“Betrothed,” Mary spit out, her eyes flashing, and she looked mad. “You aren’tbetrothed. If the Duke of Edington was betrothed, I would have heard it. Everyone would have.”
“It’s very new,” Catherine supplied.
“Cathy, he willnevermarry you.” Her eyes swept over them and her knowing glance washed John in shame, despite him knowing that he had nothing to be ashamed of.
“I can imagine what has transpired between the two of you. I have lived it.You,” she said, looking at John, “are filthy. Does your shamelessness know no bounds? You, who as a little boy discovered us, now befouls my niece?”
John couldn’t take it any longer. As they had expected, Mary Forster was not going to be reasonable and accept the money out of her own self-interest. It was time for the next part of their plan.
“Catherine,” he said, turning towards his fiancée. “We should leave. I will not sit here and be insulted.”
He made for the door, but he knew she wouldn’t follow. It had been their plan, but he was still stung, somehow, when she didn’t move. He hated leaving her with this woman.
“Catherine,” he said, putting urgency in his voice, even though he knew she would stay.
“John, I can’t leave. Not yet.”
“Don’t trouble yourself, Cathy,” the woman said. “If you are with him, we have nothing else to discuss.”
“Aunt,” she said, real ire in her tone. He saw her swallow hard to compose herself. “You do not know the circumstances of our engagement. I am sorry if the news of it upsets you.”
She turned to John. “I am very sorry, John, but I must speak with my aunt further.”
“Very well, Catherine,” John snapped, not finding it at all difficult to pretend at anger, even though he knew her reluctance to leave was just pretend. “If you choose to stay here with this woman, then I suppose you can find your own conveyance back to Edington Hall.”
With that, he strode away from Catherine Forster. But this time, it was at her insistence.
She knew her aunt, she had told him. And she was certain that she would need to be alone with her to succeed in their mission. Only then could she prevail upon her to accept his father’s last, unwanted gift.
Chapter Thirty-One
Catherine winced asshe heard John’s carriage spin down the gravel road. She reminded herself that he wasn’t really displeased with her. John had not actually left. He was waiting with the carriage down a nearby country lane, the one they had spied on the way into the farmhouse. He hadn’t really left her here. He hadn’t really walked away.
They had planned the appearance of a quarrel in the hopes that it would soften Mary towards her. She had known she would have to speak with her aunt in private if she wanted her to accept the annuity. They had planned to have her detect their relationship, too. Catherine had hoped it would stir up her dormant warm feelings towards the Breminsters and make her more susceptible to accepting the bequest.
Thus far, it did not appear to be working.
It was jarring to see her aunt and hear her cruel words. But she also felt admiration for the woman in front of her. She had made a new life for herself, despite all that had happened to her. And Catherine knew her aunt had a soft side. She was the one who had taught her about the land, how it held stories. Catherine just needed to find a way around her pride and reflexive steeliness.
With these reassuring thoughts, Catherine took a deep breath.
“What a loyal lover,” her aunt mocked, her work in her hands once more. Now that John was gone, Catherine could hear a new lightness in her voice. She suspected that John’s presence had addled her aunt into a cruelty that was not her natural mode.
“You didn’t have to antagonize him,” Catherine said. “I don’t remember you being so harsh and unforgiving.”
“You have no idea what I have given up to that family. How much I have lost.”
Sensing her susceptibility in John’s absence, Catherine moved out of her chair and onto the sofa. She took it as a good sign that her aunt didn’t protest.
“You can’t know, Cathy, what they did to me and now I fear the same is happening to you.”
“Nothing untoward or improper is happening to me,” Catherine said, wincing a bit at the obfuscation. It was true in spirit, if not to the letter. “John and I are engaged. We will be very happy together. And I have you to thank. He came to me because he needed my help to find you. In trying to find you, we fell in love.”
“Another thing to thank Reginald for. He would, of course, not think twice about sending his abandoned son after my niece. I read the scandal sheets, girl. I know what they say of the new Duke of Edington.”
“You of all people should know not to believe what is printed in scandal sheets.”
Mary gave her a piercing gaze. “I have always found the scandal sheets to be accurate, if uncharitable.”
