“Well, there’s no time like the present, is there?” Everdon cheered into the silence, “Your Grace, allow me to introduce the fair Miss Catherine Ainsley. Miss Ainsley, this rude fellow who cannot put his work aside even in a place of revelry is the Duke of Winchester. There, now you have met.”
“Don’t play the fool, Everdon,” Winchester muttered. “If I cared for company, I would have situated myself in one of the common rooms. I have a great deal of work to do. If you would like to entertain Miss Ainsley, then have at it, but leave me be.”
“But… you mean youdon’tremember Summerfield?” Catherine said, disbelieving and with rising panic, “We spent so manysummers together with our mothers. Playing by the river? The treehouse? Or—or perhaps the time we found the badger set?”
Please, you must remember!
Everdon shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat as Aaron continued to look at his book.
“Perhaps it would be better to do as His Grace says,” Everdon broached quietly.
“Wait,” Aaron declared, closing the book with a snap and sighing. “Catherine. Of course. It has been far too long.”
There was no emotion in his voice. No joy in remembering or being reunited with a childhood companion. His shadowed eyes fixed on hers, and she felt them as a physical touch. She felt relief tinged with apprehension at his lack of a response.
“This is hardly the place for a reunion, though. Women are seldom seen within these walls. You are fortunate that the first gentleman to find you was one of honor. Well, just about.”
There was a hint of dry humor in the response, which further enhanced her anxiety. Aaron had always been so open and amiable. Dry wit was not something she remembered. He rose, and she found herself looking up at a giant of a man. He was towering and broad, a remarkable physical presence and one that seemed to command the room.
Catherine swallowed, glancing around and seeing eyes turned in their direction. Simply by standing, Aaron had drawn eyes. Like a savage warrior chieftain.
“Come,” he said, indicating a small door to one side of the fireplace.
Without waiting, he strode towards it. Catherine hesitated. He seemed so different from the boy who had once been her most cherished friend.
“His bark is worse than his bite, Miss Ainsley, I assure you,” Everdon grimaced.
Catherine nodded, took a deep breath, and followed Aaron to the door. On the other side was a corridor with a small, richly decorated room at the far end. The room was lit by two lamps and gave Catherine her first proper look at Aaron.
He had flowing hair that hung to his shoulders. His cheeks were high, giving his eyes a slanted appearance. He looked like a wild, oriental prince. A bold jaw was topped by a mouth pressed into a firm line. He was as beautiful and hard as Michelangelo’s David. If a touch less polished.
“State your business,” he said bluntly, folding his arms.
“You may remember my Aunt and Uncle, too? Benjamin and Nora Tresswell of Haventon Manor?”
He nodded curtly, saying nothing.
“You may also remember my parents. They passed away within weeks of each other. An attack of fever. I have been living with my Aunt and Uncle since I was four and ten. It is… it has never been a comfortable life, but… but now I am expected to repay the kindness they have shown by agreeing to a marriage which I do not want.”
She felt the tears bubbling up within her as she explained. The anxiety chewed at her resolve, weakening her tongue. She wanted free of the worry that weighed her down, and wanted someone to take it from her shoulders.
I will not break down in front of him. I have come this far, and I can go a little further.
Aaron was silent, as though expectant. Catherine looked into his eyes. They were so cold, not the bright and warm, expressive eyes that she recalled many a twilight ago.
What happened to him to make him so cold and hard?
“I… see. That is the whole of the problem. I was waiting for more. Well,Catherine, it seems you are in a situation many women find themselves in. You are hardly the first to enter an arranged marriage to a man of dubious character. It is a hazard of the society we live in. Irrespective, I do not see how I can become involved in such domestic matters. Or even that anyone ought to.”
“You don’t understand… he is a brute. I cannot—I cannot marry him,” Catherine stammered.
“Nevertheless, there is nothing immoral or illegal in a guardian marrying off his ward. And nothing unusual in being married to a man the bride deems unsuitable or even actively dislikes. It would be inappropriate for me to become involved in what is none of my business.”
Catherine found herself gaping. This was not what she had expected. This wall of glacial ice. This face, as handsome as she remembered, but hard as steel and devoid of emotion.
“I… see,” she whispered, “this was not the answer I expected. Forgive me, I am somewhat at a loss…”
“Well, be lost somewhere else. This is a gentlemen’s club. I have always said that they should employ doormen here. Absolutely any Tom, Dick, andHarrietcan wander in. I will ensure you have a safe passage back to Haventon, and we will say no more about it.”
