree was near a large creek. He decided to follow the creek and see where it went. If he went right, he would end up near the house, and he was not ready to have to grovel. He was also going to stick to his plans and attend Oxford, even if it meant missing Cathryn’s small concert in front of royalty. He was proud of her, but she needed to understand they were in this marriage for the long term, and that meant she didn’t always get her way.
Following the creek to the left led him deeper into the vast wooded land. He could tell some of the trees were old growth, probably having been there for decades, if not longer. As he walked farther, Charles came across an old, deserted cottage. By the looks of the structure with weeds and vines growing on the walls, it was safe to say no one had lived here for many years.
Glancing at the roof, he was certain it was in decent shape. He walked to the front door and stepped in. There was nothing but an old table and chairs. Whatever else had been here was long gone. The likely scenario was the cottage had been lived in by a tenant. He couldn’t think of anyone else. In fact, it was rather far from the others. Maybe it had once been used as a hunting cottage. That made more sense to him.
The structure wasn’t easily seen. A person would have to know of its existence. For now, it would be a perfect place to go when he needed to be away from society. He looked around and spotted a much-used broom and took it and began sweeping the floor.
Hours passed when Charles stopped to admire his handiwork. He had a lot of work needing his attention, but he was satisfied it would make a perfect place when he needed solitude. He could slowly begin to furnish the cottage with what he might need. Mostly for the kitchen. He knew where the cheese was kept to age and where the smokehouse sat. He would pay both a visit and bring back what he would need. Water was easy since the creek was close by. This would be perfect indeed.
Charles was certain there was no search party looking for him. Frazier and Cathryn were probably the only ones who would do so, and they would do that discreetly so as not to alert the rest of the staff.
Recalling his “disappearances” while living on Wight, the more he went off by himself, the less anyone worried about him. He knew his way around, and people began to realize it was his way to recover. Frazier was the only one who knew exactly where he went, and even if he didn’t go to his usual place, his valet always had a good idea of where he was.
One time, he managed to slip off Wight and ended up in London. He stayed there for over a week, using money he’d put aside for adventures. He never stayed where his family or their friends might run into him. He explored some of the villages on the outskirts of London. Some of the neighborhoods were less than pristine but he found them to be almost another world.
He would need to find some straw and blankets to make a place to lie down. The straw would scratch but, in a few days, it would pack down and he would have a bed of sorts. He didn’t need much when he was off like this. Being ready to go back wasthe only way he’d return. He saw a side of Cathryn he’d never seen before. At least not directed at him. Just because she was playing for royalty, at their invitation, didn’t mean that what she did was more important. This was something they were going to have to figure out together. Neither one was more important than the other, but she didn’t see it. Yesterday was all about her. He needed for her to see they both were important in different ways.
Feeling his stomach protesting from the lack of food, Charles pulled out a crude fishing line and an apple. He would be having fish and knew exactly where to find it just by reading the water. He began to hike down to the water’s edge when something made him freeze. Standing perfectly still, he listened closely.
Branches breaking, horse hooves. Slowly, he moved and slid in behind a rather large boulder to wait and see who was coming.
A moment later, he could see the outline of Cathryn. She was by herself, riding along the creek. She was looking for him. Though glad to see her, he wasn’t ready to interrupt his time. His biggest hope right now was that she didn’t veer away from the creek and find the old cottage. It couldn’t be seen from the water’s edge, which was good for him. She was looking around at her surroundings, looking and hoping she would find him.
He watched her until she was out of sight. Then stealthily, he followed behind her to see exactly where she was headed. She wasn’t quiet about what she was doing. If she were hunting, she would chase all the animals away with her noise.
She would be in a meadow in a few minutes. That’s where the creek ran, and hopefully she’d get tired of riding around without finding him. He would go to the creek’s edge and drop a fishing line. Hopefully the fish would be biting.
For not knowing his wife for long, he certainly could figure out her movements. He just had to learn how to hold aconversation with her without making her angry. This time he had done it. Made her mad.
He hunted for wood of any kind to use in the hearth to cook. It would stand to reason a fire in there might go unnoticed during the day. There were lots of branches from nearby trees. He picked those up first and took them back to the cottage and dropped them in front of the door.
The sun was beginning to lower in the sky. He walked back out to the creek to check his lines. Both were empty. Determined to outsmart the fish, he dropped the lines back into the creek. He’d seen fish in there, but they weren’t having anything to do with being someone’s meal.
