“Very well.”
“Marvelous.” She swiveled on her heels, marching to the door. “Then let us make way to the drawing room before my sisters come banging down this door.”
Joseph followed. After spending one evening with the younger Wallace sisters, he knew that was very likely.
CHAPTER 7
Time was moving far too slowly. Catriona closed her book with an exasperated huff, annoyed that she had been sitting in the same position for the past hour, and she’d barely gotten past two pages. Every few seconds, she would glance at the door, half wondering if Francis would come strolling in to inform her that Joseph had come to call on her. She even caught herself looking out the window imagining that he had snuck around to the side of the house when no one was looking just to see her.
Goodness, she’d been reading too many of Maisie’s romance novels.
What am I getting myself into? He clearly has expectations of me that I am uncertain I will be able to meet. Would it make sense for me to involve myself with him now?
Catriona tossed the book to the side, glaring at the clock as if that would cause the minute hand to tick faster. It was only midday. She’d been up since shortly after dawn which meant she’d hadnearly six hours to torture herself with thoughts of Joseph. She simply couldn’t understand it. He was no different than the first time she’d seen him. If anything, he was worse! After seeing how stern he was with his daughter, her opinion of him had certainly plummeted.
So why couldn’t she get his smile out of her head?
“You’ve gone mad, Cat,” she murmured to herself, closing her eyes. As soon as she did, the events of last night came rushing back from the recesses of her memory she’d tried to bury it in. At first, it had been a funny moment, but every time she recalled it, it came with the shadow of doubt and uncertainty. Especially after her argument with Joseph.
It had been brief, so quick that she might have convinced herself that she’d imagined it if it hadn’t been for how devastating the effect had been. While Ava had been playing the pianoforte, Maisie had murmured that Ava tended to handle the instrument with all the grace of a wet cat which made Ava let out a loud, offended gasp. And Joseph smiled.
It was quick, a slight lift of his lips before straightening them out a second later. She doubted anyone had noticed—especially since Ava and Maisie started bickering right after—but Catriona certainly did. And now, she could not get it out of her head. That smile, the way his eyes lightened and that heavy cloak of tension constantly draped across his shoulders lifted, made her wonder what it would be like to see him smile fully. To laugh. Was he even capable of it?
“You may have truly gone mad indeed.”
Catriona gasped, eyes flying open to see her uncle standing over her. He raised a brow in question before reaching over to pick up the book she’d tossed on the nearby end table.
“The Fabled Love?” he read aloud. “Surely this is not what has gotten you so lost in thought that you didn’t even hear my entrance?”
Catriona straightened. Frederic being here was a good thing. Distraction could help keep her mind off Joseph.
“Is that what it’s called?” she answered. “I saw it sitting here and just picked it up because I needed something to pass the time.”
“Then one of my books on philosophy should be just the thing. Let me find one for you. I have a number of them lying about, I believe.”
Catriona watched as he ambled over to the closest bookshelf to begin his perusal. For good measure, she raised her voice as she spoke again. “I’m surprised you did not already have your nose buried in one today.”
“My current interest is in botany. Did you know that the leaves and stems of a tomato plant are poisonous?”
“I hadn’t imagined,” Catriona murmured.
“Yes, quite interesting information indeed. You’d be surprised how much general knowledge one could learn simply from reading.” He reached for a book and then chuckled as he shook his head and put it back where he found it. “Or perhaps you wouldn’t be surprised. That is how most learn after all.”
Catriona watched as he drifted over to another bookshelf and reached halfway for a book before withdrawing his hand. He was rambling. And if he was rambling then that meant… “Is there something you would like to speak to me about?”
“Me? What for? Why do you ask? Why would I need to?”
“Because you seem to be saying the first thing that comes to your head without thought. Which means your anxious about something. And I can only imagine that, if you’re anxious around me, there must be something you wish to say but do not know how to.”
Frederic’s eyes shifted to her. Catriona waited, knowing that he would break soon enough.
It took only a few seconds before he sighed and then made his way back over to her, sinking into the couch she was sitting on.
“I wanted to speak about the Duke,” he stated.
Catriona’s heartbeat quickened. She prayed he couldn’t tell something was off. “What about the Duke?”
“I…” Frederic shifted uncomfortably. “I realized that I did not take the time to speak with you about this sudden development. One moment, you are attending your first ball, and the next, you’re betrothed to a duke. It all happened so quickly.”
