Wentworth did not answer. Instead, he merely spurred his horse forward into a gallop and left Richard behind to stew in his thoughts.
Chapter 5
Rosewood Haven
“Somebody is coming.” Arabella had spoken softly since arriving at the cottage. She was a shell of the woman that she was in the city. As of yet, Catherine had been so consumed with the adjustment to country living that she had not been able to dedicate the time to attempting to make her mother come back into her own body.
If there was one good thing that she had learned thus far about being here in the countryside, it was that it was very hard to feel sorry for herself whenever she had no time to stop moving. Lady Betancourt had been a godsend. Without her assistance, Catherine was certain that she still would have been floundering around. It was her assistance and their limited staff that had a lovely breakfast spread in front of them and hot tea for their meal.
Nobody had come to visit with them thus far, so the sound of a quickly approaching carriage was somewhat shocking. Arabella’s eyes trained on the window and stayed there as the dust of the path was kicked up around the wheels of the oncoming carriage.
Catherine held her teacup in one hand and moved to the window to watch the carriage arrive; a sinking feeling started to grow in her gut. It was familiar, one that she had seen before. It was only when it pulled to a stop in front of their cottage that she understoodwhyit had looked so familiar.
“What does he think that he is doing?” Catherine muttered to herself low enough that her mother could not hear it. The teacup in her hand rattled against the saucer as her irritation took hold of her. “Stay here, Mama. I will handle this.”
Tea sloshed over the brim of the cup as Catherine practically stormed from their small dining area to the front door and wrenched open the door with enough force that it almost rattled on the hinges. It slammed shut behind her as Richard Landry exited his carriage, envelope in hand.
“You have no business here!” Catherine fumed. She gestured rudely with her hand for him to turn around and get right back in. Her jaw set, and her eyes narrowed in irritation. “Get back into your carriage and leave at once!”
“Lady Catherine, how lovely it is to encounter you again.” Lord Richard grinned as he ignored her demands.
His handsome grin made everything worse. Honestly, he had no right to be as handsome as he was. Sinfully attractive. She supposed that if a man were to have absolutely no soul in his body, then he would have to have something going for him.
“Since you are apparently hard of hearing, I shall repeat that you have absolutely no business here. I need you to turn around and leave our property at once. There is nothing here for your greedy hands to claim. Our business with you is properly concluded. So, whatever you have come here to do, you can take it and stick it —”
“Lady Catherine!” Richard interrupted her before she could finish speaking words that no lady of her breeding ought to be capable of uttering. Though, personally, she felt that he would have deserved even harsher words if she had known what to say.
How was it possible to be so attracted and yet so repulsed by a person at the exact same moment?
Catherine’s teeth clicked as she shut her mouth and placed her hands on her hips. “What is it then? What is so important that you have drug yourself all of the way here? Have you come to rub salt into our wounds? Is there no bottom to the depths of your depravity?”
“I know that you have every reason to think so little of me, but I assure you that I do not have sinister intentions. I would never do something like that,” Richard said. Something like genuine hurt flickered across his perfect features.
Guilt nibbled at her gut, but she refused to allow herself to feel it. She was not going to apologize for hurting the feelings of a man who had ruined their lives. There was truly nothing more that he could take from them. In fact, she dared him to even try.
“And why should I believe you?” Catherine’s brow arched as she waited. She was only going to give him one more minute of her time, and then she was going to march herself right back inside that cottage and bolt the door shut. She did not owe him anything.
Even if it was no hardship to look at him.
Lord Richard held out the paper in his hand between them like a proverbial olive branch. “I have come here to invite you to the Wallingham ball, officially.”
Catherine made no move to take the letter. Though there on the side was a purple seal with the Wallingham crest. The delicate, folded paper certainly did look official enough. Yet, again, she could not presume to know what his motives were, or what game he was playing at.
Curiosity got the better of her, and she snatched the paper from him and broke open the seal. Her eyes flitted over the contents to confirm that it was, indeed, a proper invitation for herself and her mother to one of the largest balls of the Season.
It even was addressed to them. Though it made no sense. They had not been contacted by any of her mother’s friends. They hadcertainlynot been included in any of the upcoming social events.
“You have some nerve, my lord.” Catherine’s voice was filled with icy rage as she crumpled the letter in her hand. “I do not know what you must have said to the Wallinghams for this—or if the guilt of your actions is finally catching up to you, but I assure you that my mother and I want nothing to do with this. If you have come here to make further mockery of our scandal, I—”
“Do you presume the very worst in every person who speaks to you, or am I truly just that special?” Richard asked with a sigh. It seemed that even her fury could not keep his smile entirely from his features. “I have no ulterior motive, I promise you. Certainly nothing so sinister as what you keep accusing me of. This is…this is a misunderstanding. The unfortunate business with my father has nothing to do with me.”
She did not believe that for one second.
Lord Richard took a step closer to her, and she had to fight with herself to keep from moving away from him. He was close enough that she had to look up to see him properly, and she could smell the musky, deep notes of his cologne.
“You have no reason to trust me, I know that very well. However, I am asking you to take a small leap of faith and believe the fact that I have nothing but the best intentions for our interactions. We have a very similar goal, and I hope that we can work with one another to achieve it. Starting with accompanying me to this ball.” Richard gestured to the invitation once more.
“Ball?” a soft voice sounded from the front door to the cottage. “What ball?”
