But, the duke was satisfied enough that he turned on his heel and walked back into the house without another word.
Chapter 22
Wallingham Place
It was exceedingly impossible to get anything done. With every passing day, the tasks that were presented to him were harder and harder. Not only had the duke taken nearly all of his personal responsibilities away from him, but he was being deliberately excluded from meetings now. Apart from reorganizing the rooms and commanding the house staff—he did not know how to make the next phase of their plan start to work.
Mostly because the duke, once again, seemed to stay a few steps ahead of him at every damned turn. No matter what he did or how he attempted to spy on matters, the duke thwarted him. To say that he was vexed would be an understatement.
He needed Catherine. He needed her sharp mind and brave heart. He knew that they had agreed not to meet with one another until they were to start the next phase of their plan. Yet, as it presently stood, he was at a crossroads. He needed to be able to bounce ideas off of her so that he could get things back to where they ought to be.
So he paced.
Back and forth outside of her bedroom door. It was insulting enough to him that the duke had refused to allow them to share a room. The duke still refuted that they were a married couple at all. He had placed them in rooms at opposite ends of the manor entirely so as to discourage copulation.
As if that was something that he truly even needed to worry about. He had no idea that Catherine had chosen to avoid that herself. Much to his chagrin. One year. That was all that she would allow him. One year to fix everything, restore her family, and then some. One year to correct the mistakes that his father had made and for the pair of them to enact their revenge.
If the rest of the year continued to go in the same fashion as this month had gone? He was starting to doubt whether or not he was going to be able to uphold his end of the bargain in the first place.
Richard’s hand lifted, poised to knock softly on her bedroom door, and something in him made him hesitate. He knew that she had asked him to keep his distance, but hemissedher. He missed speaking with her whenever he felt like it. Sometimes, on the more lonely days, he felt that he had been allowed to spend more time with her before they were even married. That particular fact did not sit well with him.
Sleep would not be possible. Not given the hour. Not when his mind refused to settle.
But what choice did he have? Richard turned on his heel and walked back to his bedroom feeling discouraged, with a heavy weight on his chest. What he would not give just to fall asleep with Catherine in his arms once more.
To feel her heart against his own and the steady rise and fall of her breathing so that he could know that she was safe and sound. So that he would know, above all else, that they were in this together and that their course was just.
Tomorrow, he resolved. Tomorrow, he would go to her and explain that their plan had to change. If he was going to have any chance whatsoever of changing her mind and the two of them moving forward into something else…to give her the chance to perhaps see things the way that he did…they would have to move their timeline up.
It was proving far too difficult to find any evidence of the duke’s wrongdoings, and they would need something tangible when they were finished.
He would have to get into the duke’s office. One way or the other.
But for tonight, just tonight, he would close his eyes and imagine her—he would pretend that she was in his bed once more, smiling up at him in the way that she had during the night that they shared. The far-off possibility that she would grow to love him, too, once he had proved to her that he was a man of his word. That he was a man who did as he was asked—somebody worthy of her.
***
The following day, Sir Anthony came to call upon him.
Richard sat in his study, leaning his chin onto his hand while he stewed. He had spent the morning devising a plan to get his father out of the house for long enough that Catherine would have time to slip into the man’s office and go through his things. He did not relish the idea of sending her into the lion’s den, as it were, but he had little choice. He was not going to place Catherine alone with the duke if he had anything to do with it.
Sir Anthony’s presence was more than a relief to him.
Richard rose to greet him, shaking his hand vigorously as he smiled warmly at him. “You have no idea how good it is to see you again.”
“I missed you at tea the other day…” Anthony answered as he released his hand and took a seat opposite to him. Richard eased back into his seat and pinched at the bridge of his nose. He had not been invited to tea that afternoon, and he wished that he had been. He had not heard about the events with the duke until a day later.
“I fear that things are getting worse here instead of better, my friend,” Richard confessed. “Even now, I hesitate to confide in you only because I fear that somehow this will all get back to the duke. The constant scheming and having to be cautious of my every move and every word? It is exhausting.”
“I have noticed a similar strain in Lady Catherine…it is no small task to take down such a monster. You knew that going into it,” Sir Anthony answered.
Richard knew that he was attempting to help. He only meant the best from his words, but it did not soothe him.
“I long for this all to be over and done with, but I also fear that is exactly what the duke wishes. He is waiting for me to wear thin, and it is working.”
“You need air, my friend. You and Lady Catherine must take some time away from the pressures and gloom of this manor to be out on your own. A regrouping would be the best thing…step out into society and allow them to learn who you are as a couple. That will further solidify your union and give those of thetonsomething new to gossip about,” Anthony wisely advised.
Perhaps he did have a point. Even just an afternoon away from this place could do them a world of good.
